Mens Team
James Wright
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James Wright
James Wright, 22, started kendo at the age of six at Wakaba Kendo Club. He joined the Great Britain squad at 16 years old and has since represented his country at both junior and senior levels across Europe and the world. He currently holds the grade of 4th Dan and is a Master’s student at UCL.
James has represented Great Britain at the European Kendo Championships in 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025, as well as the World Kendo Championships in 2024. His results include silver in the junior individuals at the 2019 Europeans, Best 8 in the men’s individuals at the 2023 Europeans, where he also received the Fighting Spirit Award, and Best 8 in the men’s individuals at the 2024 World Championships, again earning the Fighting Spirit Award. Most recently, in 2025, he achieved silver in the men’s individuals at the European Championships. In teams, he also reached the Best 8 at the European Championships in 2022 and 2023.
To further his development, James trains in Japan every year at Tsukuba University, Kokushikan University, and with the Metropolitan Police Kendo Tokuren, continuing to refine his skills and gain experience against some of the strongest kendo practitioners in the world. With nearly two decades of dedication to the art, James remains committed to competing at the highest level and contributing to the success of Team GB on the international stage.
Konradas Rukas
Konradas Rukas
Konradas Rukas, 25, started kendo at the age of four at Wakaba Kendo Club. He joined the Great Britain squad at 15 years old and has since represented his country at both junior and senior levels across Europe and the world. He is currently 4th Dan and works as a Cyber Security Consultant.
Konradas has represented Great Britain at the European Kendo Championships in 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, as well as the World Kendo Championships in 2024. His results include being second place individuals 2022 Europeans, best 8 in individuals Europeans 2023 and best 8 in the men’s individuals at the 2024 World Championships.
To further his development, Konradas trains in Japan every year at Kokushikan University and the Metropolitan Police Kendo Squad, continuing to refine his skills and gain experience against some of the strongest kendo practitioners in the world. Konradas remains committed to competing at the highest level and contributing to the success of the Team GB on the international stage.
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Rick Collins
Rick Collins
Rick Collins, 31, started kendo at the age of 9 at Shozankan Kendo Club, Birmingham, and now trains at Wakaba Kendo Club, London. He has represented the GB Team since 2010 in multiple European and World Championships, holds the rank of 5th Dan and works professionally as a machine learning research engineer.
Rick travels regularly to Japan to train with elite teams, with annual trips to the Osaka Police team over the last decade where he has had the opportunity to develop his Kendo alongside multiple World and All Japan champions.
Alongside his national team commitments, he has been active in the UK university kendo circuit, from leading the Oxford University team to UK university championship titles to more recently having been a part of the King’s College London Kendo Club coaching team.
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Womens Team
Tatiana Nishizono-Miller
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Tatiana Nishizono-Miller
Profile:
Tatiana, aged 25, started practicing kendo when she was 11 years old at the Japanese School in London. She became active in national and international competitions during university, and has since won medals at various competitions including the UK University Taikai, Mumeishi Competition, Welsh Open, and most recently at the Aki Taikai in France.
She trains regularly at Wakaba Kendo Club and has represented GB on multiple occasions. She is very excited to compete alongside her teammates at the upcoming EKC.
Sayaka Zalewska
Sayaka Zelewska
Name- Sayaka Zalewska
Sayaka began practicing Kendo at the age of 5, guided by her parents, who are both experienced Kendo instructors based in Kent. At 14, she started taking her training more seriously by attending squad practices, which marked the beginning of her competitive journey. Since then, Sayaka has traveled extensively across Europe and Japan — her mother’s home country — to participate in competitions and join regular training sessions, deepening both her skills and passion for Kendo.
She is currently a Kendo 2-dan, attending high school in Japan, where she continues to learn the Japanese language and culture while training in Kendo both inside and outside of school.
Achievements:
2024 Mumeishi Junior (15–17) — Fighting Spirit Award
2025 Sakura Cup, Hungary — Fighting Spirit Award
2025 European Kendo Championships (EKC) — Junior Team Gold Medal
2025 European Kendo Championships (EKC) — Junior Women’s Individual Bronze Medal
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Rosie Ogle
Rosie Ogle
Name – Rosanna Ogle, Grade – 5th Dan
Member of the GB team in:
2015 WKC – Japan
2018 WKC – Korea
2024 WKC – Italy
2014 EKC – France
2016 EKC – Macedonia
2017 EKC – Hungary
2019 EKC – Serbia
2022 EKC – Germany
2023 EKC – France
2025 EKC – Netherlands (Captain)
Rosie started kendo at university and then travelled to Japan regularly to also train with Sotaro Honda sensei over the years and practice with the Fukuoka Tokuren more recently.
Rosie co-runs Denshinkan dojo in Cardiff with James and also teaches at Akai Ryuu dojo and is the women’s coach for kendo in Cardiff..
Rosie is the first GB woman to ever place for a top 2 medal at the European championships!
Past Achievements:
Individuals:
2022 European Championships Silver Medal
3 x British Women’s Champion
3 x Welsh open women’s individuals gold
2 x Mumeishi women’s gold
British Open gold
University Taikai Dan grade silver
Midlands regional shiai gold and silver
London cup silver
EKC 2025 – best 8 in individuals
Teams:
Bowden Taikai gold, silver and bronze
Army Taikai gold, silver and bronze
Welsh open gold, silver and bronze
Tonbo cup gold and bronze
Masters Taikai silver
Northern Open bronze
Prague open bronze
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Nanami Takahashi
Nanami Takahashi
Nanami, age 22, started kendo at university after moving to the UK. She trains at Wakaba Kendo Club, and currently is 2 Dan grade. She has competed regularly in national and international competitions, winning medals in UK University Taikai, Mumeishi individuals, British Open, and French Open.
It is Nanami’s first time to be on the team, and she is looking forward to work with everyone to bring good results!
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