Sensei Ray Kennedy joined the Ryerson Karate Club as one of 60 new white belts in October 1972, while he was a student at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute and he currently holds a 6th Degree Black Belt.One of the most memorable occasions in his early career was when he went with Sensei Dave Manara to Niagara Falls for a seminar with Sensei Ohtsuka Hironori, who was then on a world tour.
In 1982 Sensei Ray Kennedy was the North American Wado-Ryu Kata Champion. This championship was shown on T.V. on the Wide World of Sports program. He also placed 2nd in Black Belt sparring at the time.
In 1979 Ray started a karate club at the Neil McNeil High School (where he teaches math and physics) and the club continued until 1995.
Sensei Ray Kennedy started practicing Kendo in 1979 at the Toka Budokan Kendo Club in Toronto. He has participated in kendo tournaments here in Toronto and in New York City. Since the instructor of Toka Budokan returned to Japan in 1996, Ray has been practicing at the Toronto Kendo Club in downtown Toronto.
November 1997
