A husband and wife combination have won the top individual titles at the national Kendo champs in Invercargill.
The Japanese martial art of is based on the sword fighting techniques of the samurai warriors and is a bit tougher than western fencing.
Kendo fighters use a bamboo sword to try and land hits on their opponent and a valid strike must carry the same force as a sword cutting through samurai armour.
Men's champion Hisashi Ikemoto's wife Il Soo had planned originally to sign up for judo, but was intrigued by the sounds coming from the club upstairs.
"I heard this really loud screaming coming out, and I went up there and I looked at it and it looked so great. So I just instantly joined," she says.
That was four years ago and this weekend Ikemoto coached his wife to her first senior women's title.
And while there's no mixed fights at the national champs, the couple do get the odd matchup.
And Ikemoto made it the double this weekend, taking out the men's title.
The warrior couple are expected to represent New Zealand at the Kendo World Champs in Brazil later this year.
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