Kensei Iaido Taikai

Tournament

Kensei Iaido Taikai is being held since establishment of Kensei Dojo in 2009. Organized first in 2010, this tournament with international participation and notable teachers is striving to educate all interesed iaidoka and improve quality of iaido in Europe. This year Taikai up to 6th dan category and examps up to 4th dan.

June 21st – 22nd, 2025

Registration till June 13th, 2025

Payments till June 16th, 2025

Location: TJ JM CHodov, Mírového hnutí 2137, 149 00 Praha 11-Chodov

Event map (dojo, hotels, food tips)

Challenge Trophy

Team competition is the most prestigious category in the tournament. At Kensei Iaido Taikai, the victory is augmented by beautiful challenge trophy, which is held for one year by victorious team. It is a replica of japanese kabuto helmet, that belonged to Oda Nobunaga, one of the three unifiers of Japan.

Program

Friday (June 20th, 2025)

19:00 – 21:00 Free keiko – this is extra program, will be charged by 100 CZK on spot via QR code payment.

Saturday (June 21st, 2025)

9:30 – 18:00 Kensei Taikai (end time is estimated and can change)

9:30 – 18:00 Kensei Taikai (end time is estimated and can change)
19:00 Sayonara party (Restaurant Jankovnau bazénu)

Sunday (June 22nd, 2025)

10:00 – 13:00 Seminar
14:00 Exams up to 4th dan

About the tournament

Categories

mudan (up to 1st kyu)
1st dan
2nd dan
3rd dan
4th dan
5th dan
6th dan (unique opportunity to compete as a 6th dan or to see how does 6th dan level competition looks live)

Teams: 3-member teams – unlimited team count per dojo

Organizer has a right to cancel or merge categories in case there will be three or less registered contestants in the category.

Referees

Each match is arbitrated by three referees with grade higher than given category, minimum is 5th dan.

Rules

Competition follows rules of l ZKNR Seitei iai.
Only iaito or nihonto is allowed for use.
Sword must have kurigata and it must be secured by mekugi.
Sword with tsuka made of plastic is not allowed.

Tournament system

Individuals

Participants are divided into pools within given category
First two from each pool will proceed to KO system.
Order within pool is given by number of vicories. In case of same amount of victories, number of flags is taken into account. If that cannot decide the order, there will be one more match in pool for deciding the order.
There will be two 3rd place positions (there will be no match for third place).
All referees must be at least one grade above the category they are arbitrating and must be at least 5th dan.

Teams

Teams have 3 members (plus one alternate if required). There are no pools, all teams are drawn directly into KO system. All team members must be from the same dojo (same organizational unit).

Register now!

Teachers & Referee list

Spyridon Drosoulakis

EKF vicepresident
iaido, kyoshi, 7th dan
kendo, renshi, 6th dan
Greece

Stefano Ferro

iaido, renshi, 7th dan
Switzerland

Mami Sasamura

iaido, kyoshi, 7th dan
Japan

Tomáš Kyncl

iaido, renshi, 6th dan
kendo, 6th dan
Czech Republic

Piotr Bidzinski

iaido, renshi, 6th dan
kendo, 4th dan
Poland

Magdalena Bidzinska

iaido, renshi, 6th dan
kendo, 4th dan
Poland

Marián Bartko

iaido, 6th dan
jodo, 5th dan
Slovakia

Location

Sport Hall, TJ JM CHodov
Mírového hnutí 2137, 149 00 Praha 11-Chodov

Bus stop: Brodského

Parking is possible but limited in front of the hotel or nearby streets. Recommended to come by public transport.

Hotel

Hotel Chodov is recommended place to stay, next door to the dojo. It is not booked by the organizers upfront.

Map (dojo, accomodation, food tips)

Use the left map menu to filter main event locations, accomodation and food tips on the map.

Price and fees

Tournament fee and exam entry fee needs to be paid till June 16th, 2025.

International participants could choose if to pay via bank account upfront or in cash EUR or CZK on site.

Bank: Raiffeisenbank a.s., Hvězdova 1716/2b, 14078 Praha 4, Czech Republic
Recipient: o.s. KENSEI, Herkova 815/13, 14900 Praha 4 – Háje, Czech Republic

Czech participants pay via bank account:

Account Number: 5235494001/5500

Bank account for International payments (if you choose via transfer):

IBAN: CZ3955000000005235494001

For Referees

6th dan referees have the event for free including seminar and hotel.
5th dan referees who will be approached based on seniority and experience will have seminar for free.

Event fees:

Individual Taikai + seminar (with 7th dan sensei) – 60 EUR (1 500 CZK) – Saturday + Sunday
Seminar only – 40 EUR (1 000 CZK) – Sunday
– Please, in the payment add note for recipient: „surname, Kensei Iaido Taikai 2025“
Team Taikai – 24 EUR (600 CZK) – Please, in the payment add note for recipient: „dojo name – teams, Kensei Iaido Taikai 2025“

Exam Fees

Please, use the same bank account as for the tournament fees, i.e. on account of Kensei dojo (o.s. KENSEI).

Payment is made for the full amount. In case of exam failure, ČFK registration fee will be returned to the applicant.

grade	registration [ČFK / EKF]	application [recommended price for club]	Total	note
5th kyu	6 EUR (150 CZK)	4 EUR (100 CZK)	10 EUR (250 CZK)	ČFK rules
4th kyu	8 EUR (200 CZK)	6 EUR (150 CZK)	14 EUR (350 CZK)	ČFK rules
3rd kyu	8 EUR (200 CZK)	6 EUR (150 CZK)	14 EUR (350 CZK)	ČFK rules
2nd kyu	10 EUR (250 CZK)	8 EUR (200 CZK)	18 EUR (450 CZK)	ČFK rules
1st kyu	12 EUR (300 CZK)	8 EUR (200 CZK)	20 EUR (500 CZK)	ČFK rules
1st dan	20 EUR (500 CZK)	16 EUR (400 CZK)	36 EUR (900 CZK)	EKF rules
2nd dan	30 EUR (750 CZK)	20 EUR (500 CZK)	50 EUR (1 250 CZK)	EKF rules
3rd dan	50 EUR (1 250 CZK)	32 EUR (800 CZK)	82 EUR (2 050 CZK)	EKF rules
4th dan	70 EUR (1 750 CZK)	50 EUR (1 250 CZK)	120 EUR (3 000 CZK)	EKF rules