Philosophy of Kendo
Kendo
means literally ‘the way of the sword’, and has its origin in the
martial art developed by the samurai in battlefield combat and in
duels. It refers to a way of life shaped by the discipline cultivated
through its practice, a discipline that produces perseverance,
alertness and concentration. Above all, it requires great
introspection, or looking into oneself. When samurai face each other,
fear inevitably arises. Butfrom where does this fear come? From the
opponent? From the oncoming sword thrust? No – fear arises within
oneself. To conquer an opponent, one must first conquer oneself. The
ultimate objective of kendo is to internalize challenges. This is the
essence of kendo.
Conquering the ego produces mushin – a
Buddhist term most commonlyused in Zen. Mushin refers to an altered
state of consciousness, a state of mind which distinguishes kendo from
sport. Of course, sportsmen must conquer fear, and those in the
creative arts also experience an altered state of consciousness. But
mushin in kendo requires meditation based upon Buddhist philosophy.
This is what makes kendo unique. Kendo is not just an art of
self-defense – it is designed to create a new human configuration. See
Kendo: Its Philosophy, History, and Means to Personal Growth, by Minoru
Kiyota.
History of Kendo Kendo
is arguably one of the oldest martial arts. The origins of kendo are in
the Heian period of Japanese history, roughly 940 CE. It was aboutthis
period when sophisticated sword techniques which were specially
designed for the Japanese foot soldier, and which utilised light-weight
protective body armour, began to appear. These techniques were
developed, refined and tried and tested on the battlefield. This was
the period when the sword techniques used today began to develop. Kendo
began to change. After the Japanese
Civil War, only police were allowed to wear and use swords in public.
Kendo was only practiced in the dojo. The All Japan Kendo Association
was founded in 1912 and formalised methods of teaching in schools
throughout Japan were established in 1936. Kendo, which had been banned
during the war years, re-emerged in 1952, stressing the importance of
healthy living and a sports approach and philosophy based on its long
history. I wrote a huge paper on this, so ask me if you want to know more. - Abe Modern Kendo As
of 1989, some seven million people practised Kendo in Japan. No longer
limited to Japan alone, Kendo is now popular all over the world and
Kendo players in many countries continue to grow innumbers. Kendo is
practised by people from all walks of life. There is no restriction on
who can participate. Age, sex or indeed disability need not be a
barrier. Modern Kendo involves players trying to strike targets on
designated areas of their opponent's body with a bamboo practice sword(shinai). These targets are protected by lightweight body armour(bogu). Strikes and thrusts with the shinai form the kendoka's personal attack (shikake) and defence(oji) techniques (waza)
which are directed at the opponent's target areas. Strikes are
restricted to three areas of the body: the top and left and right sides
of the head(men), the forearms (kote) and the torso(do). Thrusts are usually permitted only to the throat (tsuki). All strikes can be delivered forwards or backwards. It
should be noted that these target areas were chosen purposely as the
most difficult areas on the body to strike. It is not enough for your
shinai to just hit the opponent, strikes or thrusts can only be
considered correct if the attacks are executed properly, to the exact
target area, with controlled kiai (voice-spirit) and demonstrating zanshin
(awareness). A good analogy is scoring a hole in one at golf and then
having the score disallowed because your swing was incorrect.  | |  | |  | |  | | | Click above for men | | Click above for kote | | Click above for do | | Click above for tare |
| Pictures drawn by Sensei GeorgeIzui. |
For more information, please contact Julian.
|
