About Us

Early in 1970, a  young and good looking Japanese man reported for duty at the then  Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports as a Japanese Government’s  contribution under JOCV (Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteer) programme  towards the development of Sports Medicine in Malaysia. Unknown to him,  this young man Toshima Masao will make history by being the founder of  Kendo in Malaysia. While previously there have been informal kendo  practices since late 1960s, it was Toshima that put in place proper  training schedules and formalise the formation of Malaysia Kendo, with  the collaboration of Datuk Abdullah Malim Baginda who was then the  Director of Youth Service in that Ministry.

Toshima Masao now in his  early 70s and a holder of 7-Dan, is still very much involved in Kendo,  largely at international level, through his association with JICA (Japan  International Cooperation Agency).

Our first Kendo Dojo was set up  in a small wooden structure located within the compound of the Kuala  Lumpur YMCA, sharing it with Judo and Aikido groups. It was hard to  practice Kendo on tatamis on uneven flooring!

Then the Dojo was moved  to Arena PJ, opposite Assunta Hospital PJ. Although more spacious, it  was an open structure with cement flooring. It was hard going, but the  Kendokas slogged on despite such difficulties. Later we were allocated  space at the International Youth Centre in Bandar Tun Razak, but it was  taken back after some years.

Now, we are very fortunate that with the  support and assistance of the Kuala Lumpur Japan Club, we are fairly  settled at its premises with nice wooden flooring in Taman Seputih,  Kuala Lumpur.

The first President of Malaysia Kendo was Mr Takamizu  Mori, an elderly Malaysian of Japanese origin. Subsequently, Mr Raja  Nong Chik took over the helm of Malaysia Kendo in 1977, before  handing  it over to Datuk Abdullah Malim Baginda in 1978, a position he continues  to hold in the Association to this day.

Among the local Kendo  pioneers were Wong Tun Foo, Ong Tong Heang, Micheal D. Ross, Micheal Loh  and Bhupinder Singh. Malaysia participated in all World Kendo  Championships since its inauguration in 1971.