The traditional Japanese martial art of Kendo has attracted many people to the Doha Kendo Club’s event held during Aspire Zone Foundation’s (AZF) National Sport Day (NSD) celebrations on Tuesday.

Kendo is among the several martial arts featured at Aspire, which attracted more than 30,000 visitors to its world-class venue. Many children participated in the club’s demonstrations led by Doha Kendo Club founder & club manager Abdulrahman Rashid al-Mohannadi and Sensei Junichi Tashiro.

“Properly trained, Kendo can offer discipline, harmony, and respect for one’s self and his or her opponent…Kendo is open to everyone and we would like to have more people to join in, which is why do conduct many demonstrations as much as we can,” al-Mohannadi told Gulf Times on the sidelines of the event.

According to al-Mohannadi, Aspire is an ideal venue to introduce Kendo to Qatar residents during NSD celebrations because of its first-rate facilities. “It’s now our second time to join the NSD celebrations in Aspire, which has fresh air, as well as a nice and comfortable atmosphere,” he pointed out.

Al-Mohannadi said the club is aiming to join international competitions and work to promote the growth of Kendo in Qatar. But most importantly, al-Mohannadi said the club wants to represent Qatar as a national team in the future.

“Going forward, we want to join the European Kendo Championships, as well as the Worldwide Kendo Championships…we are a club but with more work, we can transform ourselves into a national team in the future.

“We would also like play a role in the growth of martial arts in Qatar and hopefully in the future, we would like to see ourselves as part of a government body so that Kendo would get official recognition,” al-Mohannadi further stressed.

In a statement earlier, AZF NSD Organising Committee chairman Nasser Abdullah al-Hajiri said AZF provides a unique platform to introduce new sports to members of the local community in Qatar.

“Since it started, NSD has provided the perfect opportunity to offer different types of activity in Qatar, such as Rugby, US Football, Japanese Kendo, and Russian self-defense martial art Sambo. During the NSD, Aspire Zone will combine sports from the East and West in an opportunity to explore cultures and sports from across the world,” he said.

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