Why Team Canada?

Affiliate nations of the International Kendo Federation (FIK) have held Iaido championships for decades. The All Japan Iaido Championships (53 times), the European Iaido Championships (25 times), and the All US National Iaido Championships (21 times) have led the way, while Canada hosted our first national event in 2013, followed again in 2016. Hong Kong is about to host the first Asia Pacific Iaido Open Championships in March of 2019.

Eventually, there will be a World Championship, and as a federation, we can either wait for it to happen, then react; or be a driving force to its inception; showcasing our world-class Iaido in the process. Our first goal is to prove to the other major centers, specifically Japan, that Iaidoka in Canada and the Americas can rise to the occasion by demonstrating:

  • Our willingness and ability to compete,

  • Our willingness and ability to travel for competition, and

  • Our willingness and ability to organize and host competitions at a world-class level

This demonstration requires time. We’ve already laid the foundation with the inaugural Pan-American Iaido Taikai this year in Toronto; participated by elite teams from Chile, Mexico, USA, and Canada. We’ve proven it can be done. Now it’s time to build momentum and develop a robust national team program to showcase our Iaidoka beyond our borders, and work with the global community to unite our nations in friendly competition.

INITIATE

In Iaido, we use the concept of Jo-Ha-Kyu to describe the progress from initiation to climax of a technique. Progression in the Team Canada and World Iaido Championship initiatives may follow a similar structure:

  1. JO (Getting Started) -- A CKF organized PAIGT (2018) and launch of the Team Canada Program (2019)

  2. HA (Build Momentum) — Official participation of Team Canada Iaido at an event in Europe or Asia (2020)

  3. KYU (Sustain and Accelerate) — Joint FIK announcement of an official World Iaido Championships (2021)

In November 2018, the CKF board of directors approved a budget and line item in the financial statements for supporting the development of an official Team Canada Iaido Program (TCIP) for a minimum of two years. This initiative will be evaluated annually at the CKF board meeting to ensure the actions of the TCIP committee continue to align with the goals of the Canadian Kendo Federation.

2019 AT A GLANCE

The TCIP committee will be driving this initiative, starting with the following 2019 objectives:

  1. Recruit TCIP Committee members

  2. Define a Terms of Reference (ToR) to outline the purpose and structure of the TCIP

  3. Define a Internal Nomination Procedure (INP) to select candidates and identify prospects

  4. Define a Competition Action Plan (CAP) to develop, promote, and support delegations

  5. Organize test initiatives to provide input for the development of TCIP documents

  6. Execute and evaluate the 2019 ToR, INP, and CAP, and incorporate learning into 2020

Please join us in this exciting new journey for the Canadian Kendo Federation.

- Patrick Suen, Program Director