History of Shidokan

A Brief History of Shidokan Kendo & Iaido Club
-- Heritage and Pride --

Shidokan Kendo & Iaido Club was founded by Mr. Douglas T. Funamoto (7th Dan Kyoshi) in 1974. It was started as a part of Shidokan International, formerly known as Shidokan Academy, which was founded by Judo instructor Mr. Nakamura in 1968. Since then, Shidokan Kendo & Iaido Club has produced many Kendo players in Quebec.

After the retirement of Mr. Funamoto in 1991, his students continued practicing together under the supervision of Funamoto Sensei, actively participating in tournaments.

The physical location of Shidokan has changed through the years from the old place on De Maisonneuve st. to the Tri-Star gym on Jean Talon and nowadays with lots of efforts Shidokan takes home at Concordia's Loyola campus as the main core of Kendo and Iaido Instruction and also at John Abbot College (for Iaido Instruction)

During the time at the Tri-star gym in the 90's, our brothers from the Montreal Kendo Club joined for practice led by their founder and valued friend of Shidokan: Ono Sensei. Until this day Shidokan holds great respect for Ono Sensei and keeps great relations with the MKC (Nowadays under the guidance of Junko Ariyama Sensei) often visiting each other and enjoying Kendo together as brothers.

Shidokan is now under the instruction of Santoso Hanitijo, Robert Miller and Dean Jolly.

Founder of Shidokan, Mr. Douglas Funamoto

Mr. Douglas T. Funamoto passed away on Saturday, February 17, 2001. In the Canadian kendo community, though he practiced kendo in Vancouver before world war two, he will be mostly remembered for helping to introduce kendo in Quebec and founding the Shidokan Kendo & Iaido Club in Montreal and the Vieille Capitale Dojo in Quebec city.

His dedication to teaching kendo was tremendous, and his humble nature will be remembered fondly. On a personal note, Funamoto-Sensei was my first kendo Sensei. He was a very patient teacher, and he instilled in me the importance of kendo basics and gentlemanly play. These are things which I will always carry with me. Thank you, Sensei.

-Lawrence Tsuji

Shidokan Nowadays

Kendo at Shidokan

Iaido at Shidokan

As it is tradition in Martial Arts, the students must preserve the heritage of their Master and their Dojo.
Shidokan is no exeption;  after Funamoto Sensei passed away, his closest students assumed the inmense responsability to carry on with his Legacy.

Santoso Hanitijo, Robert Miller and Dean Jolly, all students of Douglas Funamoto Sensei (Kendo) and Fred Okimura Sensei (Iaido), are the ones who lead the new Shidokan Generation.

There were tough times for Shidokan after Funamoto Sensei passed away, and for some years the Dojo kept a low profile in the Kendo community.

But with great effort and dedication from all its members, "Shidokan Kendo and Iaido Club" has managed to recover it’s old strenght, the one that forged outstanding Kendoka all around Quebec and Canada.