Boise State’s Kendo club brings in Japanese national Iaido champion for seminar

Kazuhiza Kaneda, a national Iaido champion in Japan, taught a two-day seminar at Boise State University over the weekend, hosted by the university’s Kendo club.

Iaido and Kendo are both forms of Japanese martial arts that use swords. Rhett Atagi, a Kendo club instructor, described the practice as “meditative.” The goal of Iaido is to exercise controlled movements and focus on perfecting practice, he said.

Atagi said it was an honor to have Kaneda, a renowned Iaido instructor, come to Boise.

“It’s a really special event: Kaneda Sensei being here,” he said. “He’s an eight-time all-Japan champion. So it doesn’t get any better than that.”

More than 40 people attended the seminar from around the country.

This story was originally published January 10, 2016 at 6:31 PM with the headline "Boise State’s Kendo club brings in Japanese national Iaido champion for seminar."