A delegation from AJKF visited Nante, France for the Kendo seminar and the 2002 European Kendo Championship. 

Mr. E. Taguchi kendo hanshi 8 dan,
Mr. K. Sannomiya kendo kyoshi 8 dan,
Mr. S. Yamanaka  kendo kyoshi 8 dan

were the instructors and Mr. J. Takeuchi joined the delegation as the AJKF international committee chairman.  Mr. Ura, who stays in France as a long-term residing  instructor from AJKF, met the delegation at the airport. 

On 16th and 17th April 2002, the EKF Kendo seminar and Dan examinations up to 5-Dan were conducted.  Approximately 110 Kendo practitioners participated in the seminar.  Among them 20 were female practitioners.  Kendo basic movements, basic skills and applied skills were instructed during the two-day seminar.  As the native languages of the participants varied, Ms. Ihara, Mr. Ducarme and Mr. Takeuchi translated the instructions into French and English.  Most of the seminar participants were either the Dan examinees or the Championship competitors, therefore their attitude was quite earnest.  The participants were divided into three groups and each group practiced under the guidance of each instructors.

At the end of the seminar, Dan examinations were held and 30 people out of 42 applicants passed the examination successfully.

The Championships were held for 3 days, 19th, 20th and 21st April 2002.  Mr. Takeyasu, the FIK President, also attended the event together with the delegation members after he attended the EKF General Assembly as an observer.  Mr. Taguchi acted as the chief referee(Shinpan-cho) at the Championship and gave an instructive address to the referees before the competitions each day.  Though the refereeing skills of the European referees have remarkably improved, there were still several aspects which required improvements.  Judgements on Yuko-datotsu or Tsubazeriai were those points to be improved.

282 competitors and officials from 23 countries participated in the Championships.  It was quite a big competition and the Japanese instructors were impressed that Kendo had spread in Europe and there were so many earnest Kendo practitioners.

After the Championship, Dan examinations up to 6-Dan were held and 26 people out of 62 applicants passed the examination successfully.