On May 10 and 12, the sports hall of the D. Paio Peres Correia school in Tavira was the setting for the first seminar in Mugairyu Mushokai-Hachimanryu Iaido ever to be held in Portugal. The seminar concluded with examinations for the students of Ken Shin Kan Tavira, the local iaido club affiliated with Tavira Ju-Jitsu Club. Ken Shin Kan Tavira is currently the only recognised representative of this style of iaido in Portugal, and is working hard to spread familiarity with this idiosyncratic martial art.
The principal instructor at the seminar was the renowned martial arts master Soke Leif Hermansson, 10th Dan, President of the World Traditional Martial Arts Society (WTMAS). Soke Leif is the direct student of O-sensei Hamamoto Hisao, the 14th successor of this Okinawan style of iaido which has been handed down from father to son in an unbroken line for more than eight centuries.
“Ken Shin Kan Tavira and Tavira Ju-Jitsu Club would like to thank the Municipal Councillor with responsibility for sports, the President of the Municipal Council of Tavira, and Shihan Helder Nunes, President of the Portuguese National Ju-Jitsu Federation, for their kind support in making this event such a success. The clubs would also like to thank the Sports Division of the Municipal Council, as well as the Tavira-based “Kombate Fácil” martial arts club, in the persons of Sensei José Maurício and Instructor Walter Martins, for their friendship and generosity,” said the club in a press statement.
Ken Shin Kan Tavira trains weekly in the main hall of the União de Freguesias da Luz de Tavira e Santo Estevão in Luz de Tavira – Fridays, from 6.30pm until 8.30pm.
