Kendo

Kendo Clubs
in Peterborough

Kendo, or “way of the sword”, is a physically and mentally challenging activity that combines strong martial arts values with sporting-like physical elements. This is the modern Japanese martial art of sword fighting based on traditional Japanese swordsmanship, or Kenjutsu, using bamboo swords (shinai) and protective clothing, and embodies the essence of Japanese fighting arts.

Since the earliest samurai government in Japan, during the Kamakura period (1185-1233), sword fencing, together with horse riding and archery, were the main martial pursuits of the military clans. In this period, kendo developed under the strong influence of Zen Buddhism. The samurai could equate the disregard for his own life in the heat of battle, which was considered necessary for victory in individual combat, to the Buddhist concept of the illusory nature of the distinction between life and death.

Those swordsmen established schools of kenjutsu (the ancestor of “kendo”) which continued for centuries and which form the basis of kendo practice today. The names of the schools reflect the essence of the originator’s enlightenment. The formal kendo exercises known as kata were developed several centuries ago as kenjutsu practice for warriors and are still studied today, albeit in a modified form.

The introduction of bamboo practice swords (shinai) and armour (bogu) to “ken” training is attributed to Naganuma Sir?zaemon Kunisato during the Shotoku Era (1711-1715). Naganuma developed the use of kendo-gu (bogu) (protective equipment) and established a training method using the shinai. This is believed to be the foundation of modern kendo. Kendo began to make its modern appearance during the late 18th century.

Use of the shinai and armour (bogu) made possible the full force delivery of strikes and thrusts without inflicting injury on the opponent. These advances, along with practice formats, set the foundations of modern kendo.

Concepts such as mushin, or “empty mind” as professed by exponents of Zen, are an essential attainment for high level kendo. Fudoshin, or “unmoving mind”, is a conceptual attribute of the deity Fudo Myo-O, one of the five “Kings of Light” of Shingon Buddhism. Fudoshin, implies that the kendoka cannot be led astray by delusions of anger, doubt, fear, or surprise arising from the opponent’s actions. Thus today it is possible to embark on a similar quest for spiritual enlightenment as followed by the samurai of old.

The Dai Nippon Butoku Kai was established in 1895 to solidify, promote, and standardise all martial disciplines and systems in Japan. The DNBK changed the name of Gekiken (Ky?jitai; Shinjitai: ”hitting sword”) to kendo in 1920. Kendo (along with other martial arts) was banned in Japan in 1946 by the occupying powers.

This was part of “the removal and exclusion from public life of militaristic and ultra nationalistic persons” in response to the wartime militarization of martial arts instruction in Japan. Kendo was allowed to return to the curriculum in 1950 (first as Shinai Kyougi “Shinai Competition” and then as Kendo from 1952).

Kendo is practiced wearing traditionally styled clothing and protective armour (b?gu), using one or two bamboo swords (shinai) as weapons. Kendo is sometimes seen as Japanese sword fencing, however, the movements in kendo are different from European fencing because the design of the sword is different, as is the way it is used.

Unlike western style fencing, kendo employs strikes with a defined ‘edge’ and tip of the shinai. Kendo training is quite noisy in comparison to other martial arts or sports.because kend?ka use a shout, or kiai, to express their spirit, and when a strike or cut is performed, the front foot contacts the floor in a motion similar to stomping, called fumikomi-ashi. Practitioners of kendo are called kendoka, meaning “one who practices kendo”, or kenshi, meaning “swordsman”.

There are estimates that about six million people world-wide practice either Kendo, with approximately four million in Japan, one million in Korea, and more in Europe and the United States. The “Kodansha Meibo” (a register of dan graded members of the All Japan Kendo Federation) shows that as of January 2003, there were 1.3 million registered dan graded kendo practitioners in Japan. The number of kendo players not yet graded to a dan level is not included: those kendoka would outnumber considerably the dan graded players.
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