It may not have been the Olympics, but 16-year-old Max Lee still travelled to Europe last month to be the youngest person ever to represent New Zealand at the Japanese fencing version of the Olympics - the World Kendo Championships - in Italy.
Max Lee is the youngest New Zealand ever to compete at the World Kendo Championships. Photo: Supplied / New Zealand Kendo Federation
Born and raised in Wellington, he has been training at the Rembuden Kendo Club since he was 10.
"It's a very exciting sport, but especially with the use of the shinai, which is the bamboo sword, I think that just makes it a bit more unique compared to other sports," Lee said.
Kendo is a noisy and physically explosive martial art, employing bamboo swords to strike parts of the body covered in armour.
New Zealand has been competing at the World Kendo Championships since 1977, and Lee's selection was sealed when he cleaned up at the National Championships in May, where he beat competitors twice his age to win gold medals in the Men's Open, Men's Team and Kata competitions.
"Coming into the competition I wasn't sure what to expect and on the first day I realised, woah, like this is actually really big and seeing all the competitors, like top competitors from other countries, it was just like wow, like I was quite speechless."
It is almost no surprise how good he is as Max comes from a Kendo dynasty.
His dad, Martin Lee, has taught at the Rembuden Kendo Club for more than 20 years.
He also just passed an austere grade of 7th dan - becoming the fifth man in New Zealand to do so.
"I started kendo about the age of 26. I'd been working for a while. I was getting a little bit unfit in an office job, so I was searching for something that would improve my physical fitness," Martin said.
His mum, Sachiyo Lee, has also represented New Zealand at the World Kendo Championships before.
She even won a coveted Fighting Spirit award in 2003.
Max Lee (right) with his father Martin Lee and mother Sachiyo Lee. Photo: RNZ / Pretoria Gordon
"Myself and Sachiyo, we're quite well grounded and Kendo teaches us to be quite modest. So we're not really accustomed to talking about our own or club members' successes. So that's the same with Max," Martin said.
"We are obviously very proud parents in terms of his results at the world champs. We're not accomplished at necessarily talking about it, but he's done fantastically well."
Sachiyo said she and Martin were "very, very lucky" that Max loved kendo just as much as they did.
"I was always wishing one day he would want to compete there [at the World Kendo Championships]," she said.
Max Lee in action. Photo: Supplied / New Zealand Kendo Federation
"The good thing is he loves kendo and he enjoys training with us. And he understands what our expectations are as well. He's a very hard worker. And then when he performed at the world champs, he performed very well."
New Zealand Kendo Federation chair Sue Lytollis said Max was one to watch.
"His dedication as a young person, and commitment to kendo is really inspiring. And he's very, I think the word is polite and humble, which is actually a very good attribute in kendo. So he's not full of ego. He goes in there, he does the job, and he gets it done," she said.
Max Lee and Martin Lee. Photo: RNZ / Pretoria Gordon
Lytollis hoped kendo would become a more popular sport in New Zealand.
"When you're Max and you start at a very young age, you can just go on to great things. But the thing about kendo is it's not just about competitions, it's about your inner self. Being able to be combative can be very strengthening and liberating for people.
"So it can really help you and your confidence in life. If you think, I can go and fight blokes who are twice my size and half my age, and how does that translate into a challenge that you might have in your life? Why should you let that get you down? You can use that training to take into other challenges in your life."
Max is already preparing to compete again at the 20th World Kendo Championships in 2027 - training every Tuesday and Thursday after school, and again every Saturday.
