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 at the time was just 15 years old. More than a decade later Blake remains the club leader, and holds the rank of 5th Dan in Kendo. After completing his degree in Sports Coaching at the University of Canterbury in 2008, Blake spent two years in Japan training hard at Osaka University of Health and Sport Sciences. He graduated with a Masters degree in Sport Sciences in early 2011. While in Japan, David Wong (4th Dan), Akiyo Ellin (4th Dan), Karl Hitchcock (4th Dan) and Alicia Cavan (3rd Dan) looked after the club and continue to play an integral part in taking trainings and club administration.
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 a dojo on Lichfield Street, the same year in which the club celebrated it's 20th anniversary. Unfortunately the September 4th earthquake in 2010 damaged the building and the club trained at various Community Centres around Christchurch. This difficult time prompted Alex to get the club he started back on it's feet, and he bought a warehouse on Blenheim Road to be converted into a dojo. After a year with no fixed abode, the club entered a new era on October 2011, with the completion of a purpose built floor at the Blenheim Road dojo - the first dedicated Kendo dojo in the South Island.