In February 1999 the hunt for somewhere to train started. It was important to find the right place, somewhere with atmosphere and the old community hall in Stratford was perfect. It was reasonable to rent, had wooden floors and lots of windows (gets real hot when you are training). I also loved the wooden floors as this is how we trained in the UK. No mats or carpets as these give a false sense of security. 

Next, I needed some students (very important). I didn't have the funds for a large advertising campaign, nor did I wish to do one, so a word with the friendly editor at the local paper (Stratford Press) gave me a small write up with my phone number included (free). 

And so the fateful day, 18th March 1999 I opened the doors, put on my best Gi and waited. Of course I had been here before so I didn't expect 100 people knocking the door down. The movies show Dojo bursting at the seams with students while in real life this is not the case. I would be happy to have 6 hard core students after a few months. Stratford is only a small town, in fact the smallest I have ever lived in let alone opened a Dojo in.

Well, could have been worse, I start with 2 students, both of whom (in a very male dominated area) are women. About 10 other people turned up to watch and 3 of these were from other martial arts groups.
The following week sees a new student, Steve, so now there are 3. A little disappointing, so I draft up some posters on the PC and put them up in shop windows. Week 5 sees yet another woman,   joining the Dojo (75% women). The phone starts to ring, not a lot, but a few times.

5th May 1999 (week 8) and we are up to 13 students, now this is pretty good for the short time the Dojo has been open. We still have no equipment and no Gi's (very hard to get in New Zealand) but everyone is having fun.

7th June 1999 (week 13) and I have the amazing number of 29 students (4 women), its getting crowded and we may have to move home.
14th June 1999 sees our first Bo lesson. Did I sense people beginning to realise just how much this Ninjutsu involved? It's also cold and raining (winter in New Zealand), do or die time for a new Dojo as its much easier for people to stay home and watch TV than to brave the ellements. .

July 1999 and the Dojo still growing. Having said that I never get a full class of all the registered members (36) but I do have a solid core of 12 students who attend every class without fail. This sounds small but in real Dojo terms, for a town of only 3000 people its not bad.

On July 18th 1999 we had our first grading and the following people passed 9th Kyu:-
Sue Cook
Joanne Hodgson
Jonathan Hodgson
Marc Woodhead
Kane Nichols
Thomas Balsley
Steve McEwan
Brian Hamblyn

It was a shame (but not unexpected) that some people who were not allowed to grade, due to the fact that they had not put in enough class time, did not appear again after the grading. Students must realise that they have to work hard for their rankings in a propely run Dojo and that grades can not be bought in my Dojo.  

The search is now on for a building that I can turn into a full time Dojo. The place that I had wanted to buy and that I had been told would be available has now become strangely unavailable. It seems all is fair in love and business. I had hoped that we would be up and running full time within 2 weeks but now it will be as and when the right place turns up.

We have our first seminar coming up on the 15th of August and the training will involve Dakentaijutsu, Jutaijutsu, Sword Binding, Kenjutsu, Bojutsu, and Kusari-Fundo.
I have been asked to take a seminar in Tauranaga in September that should introduce our Dojo to other Ninjutsu groups and also other martial arts.

September 1999 and the seminar in Tauranga was successful except for the lack of show by the other Ninjutsu groups from the area who had promised to come but must have been scared off for some reason. It is hoped that we will be able to visit more Ninjutsu Dojo in New Zealand as time goes by.
September also saw the trial of junior classes (which I had never done before as I only wanted to teach adults). These were reasonable successful and I had about 10 juniors join. I decided that I did not like the format of the junior classes and canceled them (after about 8 weeks) as I do not think that Ninjutsu can be properly taught to youngsters and I had to prove this to myself.

October 1999 sees people coming and going (usually the going is because I won't grade people who do not put the time in and they want to get a black belt in 6 months). Talking of gradings.. The following people passed a grading held on 30 October.
9th Kyu : Gwenna Finiken.
8th Kyu : Sue Cook, Marc Woodhead, Joanne Hodgson, Jonathon Hodgson, Kane Nichols, Thomas Balsley, Brian Hamblyn.

November 1999 and things are hotting up. The training is getting harder and we are now open another night a week for weapons training. We were scheduled to have a return seminar taken by our Tauranga friends from Evolution Martial Arts but unfortunately this has been called off so I am doing a "pot luck" seminar on the 27th. We are moving to a new Dojo on 22nd November. 

22nd November 1999 and we move to a new Dojo. It's about the same size and the old one but a lot cleaner. It feels right and thats a good thing. The setting is ideal. We have lots of grass and trees around us and a river running by.

September 2000 and we have been open for one and a half years. We are opening our new Dojo in New Plymouth on Wednesday 4th October. New Plymouth is a much bigger town than Stratford with many other martial arts being taught.
The guys are excited as it means we will have new people to play with.

October 2000 sees the New Plymouth Dojo open and attracts 12 new students on the first night. So the next major step has been completed. We also moved to a new Dojo (once again) in Stratford.

July 2001 Time moves on and we only have 4 of the original students left but as some go others join, such is the way of things.

2008 onwards > Many years have now passed and we are growing all the time. We are looking forward to our 10th aniversary next year and I am very lucky to have such dedicated students.