Our Dojo Members
No Kendo club can exist unless it has a dedicated group of people working together.  On this page, you can get to know a little about the instructors and the members who make the Battle Creek Kendo Kai a great place to practice Kendo.

Instructors

Yutaro Matsuura holds godan rank. He has been practicing since 1983. He started kendo growing up in Montreal. He joined the club in March of 1999 after marrying an American citizen. He at that time was commuting to the dojo from Ohio. After receiving his green card, he made a permanent move to Battle Creek. He is employed at an auto parts manufacturer in Battle Creek.  Recently he has agreed to take a "mentor" role and has become the head instructor at the Grand Rapids Kendo Kai in Grand Rapids. Recently, (2006) he was elected to be the Midwest Kendo Federation's Vice-President of Education, and is now the MWKF team coach. 

 

 
Kotaro Yoshida  joined us in the fall of 2006, he was hired by Albion College after finishing his Ph.D. study in economics at Duke University. Born and raised in Tokyo, he attended Waseda Unviersity and worked for the Bank of Japan before coming to Duke. Midwest is a special place for him since he spent one year at Wabash College, Indiana, as an exchange student from Waseda.  A 5th dan with a lot of experience,  he will integrate himself into our classes and is a great asset to our club. It will take him some time to get used to a cold winters in Michigan. He is currently working to begin a Albion College Kendo Club. We here in BC pledge to help him do that.

David Christman is the owner and founder of the Battle Creek Kendo Kai. A yondan, he has been practicing kendo for 26 years. He enjoys golf, downhill skiing and runs a printing business in Battle Creek.  He also studies iaido, and holds a ikkyu rank. Happily married 36 years with 2 grown children, he now has two little pug dogs. He has served as the Midwest Kendo Federation's president since 200-2007. He currently on a hiatus from active participation.

Assistant Instructors
Bob Mack is the most senior of our members with over 17 years of loyal membership. He holds a sandan rank. He is also a karate sensei, with many years of practice. He has a strong powerful style. Married to a Japanese, he is fluent in the language. Working for an auto parts manufacturer in Litchfield as their CFO, he commutes from Kalamazoo.

Meet our Members

These are our regular members who have had at least 3 months of membership. You will notice that most drive great distances to be a part of the Battle Creek Kendo Kai. 
Craig Dieringer lives in Coldwater. A strong athlete, and ex-football player, he holds the rank of nidan in kendo, the one and only martial art he has studied. Married with 2 sons he is very proud of.... who themselves practiced kendo for a while. He is employed by LIFECARE ambulance service, and trains ambulance drivers and EMS people. He has been a member since 1996.

Travis Hill is originally from Columbus, Ohio. He is a student at Harper Creek high school, in Battle Crek.  Just turning 18 years old, Travis  has earned the rank of nidan, as of Nov / 2007. He comes from a large family of boys, but loves to travel to kendo events, and is beginning to love competitions. He notched his first medal in Detroit, 2/19/06 Gold in Mudansha division. He has won many medals as a junior, but he will now be targeting the adult divisions soon. 

Stephen Chaffin is 36, works as a
IT Engineer for MPI Research in Mattawan, and attends classes at Western Michigan University majoring in Anthropology. Hobbies include playing ice hockey, lifting weights, playing guitar, and reading. In the summer he races a RX7 with the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). He is now a shodan. He currently though, is the 2007 Mudansha champion at Detroit, in 2/07.
Julio Hernando was born in Gijón (Spain) in 1966 and moved to the States in 1998. He presently lives in South Bend, IN where he teaches Spanish Literature at Indiana University South Bend. He is not married and has no children. He drives a long way to practice with us on Tuesdays. His goal is to learn kendo the right way and start a club at IU at South Bend.
Dan Hammond works for a local stamping plant that specializes in fiber-optic traffic control signs. He also is is a paid armed carrier. His hobbies include archery and black powder shooting. Dan is interested in iaido too.

New Members

Yuji Yoshino  

( Photo to come )
Naruka Yoshino  

( Photo to come )
Mariko Sugita  

( Photo to come )
Yukari Arakawa

( Photo to come )
Yuto Arakawa

( Photo to come )
Rio Arakawa

( Photo to come )

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