The Sei Tou Ken Yu Kai Kendo Club was formed in 1988 by Alex Bennett, following his Rotary exchange to Chiba, Japan. While there, he attended a Japanese High School where he began Kendo and reached the grade of 1st Dan. Upon his return to Christchurch, Alex made the decision to start one of New Zealand's first Kendo clubs. As the club grew, Alex travelled back and forth to Japan in order to learn more to teach to his students. Alex currently lives in Kyoto and holds the grade of 7th Dan in Kendo, 5th Dan in Iaido and 4th Dan in Naginata. He is the Editor-in-chief of the world's first and only Kendo magazine in English - "Kendo World". Alex eventually moved to Japan permanently, at which time Masahiro Imafuji took over the club. Masahiro helped strengthen the club with a level of Kendo training and experience which was rare in New Zealand Kendo at the time. Masahiro currently holds the rank of 5th Dan and lives in the USA where he continues to teach Kendo through his website kendo-guide.com.
As Masahiro's time in New Zealand came to an end, he left the running of the club in the hands of Alex's younger brother, Blake, who was just 15 years old. More than a decade later Blake remains the club leader, and holds the rank of 5th Dan in Kendo. Having completed his degree in Sports Coaching at the University of Canterbury in 2008, Blake is now furthering his studies in Japan, where Kendo is the focus of his postgraduate work. While in Japan he is still heavily involved in the running of the club. In Blake's absence David Wong (4th Dan), Akiyo Ellin (4th Dan), Karl Hitchcock (4th Dan) and Alicia Cavan (3rd Dan) take care of the club.
The Canterbury Kendo Club has always been actively involved in New Zealand Kendo and encourages its members to participate in NZKF events. This has resulted many successful competition campaigns including becoming the South Island champions in 2007 and 2008, strong membership in the winning South Island team in the North Versus South competition, second place in the 2009 NZKF Nationals, and many other strong placings at national events. Despite the club's success at these events, competition has always been considered to be only a part of the Kendo experience, with a strong importance placed on kata, and reigi, and traditional aspects of Kendo.
In 2008 Sei Tou Ken Yu Kai Kendo Club moved into the current dojo on Lichfield Street. The 20th anniversary of the club was celebrated in December 2008.