Carshalton Kendo Dojo With a 2027 Beginners List: Tsubaki

Tsubaki Kendo Club has trained in the hall of Carshalton High School for Girls, West Street, Carshalton SM5 2QX, since it was established in 2012. The main session runs on Sunday mornings from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm for all levels and ages, and complete beginners come in only through a four-week course that costs £80 and runs once a year. No date is set for the next one, so the club asks newcomers to email and join its 2027 waiting list.

Tsubaki's shihan for most of its life was John Howell, Kyoshi 7th Dan, who died in the early hours of 30 September 2024. The club's homepage remembers him as its teacher, mentor and friend. He held the All Japan Kendo Federation's Korosho award, served as President and Chairman of the British Kendo Association and was a senior councillor of the European Kendo Federation, after more than 55 years in kendo.

That lineage still shows in the club's priorities. Its instructors have trained for many years in Japan, the UK and Europe, and the club says it has students on the GB national team as well as GB team hopefuls. Its motto, posted at the top of the site, sums up the tone of a Sunday morning here: kendo starts with respect, and ends with respect.

The four-week course is the only way new, inexperienced members aged 13 and over are accepted. Each session lasts one hour on a Sunday. Over the four weeks beginners learn cutting basics, etiquette, footwork, equipment care, the target areas and how to give and receive strikes. When registering interest, you send your age and gender so the club can size equipment for you.

The £80 fee is paid in advance and covers more than the lessons. It includes a three-month temporary membership of the British Kendo Association, weekly revision sheets to study at home, and a starting kyu grade with a certificate, or menjo. Anyone who already has more than six months of kendo experience can skip the course and contact the club about joining practice directly.

Younger children do not take the adult-style course. Under-13s go straight into Tsubaki's Junior Academy, which is split into four level groups depending on each child's development. On Sundays, juniors without armour train from 10:30 am to 12 pm and armoured juniors stay until 12:30 pm. When school events or exams take the hall, the session can move to 1:15 pm to 3:15 pm.

Parents of under-13s are asked to stay during class, and non-practising siblings should stay at home. The main instructors are DBS-checked, and the membership includes qualified first aiders, a nurse and a medical consultant, though the club does not hold or administer medicines. Intake days are held at various points in the year, with a waiting list for places.

New members pay a one-off joining fee of £50, which does not include British Kendo Association membership. After that, adults aged 18 and over pay £45 a month and Junior Academy members £32 a month, set up by standing order. Members at 5th Dan and above train free. Club gradings, from 7th kyu up to 2nd kyu, are free for members.

BKA membership is compulsory, and the club is blunt about why: no membership means no insurance, and so no practice. Over time you will need your own shinai, a wooden bokuto, a dark blue kendogi jacket and hakama trousers, but the club asks members to wait until instructors tell them before buying anything, so beginners do not spend money on the wrong kit.

Kendoka with their own armour are welcome to visit. A Sunday class costs £10 for adults and £8 for juniors, and the Friday session costs £8. Friday runs from 8 pm to 9:30 pm and is a keiko session for advanced players already training in armour, so it is not suitable for first-timers. Visitors at 5th Dan and above train free.

Because Sunday times can change around school events and exams, the club asks every first-time visitor to get in touch before coming. The contact address is info@tsubakikendo.co.uk, and the club does not publish a phone number. The same people also run Shinmyoken, a separate iaido club established in 1993 that trains in Walton-on-the-Hill in Surrey.

West Street runs into the centre of Carshalton village, a short walk from the school. Carshalton Ponds, one of the sources of the River Wandle, sit at the heart of the village beside All Saints Church, and the walk around the water takes ten minutes. It is a calm way to come down after two hours of kiai and fumikomi on a Sunday morning, and the benches by the water are a good spot to compare notes with training partners.

Honeywood Museum, Honeywood Walk, Carshalton SM5 3NX, stands at the edge of the ponds in a house that tells the history of the borough of Sutton, with a tearoom inside. The Grove, a park just east of the ponds, gives more room to stroll along the young Wandle, and the village high street has cafés for a late Sunday lunch after training.

Venue: Carshalton High School for Girls, West Street, Carshalton SM5 2QX, in the London Borough of Sutton. Sunday: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm, all levels and ages, times may change around school events. Friday: 8 pm to 9:30 pm, advanced players in armour only. Email: info@tsubakikendo.co.uk. Contact the club before your first visit.

Beginners aged 13 and over: four-week course, £80 in advance, including three months of BKA temporary membership, revision sheets and a starting grade. The course runs once a year, and the 2027 waiting list is now open. Under-13s join the Junior Academy. Fees: £50 joining fee, then £45 a month for adults, £32 for juniors. Visitors: £10 Sunday adult, £8 Sunday junior, £8 Friday.