Vietnam Kendo Championship 2025: Bringing together 250 athletes in its first season.

From November 20-23, the matches of the 2025 Vietnam Kendo Championship will take place in Tam Chuc (Ninh Binh).

The Vietnam Kendo Championship 2025 (AVKC 2025) is the first national championship organized by the Vietnam Kendo Federation (VKF), aiming to build a solid professional foundation for Kendo in Vietnam. The event serves as both a competition for top athletes and an opportunity to systematize the organizational process according to international standards: from athlete qualification assessment and ranking to refereeing. Inviting two 8th-dan Hanshi to directly supervise and judge the competition demonstrates the VKF's commitment to ensuring accuracy in technical and tactical content and consistency in rules.

In its inaugural edition, AVKC 2025 brought together 250 athletes from 23 clubs across the country.

In its inaugural edition, AVKC 2025 brings together 250 athletes from 23 clubs across the country. This number partly reflects the scale of the movement's development after many years of building. With 25 international referees assisting in the officiating, the tournament aims to create a new benchmark for domestic competitions in terms of both competitiveness and professional quality.

The primary goal of AVKC 2025 is to standardize the skill level of athletes, coaches, and referees according to the FIK criteria framework. When technical rules, training methods, and match management are standardized, the movement will have a solid foundation to rise to continental and world levels.

The next goal is to expand the movement nationwide, encouraging localities to establish new clubs and cultivate a new generation of leaders. Through professional exchanges and sharing of lesson plans, VKF hopes that each club will become a "support base" for systematic training, connected to the overall network.

Furthermore, the tournament aims to promote cultural exchange through martial arts and strengthen professional cooperation with international organizations. Through this, the image of Vietnamese Kendo will be more clearly defined, facilitating the invitation of experts, sending referees for training, and participating in regional championships as part of the integration process.

The tournament will take place from November 20-23 in Ninh Binh.

According to the plan, on November 21st, the promotion examination from 1st Dan to 3rd Dan, recognized by the International Kendo Federation (FIK), will take place under the professional supervision of Higashi Yoshimi Sensei, Hanshi 8th Dan, Head Coach of the Japanese Kendo Team at the 19th World Kendo Championships.

The exam fully adheres to the steps of document verification, eligibility assessment, technical evaluation, and results announcement according to a transparent process. Holding the exam in Vietnam minimizes travel costs and time for candidates, while also providing leverage for clubs to build a roadmap for upgrading their standards domestically.

On November 22nd and 23rd, the competition events took place according to VKF regulations and FIK rules. The Organizing Committee arranged all necessary functional areas including warm-up areas, competition areas, medical areas, etc., and established a standardized procedure for receiving complaints and handling technical issues. The drawing of lots, scheduling, and updating of results used a single data system to ensure continuity and synchronization between categories, allowing teams to proactively plan their tactics and prepare physically.

The Vietnam Kendo Federation (VKF) was established with the mission of promoting the Kendo movement nationwide, standardizing training, promotion exams, and organizing domestic competitions. The VKF represents the Vietnamese Kendo community in international cooperation, working with professional organizations to bring athletes, referees, and coaches closer to global standards. In its initial phase, the VKF prioritizes building an internal legal framework, training human resources, and perfecting its performance data system.

AVKC 2025 is a concrete step in realizing the aforementioned strategy. By connecting the club network, inviting leading experts to participate in supervision, and setting organizational standards, VKF hopes to form a sustainable development cycle: practitioners have a clear path to advancement, clubs have reference training plans, and the movement has a transparent measure of ability across seasons.

Source: https://bvhttdl.gov.vn/giai-vo-dich-kendo-viet-nam-2025-quy-tu-250-vdv-trong-mua-giai-dau-tien-2025111714330617.htm