Irish Kendo’s founder and ex KnhÈ President and Chairman, Mr. Peter Sherriff, 3rd Dan has passed away this weekend.

Peter was my first teacher and he was a great inspiration to progress in Kendo and to overcome my personal demons in life.

For over 15 years he has pushed and pushed kendo and is responsible for where we are today. He stepped down from the KnhÈ Committee to care for his brother, (after more than a decades service) and has only recently been unable to attend normal keiko due to his own deteriorating health.

He will be sadly missed and well remembered as a kind and considerate man and great teacher in “the way”.
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One day without keiko, your body knows.
Two days, your opponent knows.
Three days, the audience knows.

His work and in particular his role in bringing Yanai Sensei to Ireland is much appreciated and will not be forgotten.

Lets keep him in mind for the upcoming IIGT preparations

May he rest in peace

Last edited by JC on 20 Jan 2009 12:45 pm; edited 1 time in total

he was a great teacher
and did a lot for irish kendo,
from his work with the Cork club,
starting up the goodwill and national championships ,
organising the federation getting it affiliated with the EKF/IKF,
organising teams to go the european championships
and loads more besides.

I’ll never forget that trip to the EKC in Lourdes with the first irish team that he organised. Happy days!

Anyone know anything about his funeral arrangements?
will it be in Cork, or back in Nottingham?
———————————————————-
shane O’Brien

Martin M.

//Henric
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Henric
“Brothers, what we do in life… echoes in eternity.”
http://www.dublinkendo.com

Brendan
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It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.

We will never forget…

M.
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“…Shinai is a sword pointing towards your opponent and at the same time is a sword pointing yourself…”

Last edited by NotBarbie on 20 Jan 2009 09:01 pm; edited 1 time in total

Could anybody email Pete’s French pals and maybe Sumi Sensei (via Honda Sensei perhaps) to pass on the bad news?

Please check your PM

Peter, to me was legend, a great teacher(my introduction to Kendo) and a deep down soft hearted person. He had a great way about him and that conbined with his sense of humour, will be greatly missed.

It is a pity he was unaware of how well the Irish did in Barcelona last weekend – he would have been extremely proud!

We’re thinking of you Peter
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Think or Thwim

I’ll never forget his intelligent pep talks he would give me before shiai,

and ill always remember the trips we had,

May he Rest In Peace.
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BANG!

And THEN He Said Kote

Benedict

Kind regards

Geoff Salmon
Chairman
British Kendo Association
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Henric
“Brothers, what we do in life… echoes in eternity.”
http://www.dublinkendo.com

Thanks in advance

I have sent you a Private Message with a couple of e-mail addresses, let me know if you have received it

Peter was not just a great influence on Irish Kendo, lets remember (and for the newer members please take note) that for many a long dark year Peter was Irish Kendo he persevered when most others would have given up, trying to pass on his passion for the art to a generally uninterested general public, training in broken down halls turning up on rainy nights when nobody bothered to show and getting people to a competent level just to have them pack it in. Admittedly little may have changed for some of you running clubs these days but youre not alone any more as there is an internationally recognized organization which he was instrumental in forming to stand behind us all.

Along with Vinnie he worked incredibly hard to get Kendo to where it is today and the level of knowledge and skill present in the country now is a testament to their passion and personality. He tried his best to embed the true kendo spirit into our psyche and taught us kendo was not just about scoring points that there is a style and passion that you must embrace to be a good Kendoka

He stood tough for many years as we embarrassed him with our less than professional attitudes infront of the great and good of kendo and he took a lot of stick on our behalf. But he continued to pass on his knowledge and continued to mould us into what we are as a group and to some respect who we are as individuals.

Irish Kendo was Peters baby, he felt incredibly proud of it at all times and hated to see it harmed or its image tarnished. Over the years many of its members had run-ins with him because it might have been felt he was over protective, but he always wanted the best and we must always remember that we in Kendo na hEireann (the name itself was a joke Peter was trying to play on the BKA) owe all to his strength and vision.

Apologies for the rambling nature of the post I havent really come to terms with the loss of a friend and a mentor. I have been amiss in keeping contact with him for the last few years and hope that nobody thinks I am saying too much here but I was surprised how much his passing has effected me and I would just like to remeber him among friends.

Im in Spain at the moment and wont be back in time for the funeral so in his honour Im going to go and have a pint of fine wine, let out a big fart and tell the world to f*** off hopefully carry it off with a sly smile and a fraction of the wry wit I will remember him for.

Sayonara dude, and try not to bore St Peter or the Devil with too many stories of the perfect kote

Jason Byrne
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Oh I do like to be beside the seaside

Last edited by littlejase on 23 Jan 2009 04:54 am; edited 1 time in total

He was the backbone of Kendo in Ireland, brought us to many tournaments and did his best always to keep things going.

I think the memorial cup is a good idea.

Sympathies to his family and friends. I will never forget him.

Warren.

I think the one memory i will never forget was one of the first days i got to wear bogu, and i came up against Peter in shiai. I wasnt sure what to expect but i had a pretty good inclination i could beat him on speed, so lunged forward for men, but Peter caught me with a shattering DO knocking me off balance. And before i could figure out what happened, he raised his hands and caught me with a tremendous DO to the opposite side of my stomach. I was on the receiving side of this combo many a time and its not something many people do, im pretty sure the second Do was just Peter making sure I had learned my lesson.

Eoin Thomas

P.S. What is the story with the service tomorrow, are people going to the crematorium for 11 or earlier?

Eoin, I think some will go down for 10am and other will go down slightly before the service. I think around the 10:30 mark would be safe.
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One day without keiko, your body knows.
Two days, your opponent knows.
Three days, the audience knows.

It was a great oppotunity when I talked with Irish Kendo funder, Peter sensei.
It was quite short time but I was impressed by his kindness and deepness.

I appreciate that I met you, Peter sensei, I will never forget you.

Hisano

Instructor/Monitor: a gifted communicator, capable of showing students the way to progress through the complete understanding of Kendo techniques.

Master/master instructor/pedagogue: Not only shows others and his students how to progress in the practice of kendo, his teaching promotes self-improvement for the student.

Guide/master/guru/mentor/professor: is considered to be a person whose teaching ability in Kendo is of the highest value, but is not only capable of showing his students a way of self improvement, he is also capable of allowing his students to supplement progress in their society, giving a positive benefit and contribution to the society he/she belongs to.
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Bun bu ichi
ぶんぶ-
Pen and Sword in Accord
(Words And Actions Are One)