Some Thoughts on Kendo

By Scott Duncan - 17th April, 2002

1) What do you get out of kendo?

I get the opportunity to learn about another culture. As a result of practicing kendo, I have learned a lot about Japanese culture. Although our sensei and sempai are European, they have spent a lot of time in Japan and have many contacts. While we were in Christchurch last year, we had the opportunity to visit one of our sempai's friends and have a tea ceremony. It has also compelled me to do more study on other aspects of Japanese culture that I normally would not have done. It helps my fitness, reaction times and hand-eye co-ordination.

As I am a senior grade, my sensei is getting me to do some teaching (in fact last night I took the class as our sensei & sempai have gone to Australia for a seminar), so I am getting the opportunity to develop my leadership and teaching skills.

When practicing kendo, particularly when sparring (ji-geiko), you are encouraged to always move forward, be aggressive, (while still showing your opponent respect, of course). This attitude has helped me in other areas of my life, as I am usually rather shy & reticent. It has encouraged me to be bolder in what I do.

You also learn a degree of patience - it's not all run in and go for it. You have to wait for an opening, or create one. If your opponent is one who runs in and attacks, turns & attacks again immediately constantly, you can be patient & let them do all the running around. You can use oji waza, (defensive techniques), to deflect their shinai & attack back without having to run around as well. This can be transferred to other areas of your life as well.

2) What makes kendo different to other martial arts?

One of the main differences would be that there are no kicks, punches, knee strikes, elbow strikes or anything of the sort in kendo. Everything is done with either the bamboo shinai (used for most practice & all sparring) or the wooden bokuto (used only in kata).

There is more emphasis on kiai (shouting) as well. In most other martial arts that I have seen (admittedly few), the kiai is used upon contact, where as in kendo, kiai is used not just when attacking but in order to intimidate your opponent before you attack. The best kiai is also carried through the whole attack, from when you attack till you turn around to face your opponent again.

We also wear a lot of protective gear, or bogu. Most martial arts just have gi, but in kendo we have our gi as well as our men (head protection), kote (wrist protection), do (torso protection) and tare (offers protection around the top of the thighs & groin area). We also have just 4 main strike points, three of which are more commonly used than the fourth. They are men (top of the head), kote (wrist, almost always the right wrist although in certain circumstances the left can be attacked as well) and do (a cut that starts at the waist on the right hand side just below the ribs and comes across and down the front of the abdomen). The fourth strike point is tsuki, a forward jab to the throat. This is a very dangerous technique and as such is generally only practiced by the dan grades.

There is also more reigi (etiquette) in kendo than I have seen in other martial arts. During the practice, you are always bowing to each other before each item that is practiced and bowing to each other when finished. There is a set reigi for beginning each class and ending each class, which involves bowing to the shomen, the sensei and to each other. The phrases "onegai shimasu" and "arigato gozaimashita" are frequently used ("please practice with me" and "thank you very much" respectively).

The kendo grading system is similar to other martial arts except that we do not have belts to identify grade. In fact, there is no indication on our gi or bogu as to what grade you are, so this means there is a little discussion amongst ourselves if we are at a seminar and don't know what grade some of the other people are. Grades start at 6th kyu and go up to first kyu, then first dan to eighth dan. While it is possible to go up multiple levels in the kyu grades, it is not in the dan grades. Also, there is a minimum amount of time that must pass before you can go from one dan grade to the next(not sure if this is the same in other martial arts or not). There are also minimum age requirements as well (for example, you must be at least 45 (I think) to be able to go for your eighth dan).

3) What are the key elements of kendo?

The master concept in kendo is that of ki-ken-tai-ichi - spirit, sword & body as one.

Ki is represented by our kiai - shouting. A strong kiai indicates a strong spirit. Ken is represented by our shinai. Tai is represented by the stamping when making an attack (fumi komi) and the forward movement of our bodies.

The idea is to get everything happening at once. At the point of impact with our shinai, we should also have our kiai & fumi komi happening at the exact same time.

Another key element in zanshin (follow through). You may do a perfect cut to someone's men, but if you stop there & do not follow through strongly, it becomes a bad cut. In a competition (or ji-geiko for that matter), a cut without zanshin does not count.

Respect is also a key element - respect for the dojo, respect for the sensei and respect for each other. Kendo has strong reigi based around this.

4) What experience have you had in kendo?

I have had almost 2 years experience in Kendo. In that time I have had 3 gradings which has got me to ikkyu (first kyu grade). At my next grading in August, I hope to achieve my shodan (first dan, equivalent to black belt).