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The Canadian Naginata Federation was thrilled to host its annual Seminar in Toronto this October. Members from across the country attended three days of intense seminars which culminated in Shinsa of up to 3rd Dan. Thank you to Kaori Kubo and Jordan Macklem for coordinating the seminar.

We are grateful to our guest instructors for taking the time to visit Canada and teach us, and we hope to see you again soon! Thank you:
Ryoko Tanimoto-sensei (Kyoshi, AJNF)
Naoko Okura-sensei (Renshi, AJNF)
David D’hose-sensei (Renshi, ENF)

The Canadian Naginata Federation held its Annual General Meeting on April 28th, 2024. The representatives from each dojo of the Federation were presented with updates from the Board’s officers, and an update on the status of the Federation, including membership numbers and finances. As part of this meeting, two new members of the Board of Directors were elected by the voting members.

The CNF Board of Directors welcomes Dan Bouchard (Alberta) and Jordan Macklem (Ontario) to the team! This brings the total member count of the Board to 5. In alphabetical order, your current Directors are:

• Alan McDougall  (Alberta)
• Dan Bouchard  (Alberta)
• Jordan Macklem  (Ontario)
• Kaori Kubo  (Ontario)
• Marija Landekic  (Quebec)

The Board is always here to serve.  If you have question, concerns, comments, or ideas that you would like put to the leadership of the Federation, please speak with your dojo leader.  They can in turn inform us, and the Board of Directors is happy to discuss!

Thank you to everyone who submitted a tenugui design for the 20th Anniversary of the CNF, and thank you to all who voted for their favourite designs – here (above) is the winner!

The CNF fiscal year will be changed as of 2023 to line up with the calendar year. This means that going forward, dojo and membership fees will be due on January 1st of the given year. A couple notes on some caveats:

• People who have already paid their 2022-2023 membership will have that membership extended to the end of 2023. Therefore, if you renewed your CNF membership in September of 2022, your next renewal will be January 1st 2024 (this also applies to dojo membership fees).
• It is common for new members to first register for the CNF along with their first attendance of the annual CNF Seminar in October, or at the beginning of the school year in September. To accommodate this: First-time members who register in September or October of a given year will be considered to be paid in full for the following year (ie. if a brand new member registers in September 2023, they will not renew until January 1st 2025).

A reminder that the CNF’s Community Grant is available to all those looking for financial assistance with things related to Naginata training. This can include grading fees, tournament fees, travel expenses, etc. Applications should be submitted to the CNF email no later than 14 days prior to the event in question. Members can ask their dojo leaders for access to the request form.

Congratulations to the University of Toronto Naginata Club on the 15th Anniversary of their club! It’s been an incredible decade and a half for our oldest university club, and here’s to many more years!

Check out their Instagram @uoftnaginata for the latest happenings.

The year 2022 saw the debut of multiple naginata dojos around the country!

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The Wild Rose Naginata Club is located in Edmonton and was founded by Alan McDougall.

The Concordia Naginata Club is located at Concordia University in Montréal, and was co-founded by Kevin Hallé and Jeremy Frandon.

The Québec Naginata Kai is located in Québec City and was founded by Philippe Mercier.

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It’s great to see the growth of the Canadian naginata community. We look forward to meeting all the new dojo members at various future events!

CNF Membership fees will be raised for the first time in over a decade. This year it will be $50 for adult members and $25 for those under 18 years old.

The CNF has recently selected new officers. Thank you to everyone who applied to help us support and further Naginata in Canada; we look forward to continuing to work together on this mission in the future.

Please welcome:

• President: Marija Landekic
• Vice President: Kaori Kubo
• Treasurer: Birgit Siegert-Iriyama
• Executive Secretary: Jordan Macklem
• Membership Secretary: Daiki Siegert-Iriyama

We are deeply grateful to the previous officers for their hard work; in particular, Antoine Fromentin-sensei, our previous President. He has been instrumental in shaping Canadian Naginata over the past years and growing the Federation to what it is today. Thank you, Antoine-sensei, for your time as President and we hope to practice with you again soon!

2018 was an incredibly successful year for naginata in Canada and Octobers Canadian Naginata Championships held in Montreal were no exception!

Canada was privileged to welcome many International guests who came to help oversee the event and would like to express our most heartfelt thanks to:

Chinobu Imaura Sensei- Kyoshi (JPN)

Kazuyo Yoshii Sensei- Renshi (JPN)

Kurt Schmucker Sensei- Renshi (USA)

Ellery Engalla Sensei- Godan (USA)

and Val Fran Sensei- (USA)

Through their guidance and patience Canadian naginata has reached new heights!

2018 Canadian Naginata Championship Results:

Engi Dangai
1st : Kevin Hallé/ William Choi
2nd : Milton Chow/ Gabriel Conquer
3rd : Henintsoa Rakotomalala/ Mei Yang

Dangai Shiai
1st : William Choi
2nd : Gabriel Conquer
3rd : Julia Luo

Yudansha Engi – Coupe Tanaka Cup
1st: Yves Crépeau/Antoine Fromentin
2nd : Lutan Liu/ Mika Sneyd
3rd : Alan McDougall/Marija Landekic

Yudansha Shiai
1st : Marija Landekic
2nd : Jordan Macklem
3rd: Antoine Fromentin

Team Shiai
1st: Mary Phan/Abigail Lim/Susan Davis/Jordan Macklem/Tomas Almonte (JCCC Naginata Club)
2nd: Helen Liu/ Kevin Hallé/William Choi/Sam Zhou/Marija Landekic (McGill Naginata Club)
3rd: Isabella Lin/Neha Ahmed/Alan McDougall/Andrew Boyd/Daniel Bouchard (Edmonton Naginata Club)

Kanto-sho (fighting spirit)
Yudansha: Simon Bruins
Dangai: Birgit Siegert-Iriyama/Daiki Iriyama

To round off the event, the CNF also hosted it’s most successful Shinsa to date! And we’re welcome to introduce 7 new Sandan, 6 new Nidan, 2 new Shodan as well as a small army of Kyu practitioners passed their respective gradings!

Congratulations to all and let’s strive to make 2019 even more successful!

Fighto!