Kendo
Kendo is a modern Japanese martial art, descended from kenjutsu, that uses bamboo swords as well as protective armor. It began as samurai warriors' customary swordsmanship exercises, and today, it is widely practiced within Japan and has spread to many other nations across the world.
History
in Japan established schools of kenjutsu. These continued for centuries and form the basis of kendo practice today. Formal kendo exercises known as kata were developed several centuries ago as kenjutsu practice for warriors. They are still studied today, in a modified form.The introduction of bamboo practice swords and armor to sword training is attributed to Naganuma Shirōzaemon Kunisato during the Shotoku Era. Naganuma developed the use of this armor and established a training method using bamboo swords.
Yamada Heizaemon Mitsunori, third son of Naganuma and the eighth headmaster of the Kashima Shinden Jikishinkage-ryū Kenjutsu, is credited with improving the art with Japanese wooden and bamboo swords, according to his gravestone's inscription. He is also credited with refining the armor by adding a metal grille to the headpiece and thick cotton protective coverings to the gauntlets that cover the wrists and hands. Naganuma Sirozaemon Kunisato inherited the tradition from his father, Heizaemon, in 1708, and the two of them collaborated to improve what would become modern kendo training armor.
Shūsaku Narimasa Chiba 2=千葉 周作 成政, founder of the Hokushin Ittō-ryū Hyōhō, introduced gekiken to the curriculum of tradition arts in the 1820s. Due to the large number of students of the Hokushin Ittō-ryū Hyōhō at the end of the Edo period, the use of bamboo swords and armor as a form of practice became popular. Modern kendo techniques, such as Suriage-Men and Oikomi-Men, were originally Hokushin Ittō-ryū techniques, were named by Chiba Shūsaku. After the Meiji Restoration in the late 1800s, Sakakibara Kenkichi popularized public gekiken for commercial gain, resulting in increased interest in kendo and kenjutsu.
In 1876, five years after a voluntary surrender of swords, the government banned the use of swords by the surviving samurai and initiated sword hunts. Meanwhile, in an attempt to standardize the sword styles used by policemen, Kawaji Toshiyoshi recruited swordsmen from various schools to come up with a unified swordsmanship style. This led to the rise of the Battotai, consisting mainly of sword-wielding policemen. However, it proved difficult to integrate all sword arts, leading to a compromise of ten practice moves for police training. This integration effort led to the development of modern kendo. In 1878, Kawaji wrote a book on swordsmanship, Gekiken Saikō-ron, stressing sword styles should not disappear with modernization, but should be integrated as necessary skills for the police. He draws a particular example from his experience with the Satsuma Rebellion. The Junsa Kyōshūjo, founded in 1879, provided a curriculum that allowed policemen to study gekiken during their off-hours. In the same year, Kawaji wrote another book on swordsmanship, Kendo Saikō-ron, defending the significance of such sword art training for the police. While Junsa Kyōshūjo remained active only until 1881, the police continued to support such practice.
File:Lee Teng-hui younger.jpg|thumb|upright|Lee Teng-hui, later President of Republic of China, wearing kendo protector as a junior high school student in Japanese Taiwan
The Dai Nippon Butoku Kai was established in 1895 to promote martial arts in Japan. It changed the name of the sporting form of swordsmanship, gekiken, to kendō in 1920.
Kendo 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. The DNBK was also disbanded. Kendo was allowed to return to the curriculum in 1950, first as "shinai competition" and then as kendo in 1952.
The All Japan Kendo Federation was founded in 1952, immediately after Japan's independence was restored and the ban on martial arts in Japan was lifted. It was formed on the principle of kendo not as a martial art, but as educational sport and it has continued to be practiced as such.
The International Kendo Federation was founded in April 1970. It is an international federation of national and regional kendo federations, and the world governing body for kendo. The FIK is a non-governmental organization, and it aims to promote and popularize kendo, iaido and jodo.
The International Martial Arts Federation, established in Kyoto 1952, was the first international organization founded since World War II to promote the development of martial arts worldwide. Today, IMAF includes kendo as one of the Japanese disciplines.
Practitioners
Practitioners of kendo are called kendōka, meaning "someone who practices kendo", or occasionally kenshi, meaning "swordsman". Additionally, the old term of kendoists is sometimes used.The Kodansha Meibo, a register of dan graded members of the AJKF, lists 1.48 million registered dan graded kendōka in Japan. According to a survey conducted by AJKF, the number of active kendo practitioners in Japan is 477,000, including 290,000 dan holders. From these figures, AJKF estimates that the number of kendōka in Japan is 1.66 million, with over 6 million practitioners worldwide, with registered dan holders and active kendo practitioners without dan grade.
Concept and purpose
In 1975, the All Japan Kendo Federation developed and published "The Concept and Purpose of Kendo".Concept
Kendo is a way to discipline the human character through the application of the principles of the katana.Purpose
Equipment and clothing
Kendo is practiced wearing a traditional Japanese style of clothing, protective armor and using one or, less commonly two, shinai.Equipment
The shinai is meant to represent a Japanese sword and is made up of four bamboo slats which are held together by leather fittings. A modern variation of a shinai with carbon fiber reinforced resin slats is also used.Age Group Shinai Size
| Junior High School – 12–15 years | 114cm or less – Size 37 |
| Senior High School – 15–18 | 117cm or less – Size 38 |
| University & Adults – 18 years + | 120cm or less – Size 39 |
Kendōka also use hard wooden swords to practice kata.
Kendo employs strikes involving both one edge and the tip of the shinai or bokutō.
Protective armor is worn to protect specified target areas on the head, arms, and body. The head is protected by a stylized helmet, called, with a metal grille to protect the face, a series of hard leather and fabric flaps to protect the throat, and padded fabric flaps to protect the side of the neck and shoulders. The forearms, wrists, and hands are protected by long, thickly padded fabric gloves called. The torso is protected by a breastplate, while the waist and groin area are protected by the, consisting of three thick vertical fabric flaps or faulds.
Clothing
The clothing worn under the bōgu comprise a jacket and hakama, a garment separated in the middle to form two wide trouser legs.A cotton towel is wrapped around the head, under the men, to absorb perspiration and provide a base for the men to fit comfortably.
Modern practice
Kendo training is quite noisy in comparison to some other martial arts or sports. This is because kendōka use a shout, or, to express their fighting spirit when striking. Additionally, kendōka execute, an action similar to a stamp of the front foot, during a strike.Like some other martial arts, kendōka train and fight barefoot. Kendo is ideally practiced in a purpose-built dōjō, though standard sports halls and other venues are often used. An appropriate venue has a clean and wooden sprung floor, suitable for fumikomi-ashi.
Kendo techniques comprise both strikes and thrusts. Strikes are only made towards specified target areas on the wrists, head, or body, all of which are protected by armor. The targets are men, sayu-men or Yoko-men, the right kote at any time, the left kote when it is in a raised position, and the left or right side of the dō. Thrusts are only allowed to the throat. However, since an incorrectly performed thrust could cause serious injury to the opponent's neck, thrusting techniques in free practice and competition are often restricted to senior dan graded kendōka.
Once a kendōka begins practice in armor, a practice session may include any or all of the following types of practice:
;Kirikaeshi
;Waza-geiko
;Kakari-geiko
;Ji-geiko
;Gokaku-geiko
;Hikitate-geiko
;''Shiai-geiko''
Techniques
Techniques are divided into shikake-waza and ōji-waza. Kendōka who wish to use such techniques during practice or competitions often practice each technique with a motodachi. This is a process that requires patience. The kendōka and motodachi practice the technique slowly at first; as familiarity and confidence build, they increase the speed to the level used in matches and competitions.Shikake-waza
These attack techniques are used to create an opening in an opponent by initiating an attack, or striking boldly when the opponent has created an opening. Such techniques include:;Tobikomi-waza
This is a technique used when one's opponent has weak kisei or when they yield an opening under pressure. Always hold kisei and strike quickly.
;Hikibana-waza
Body and shinai will lose balance as the initiator strikes or when being attacked. This technique takes advantage of this to help execute a strike. A good example is Hikibana-kote when a strike is made to an opponent's kote as they feel threatened and raise their kensen as the initiator pushes forward.
;Katsugi-waza
This provides a surprise attack by lifting the shinai over the initiator's shoulder before striking. Here a skillful use of the kensen and spirited attack is crucial for effective katsugi-waza or luring the opponent into breaking their posture.
;Nidan-waza
There are two types. The first is for moving to the next waza after a failed first strike, and the second holds the opponent's attention and posture to create the opening for a second strike. The former requires a continuous rhythm of correct strikes. The latter requires continuous execution of waza, to take advantage of the opponent's opening.
;Harai-waza
This can be used if one's opponent's stance has no opening when the opponent tries to attack. The opponent's shinai is either knocked down from above or swept up from below with a resulting strike just when their stance is broken.
;Debana-waza
This technique involves striking the opponent as they are about to strike. This is because their concentration will be on striking and their posture will have no flexibility to respond. Thus debana-waza is ideal. This can be to any part of the opponent's body, with valid strikes being: debana-men, debana-kote, and debana-Tsuki.