Shorinji Kempo North Shore

A cold combined training at East Auckland tonight but the hardy made it and those preparing for grading at the Oceanic in Melbourne in November had a good practice. Thanks Sean McIlvride for hosting Auckland Shorinji Kempo Group and Shorinji Kempo North Shore at Shorinji Kempo East Auckland Branch - Public Space Thanks Ian for taking the photo!

Some things are worth coming back to.

Meet Tom, one of Shorinji Kempo New Zealand’s original students, who first stepped into the Dojo back in 1974. That’s not a typo - 1974.

The sepia photograph he’s holding? That’s him in action, a few decades ago now, proof that the foundations of this art were being laid long before most of us even knew it existed.

Life took Tom in other directions over a decade or two, but Shorinji Kempo never really left him. He stayed connected, popping in at key events and the odd combined training, keeping that bond alive. And two years ago, he put back on his his gi and came back and fully back.

Now he trains regularly with us at North Shore Branch, and what he brings to the dojo goes far beyond technique. Tom is living proof that Shorinji Kempo is a martial art for life. That it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been away, how old you are, or what the years have brought. The dojo will welcome you back.

We are truly privileged to have Tom as part of our kempo family.

North Shore Branch — est. 2006 | Celebrating 20 years in 2026

It was girl power last night at North Shore Branch where the girls outnumbered the boys. Good to see on a cold Tuesday night. (Credit to Shorinji Kempo Chiba for the image).

We had a good black belt training for a cold Sunday morning and finished with some resucitation techniques, thanks Sensei Sean McIlvride

Happy Birthday wishes to Nick Howdle - it was wonderful celebrating with you today. Today's training at North Shore branch went well, and our members were excited to hear the news that the 80th World Shorinji Kempo Organisation Taikai has been set for October 2027; many members are now planning on attending. Melbourne this November, Nagoya next October - we’ve got this 🙏💪

Thanks Nick Sanders for visiting us at training last night. Thanks also to Tom Sherlock for sharing photos from back in the day! We love having an OG in our club. It was another great night.

Thanks Auckland Shorinji Kempo Group for combined training tonight across our branch, central and East Aucklnd. Great to see some new and old faces and it was a good turn out. Thanks Toshi Sekizaki for taking warm up and basics, Adrian Brown and Steve Young for taking training and welcome back Duncan from Japan and thanks for sharing your tips from all the dojos you visited.

Congratulation to Todd Eyre, our newest black belt. What a good effort and strong grading. Thanks to Nick Howdle for being grading partner and to Sean McIlvride for conducting the grading, with Rachel Louie as second examiner. Congratulation to Sensei Darren Louie who has welcomed his 12th black belt within this branch. Great vibes and a well deserved black belt 💪🙏👍

Well done to Shorinji Kempo North Shore Branch who did an awesome job cleaning up the local park to commemorate Kaiso Day

Congratulations to Jason and Liana who learned that they passed their second kyu brown belt grading tonight - great effort 💪🙏