Kendo,“way of the sword,” is a traditional martial art of Japan. Like other Japanese martial arts such as judo, kendo was part of the training for the samurai class in feudal times. In 1868, kendo acquired a special significance; it helped to preserve the feudal samurai code, and with judo, shaped the character of the Japanese people as they came under Western influences.

History

The origins of kendo as an art of sword fighting go back more than 1,000 years (in feudal times it was called Kenjutsu, Kenpo, Toujutsu, and Heiho). As a sport it developed first in the middle of the 18^th century, when protective equipment and bamboo sticks were introduced by kendo master Chuzo Nakanishi between 1751 and 1763. This allowed fighting without bloodshed. In those days kendo was usually practiced by performing kata, formal attack, and parrying exercises with hard wooden or bladeless swords. For safety reasons, practice duels were impossible. Kendo’s role in society has dramatically changed since 1868, the start of the Meiji government, which abolished feudalism, including the samurai class, and promoted modernization and industrialization. Kendo became old-fashioned and out of place.Then, in 1879 it found a role in the police force,which mainly consisted of former samurai warriors.Wars with China and Russia (1894–1895 and 1904–1905 respectively) promoted kendo further. The army discovered kendo’s value on the battlefield through the hand-to-hand fighting during the Russo-Japanese War. The practice also became a convenient medium for the Japanese to express their desire for a continuity of the native culture, especially the samurai code, in the face of Western influences. In 1895 the Dai Nippon Butokukai (DNB) (Great Japan Military Virtue Association) was established to encourage kendo and other martial arts, and had a membership of 1,651,736 by 1910. Kendo was introduced into the secondary school curriculum in 1914 and became a compulsory subject in 1931.

Traditionalists saw kendo not as mere sport or recreation but as a system of spiritual discipline linked to nationalistic and militaristic ideologies. As a result, DNB formally adopted the name kendo in 1919. Increasingly, devotees were fascinated with the depth and complexity of kendo’s technique. In 1927 the DNB formalized the 11 articles of the rules of competition kendo. The sport began to take an organized, modern form, a trend reinforced by the growing numbers of student players, with the All Japan College Kendo Federation founded in 1928.As competitions developed in the 1920s and 1930s, the number of rank holders increased from 9,179 in 1930 to 86,429 in 1940. As militarism and fascism grew, especially after the start of the Sino-Japanese War in 1937, militarists and nationalists again promoted kendo for its martial virtues.Kendo became a compulsory subject in primary schools in 1941.

The use of real swords on the battlefield affected the technique of kendo, and in 1943 its rules were changed to revert to the art of real sword fighting. With Japan’s defeat in World War II and its occupation by the Allied Powers, kendo was banned and the DNB dissolved. Unlike judo and kyudo (Japanese archery), kendo was not permitted during the Occupation, because it had encouraged militant nationalism and trained soldiers for sword fighting. Not until 1952 was the All Japan Kendo Federation (AJKF) established and the All Japan College Kendo Federation revived. All-Japan championships started in 1953. It was revived as a “new democratic sport” freed from ideological control,with efforts to devise more rational rules to develop it as a modern sport. Kendo lost some practitioners who objected to kendo as mere sport. It was returned to the curriculum of high schools in 1953, and junior high schools in 1957. The development of women’s kendo began after World War II, and its growth has quickened since the 1970s. Since 1978, 40 percent of the membership of high school kendo clubs has been female.

Rules and Play

Kendo players score a point by a blow or thrusting to the designated protected target areas with the Shinai (bamboo stick). Compared to other martial arts, the target areas are very limited: the head above the temple, either side of the trunk, and the right forearm at waist level and both forearms when both hands are raised. The only thrust is made to the throat. Scoring is not decided merely by the power of the strike.When striking the targets, the blow must be made with the top third of the Shinai and on the side opposite the cord, its power must be controlled within limits,and it must be accompanied by the step and the designated call. Contests normally last five minutes. The first to score two out of three points wins. Older people are among the most skillful players; they excel at anticipating opponent’s moves to create an open target. Since 1917 kendo has had a system of ranks from 1 to 10,with 10 the highest. The International Kendo Federation (IKF) was established by 15 member nations in 1970. Since then, a world championship has been held every three years. The IKF increased its member nations to 30 by 1992; 8 were in Asia or Oceania, 5 in North and South America, and 17 in Europe.

Kendo was imported into Korea from Japan after 1876. It was introduced into the police force in 1895 and into the army in 1904 under the pro-Japanese government. After Korea became a colony of Japan in 1910, kendo was spread by colonial policemen and emigrating Japanese. When Korea regained independence in 1945, some Koreans continued to play kendo.The sport also grew in Taiwan, which had also been a Japanese colony. However, socialism eliminated kendo in North Korea and China.

In the United States, Brazil, and Canada, emigrating Japanese have spread kendo since before World War II, while in Europe, Southeast Asia, and Oceania, it started in earnest only after 1945.

Some nations, Korea in particular, are eager for kendo to become an Olympic sport, but much of the IKF has disagreed. The opponents, Japan in particular, believe international judo’s adventurous spirit has been diminished by rule changes, they do not want to see kendo go the same way.

Although not well known elsewhere, kendo is one of the most popular sports in Japan, due partly to historical tradition, but more to its appeal as an enjoyable sport. Kendo had to take on the organized form of modern sport in order to survive and prosper.