Search
Recommended Products
Related Links


 

 

Informative Articles

Before You Buy That Self Defense Product
Self-defense products are gaining in popularity because they are effective against attacks, and they don’t take as much time to learn. Martial arts or other self-defense courses are great to learn, but for many people, they take too much time to...

Black Belts And Good Wine
A few days ago I was sitting at my terrace with some friends talking about the warrior ways whilst having a glass of wine. I like to have a good glass of wine now and then and especially when it is a Spanish red wine. I was looking at the colour of...

British Aikido Board National Nepotism Seminar
The British Aikido Board Disastrous National Nepotism Seminar 2004 – 99 Students By Henry Ellis ( BAB Founder member - now resigned ) For many years The British Aikido Board ( BAB ) have shown no interest whatsoever in the true history of...

Choosing The Right Self Defense Class
You just had a close call - you were waiting for the bus after staying at work late. The neighborhood gets a little rough after hours and a suspicious character approached you. Before things could escalate, a handful of people joined you at the...

Positive Aikido the Book
Positive Aikido OUT NOW! > Now available on from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk > Derek Eastman - Aikido instructor helps write book - Click Here > Bracknell Standard newspaper visits local dojo - Click Here To Order this book from within the UK...

 
Google
Kendo: A summary

http://www.international-kendo.com

Kendo, which literally means "way of the sword", is the Japanese art of fencing. Kendo was created by the samurai during the Kamakura period (1180-1230) so they could hone their skills without killing each other. It was originally grounded in Zen Buddhism. The teachings of kendo helped the samurai learn to disregard their own lives in the heat of battle. This is one of the main reasons it is considered the way of the sword.

Kendo was originally called kenjutsu however, as a result of the world war, Japan had to change its name to kendo. It is also known in some cultures (mainly korean) as kumdo. Kumdo is essentially kendo without the ettiquite and with different terminology.

In kendo there are 4 basic targets, the goal being to disarm/kill your opponent in one hit. The basic targets are the head (men), hand (kote), stomach (do), and finally, the throat (tsuki). There are combinations of the hits, one example


being "kote-men", in which you "cut off" their hand and cut their head open immediatly after.

In kumdo the targets are the same. However, kenjutsu is more of a "no rule/kill your enemy/not a sport" art.In kenjutsu, unlike kendo, it is not uncommon to "spar" with 4 or 5 people at a time.

Ettiquete is a very big part of kendo; kendoka must bow upon entering and leaving the dojo and must show respect to their sempai (older students including sensei).

Kendo, unlike other martial arts, has no external signs of rank. In order to know what rank another kendoka is, you must keiko against them and judge their skill. There there are 2 sets or rank: the Kyu (lower ranks) and the Dan (black belt). A kendoka starts at 1 Kyu and climbs up the kendo ladder to the 8 Dan mark.

About the author:

http://www.internationa l-kendo.com is an up and comming kendo site with a wealth of information.