Bellevue Kendo Club

Dec 2020

Bellevue Kendo is incredible. This is no "black belt mill" - you actually have to earn your advancement. It's run by Jeff Marsten (well known in Kendo) and his crew of senseis.If you want personal challenge and serious growth, or a place for your kids where they are driven and worked hard - this is it.What you get for the price is truly incredible - it must be subsidized by the city.

Feb 2016

The Bellevue Kendo Club has offered instruction in kendo through Bellevue Parks & Community Services since 1989. The head instructor of this club, Jeff Marsten Sensei, is one of the highest-ranked kendo instructors in the US with over 35 years of instructional experience and have students that competed and won on the national level. I have trained in Taiwan, Japan, and various dojos in the US. Having been a member of this club for more than 10 years now, I can honestly say that I am here because I choose to be here. Whether you are interested in trying kendo as a beginner or looking to take your practice to the next level, I would recommend that you give this club a try!

Dec 2015

My sons attend the Bellevue Kendo Club and love it. Having trained martial arts in Japan, and in the U.S., I picked this dojo for my family. The head instructor, Marsten-sensei, created a community of at least fifteen 3rd to 6th-degree blackbelts, each good enough to open their own successful dojo. Instead, they choose to stay at The Bellevue Kendo Club. The students range from six-year-old children to seniors in their seventies and older. Marsten-sensei's teams and individuals regularly win and/or place in the top five at the U.S. national championships. Several instructors at the Bellevue Kendo Club raised daughters to become kendo blackbelts. Additionally, several...read full review