Kendo is a part of Japanese kenjutsu or sword arts which focuses on battlefield fighting technique. You wear bogu, or armour and spar with a partner using a bamboo sword called a shinai.

Kendo is very good for appreciating the practical aspects of fighting kenjutsu. The feeling of Kendo is much more like a battlefield scenario where you need to keep moving and coordinate your sword, body and spirit [Ki-Ken-Tai-ichi] against your opponent. Kendo has quite a different feeling and focus than Iaido, so for the beginner, it’s sometimes hard to appreciate that they are interrelated and actually quite similar arts, and that doing one is often quite beneficial to the other.

Kendo is practised in various ways in Japan. for children it is recommended as a way of attaining good manners and discipline, and almost every junior high school and high school has a Kendo club. School Kendo is very energetic and focussed on shiai [competitions]  Club hierarchy is strict and the atmosphere is often militaristic. Adults’ dojos tend to seem to be much more relaxed, but there is still the strict adherence to the proper etiquette of a dojo. Adults’ Kendo seems relaxed because everyone is self disciplined enough that the Sensei doesn’t need to shout and enforce etiquette, everyone acts properly as a matter of course. The fact that everyone naturally respects the correct etiquette makes it possible for such a relaxed atmosphere to exist. This is true for adults’ iaido dojos as well.

Kendo is naturally good for developing a strong fighting spirit and is also good exercise. but in terms of kenjutsu, Kendo helps you to develop a good sense of maai [distance or range] and strongly installs in you the virtue of  being able to remain clam under pressure and being able to react correctly and efficiently when under attack. Kendo is more about developing mental strength and sword technique than about physical strength, and as such is able to be practised by Men, Women or Children equally well. The most important point is whether or not you have the mental maturity to accept the etiquette and training.

To be able to do kendo well requires you train in the basics for long enough before you can don bogu and start ji-geiko [sparring practice]. After the basics are learnt well enough to start ji-geiko, you still need to practice and polish the basics, but at our dojo, practice is usually focussed on ji-geiko.