The Way of the Sword
Kendo is a form of Japanese Martial Arts that is essentially a style of fencing derived from the Samurai in Japan. From the looks of it, Kendo appears forbidding as two people are dressed head to toe with armor. The black “hakama’ are wide pants. The “bogu”, body armor protects the torso, shoulders and part of the head. The “men” is a helmet with a metal grilled mask so there is a lot of protection in kendo. The last item is the sword, which is made of bamboo and called “shinai” or “boken”, meaning wooden swords.
Kendo dates back to the late 1100’s in ancient Japan as a method for training swordsmanship and evolved into a form of discipline, personal balance and agility through the influence of Zen Buddhism. In 1895, the Dai Nippon Butoku Kai was established to solidify and standarize martial disciplines and systems in Japan. The term, “Kendo” meaning the way of the sword became official in 1920. However, in 1946 after Japan lost World War II, all martial arts were banned by the United States. When U.S. occupation ended in 1952, the ban was lifted and the All Japan Kendo Federation was established and by 1957, Kendo was re-introduced as a part of the middle school curriculum. In 1970, AJKF became the International Kendo Federation that oversees the world wide sports competitions.
The concept of Kendo is to discipline the human character through the principles of the Samurai and katana. The essence of Kendo is to attain mental, spiritual and physical calmness with balance and harnessed physical prowess.