My IaidoVerse^2.0

^{(Iaito photo above by Swords of Northshire; The Rock Kendo and Iaido Club logo below, left.)}

In 2003, Ray Welshman, an Iaido Mukyu, moved from New Brunswick to St. John's after accepting a job with Aliant. Ray trained with Bill Anderson Sensei, Higashi Kaze Iaido, Fredericton, and later aligned with David Green Sensei, Tateyama Kendo and Iaido Club, Ottawa.

According to Ray Sempai:
We first started to practice in the squash courts at the YMCA because it was the only hard floors we could afford, LOL. I paid out of pocket in those days as most of the students were young kids who couldn’t afford martial arts. I did bring in instructors from Quebec, Ottawa and New Brunswick and held several seminars.

^{(Portugal Cove seminar photo. Ray Welshman front row, white gi)}

Dr. Rodolphe Devillers arrived in St. John's Summer 2005 to take a position at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Rodolphe received his original Kendo and Iaido training while at Laval University in Quebec.

^{(Laval University Kendo Dojo, 2002, Dr. Devillers front row, far right)}

Rodolphe Sempai recalls:
I came from QC to NL Summer 2005. I was Ikkyu in Kendo and at a lower grade in Iaido (both practiced in different dojos at Laval University). I looked for a Kendo dojo in NL but there was none, but came across Ray's group that was practicing Iaido at Brother Rice High School on Bonaventure Avenue. I recall a group of 10-15 students at the time.

Rodolphe joined Ray's group and it evolved into an Iaido and Kendo club.

Due to career opportunities, these two pioneering NL Japanese sword martial artists wound up leaving our province. Ray Sempai was the first to leave and Rodolphe Sempai carried on with Kendo. Rodolphe registered the "Newfoundland and Labrador Kendo Club" with the Canadian Kendo Federation (CKF) in 2010.

Upon Rodolphe's departure, Frank Simmons Sempai took the tiller.

^{(NL Kendo Club class led by Frank Simmons at NL Sports Centre)}

In 2012, Frank passed the batton to Wilson Humphries Sempai, currently a Kendo Nidan (Second Degree Black Belt). The dojo, under Wilson's leadership, evolved into The Rock Kendo and Iaido Club, "The Rock."

^{(Current Kendo photo. Wilson Humphries Sempai, front row, right)}

Wayne Pinsent Sempai, a Taekwondo Oh Dan or Fifth Degree Black Belt, began teaching Iaido at The Rock in 2019. Through an introduction by Wilson Sempai to Stephen Cruise Sensei (Iaido Kyoshi, Seventh Degree Black Belt, CKF) and the resulting referral to Ka Muso Kai, The Rock is now aligned with Alexander Cook Sensei, Calgary.

  
^{(Wayne Pinsent Sempai, left, and Alex Cook Sensei, right)}

In 2022, Wayne Sempai took a sabbatical from Iaido due to the increasing demands of his photography business. Tom Alteen Sempai took on leading Iaido at The Rock.

^{(Iaido photo, 2024. Tom Alteen Sempai, front row, second from the right)}

Thanks to Ivan Booth Sempai, Iaido Ikkyu (First Kyu) and Aikido Godan (Fifth Degree Black Belt), The Rock offered its first Jodo class in 2025.

^{(Jodo photo, 2025. Steven Sproule, left, and Ivan Booth Sempai, right)}