Pricing
Membership fees are charged for the full year and run until the end of the financial year (30 June). Members who join partway through the year pay a pro-rata rate.
Annual membership fees
| UNSW student | $410 |
| UNSW alumni/staff | $430 |
| Student from an external institution | $430 |
| Members of the public | $450 |
Each membership includes annual NSWKA membership, which is required for grading and competition.
Please note: fees may change around the yearly renewal date, as they are recalculated based on NSWKA fees, venue booking costs, and other expenses.
How to Become a Member
No prior kendo experience
If you have little or no kendo experience, we require all new members to first complete our beginners course.
The course runs at the start of every UNSW term from week 1 or 2 (see the UNSW academic calendar) and usually costs around $50–$60. It runs for four lessons over four weeks, introducing the general etiquette of kendo and builds the basic foundations of footwork, posture, and swordsmanship needed before joining the main class.
Signups and more information for the beginners course is released 2-3 weeks before the course start date on our Rubric page, social media accounts, and on our home page.
Once the course is complete, we reach out to everyone who has attended enough lessons (at least 3 of 4) to invite them to apply for membership, charged according to the time of year.
Prior kendo experience
This pathway is primarily for people who meet at least two of the following three criteria:
- Hold a grade (even if not recognised by the Australian Kendo Renmei)
- Have bogu experience
- Have competed in some form of competition
This is only a guideline for who we’d usually consider experienced. If you don’t meet these criteria but still feel you have relevant experience, feel free to reach out anyway.
Joining as an experienced kendoka is handled on a case-by-case basis. Simply contact us, let us know how much experience you have, and we’ll usually work something out, although direct entry isn’t guaranteed.
Please note: if it’s around the start of term when the beginners course is running, we’ll almost always prefer experienced members take the course too, just to make sure the foundations are solid.