Kendo

Kendo (剣道, kendō) is a Japanese martial art.

History

Kendo means the "way of the sword". The rules and gear of kendo were first created in the 18th century, and its modern rules and styles date to the 19th century.

Rules

An opponent may be struck in seven places: either side or the top of the helmet (men), on either hand (gloves, kote) or either side of the body breastplate (do). There is also one legal thrust (tsuki) on throat.

The "men" can only be struck from the front, not from back. Only one of the two hands can be struck, depending on which kind of posture ("kamae") the opponent is using.

As incorrectly performing the "tsuki" thrust can be dangerous, low level practitioners are forbidden from performing it both in matches and daily training.

In a match, the attacker must name the location of each strike. Often, they are declared in Japanese ("men", "kote", "do", "tsuki"), but some people will name it in Korean or Chinese or another language, or even with a meaningless shout. All of these kinds of shouts are called "kiai". An effective attack must have "kiai" along with other essential factors.

Equipment

The weapon used in kendo is a bamboo sword, called shinai. The kendo armour, which the players must wear, is called bogu and is made of a helmet (men), breastplate (do), waist protector (tare), and special gloves (kote).

Lesson contents

Lesson is called keiko in kendo. keiko means that We think about past. kendo's keiko is distinguished between shinai keiko and kata keiko. the building which we do kendo is called dojyo. In particular keiko done in summer is shochugeiko and one done in winter is kangeiko.

shinaikeiko keiko which use shinai and bogu

• suburi (waiving sword many times to improve your muscle)
• kirikaeshi (Striking partner's men consecutively and confirming sword handling)
• uchikomi keiko (Training basic strike like men, kote, doetc.)
• oikomi keiko
• kakari geiko (Striking where partner show a plow as many as possible in time)
• ji geiko
• shiai geiko

Related pages

• Fencing
• Sports in Japan