04/12/2025
Congratulations to David Kolb sensei, acheiving 7th dan in Iaido from the All Japan Kendo Federation. Sensational news, a testament to his unwavering dedication to the art. Omedetōgozaimasu sensei!
AJKF Iaido Grading Number 70D
The All Japan Kendo Federation have published the results of the grading examination for 7 Dan Iaido conducted in Tokyo on Sunday 30 November. I’m pretty happy to say that my name appears on the list. My grading number:70D was on the results sheet posted on the day, but I needed to see my name in print to really believe it.
Suffice to say, it’s been a long road to get to this stage. More than 30 years since I first received shodan in Osaka, and 4 years and more attempts than I’d like to admit, to reach this current milestone. I’d like to express my appreciation to all my teachers along the way; Greg Mapstone back in the day, Obayashi Sensei, Ikeda Sensei from Osaka DaiKenKyo as well as Oda Sensei, former AKR Technical Director. More recently, thank you to my family, Naoko and Emi for putting up with this, as well as my friends and training partners. I’d especially like to mention Tsukadaira Sensei and Shubukai members on the Gold Coast and Mitsuyuki Sensei and DaiKenKyo members in Osaka. They never gave up on me and their support kept me going when I could of pulled the pin. I suppose the lesson is to never give up. From now on I’m going to keep working to do my best iaido and help others along the way.