Dojo Portrait: Shinshikan Hernings Kendo Club
Shinshikan
Age: Seventh oldest kendo club in Denmark
Population: 4th smallest
真志館 shinshikan means an honest and sincere place
Membership Count: 3 men, 1 boy and 1 woman
Trainer Count: 1
Website: http://www.Herningkendo.dk
Training Frequency: once a week
Training Level: Mudansha with bogu
Jesper
Jesper Kirkeby Andersen is the head trainer for Herning Shinshikan dojo. He and his ex-sweetheart Natasja Sjøgreen started the dojo in 2015.
Jesper started kendo in September 2012 at Aarhus Soryukan, part of his journey to find a satisfying sports after a long illness. Kendo became a new passion for him as his health improved. His first sensei was Roberto Sarno and then Iraj Nikjou who took over the dojo when Roberto stepped down. Iraj was a great inspiration and and motivated him to participate in Goshikan’s fællestræning.
Over time, Jesper found he preferred to train with Nordfyn Goshikan’s Yukio-sensei. Jesper’s admiration for kendo has only grown under Yukio-sensei’s tutelage, inspired by his focus, patience and vast kendo knowledge.
Jesper’s jigeiko style is very intense and energetic. In his dojo there is a large focus on the social aspect. He patiently teaches everyone in a way that suits them best, to their level and abilities. He feels everyone can train kendo with the right adjustments made to the lesson plan. While the dojo only has 4 students now, he hopes it will continue to grow now that the pandemic seems to be over. Jesper’s motto for kendo is “slow is fast, fast is good.” or as they say in Jutland “one must be able to go, before one can run.”
Jesper is very active in kendo aside from just being a trainer, he is also the treasurer for Herning Shinshikan, Nordfynds Goshikan and the Danish Kendo Federation. He tries to help whenever he can and enjoys doing the treasurer job that so many others find boring, but he personally thinks is fun and enjoys supporting the community. He also was in charge of DKFs equipment inventory for many years.
He likes to use octagonal grip shinai and suggests all his students use oval grips to begin with to help with their tenouchi and proper hand positioning. His favorite waza are kote uchitoshi men (a Jodan kamae waza). One of his best experiences were his very first joint training, when he’d only been a kendoka for seral months. There were over 30 people, from all over Denmark in Nordfyns usual little hall. The atmosphere was electric, and present were some of Denmark’s best kendoka like Yukio, Yosuke, Babak, and David.
He hopes in the future to learn several interesting sub-styles of kendo like jodan and nitoryu or simply to enjoy the natural progression of his own kendo development.