Kendo

            Kendo is the Japanese art form of fighting with the sword.  Nobody knows for sure when Kendo began.  The word “tachi” (long sword) appeared in several places in the Ancient Chronicles of the Nara era (710 A.D.).  Together with the bow and arrow, the sword was symbols of militant power.  But there was still such thing as Kendo then.  They were called “tachiuchi” (sword fighting).

            In the time of Tokugawa (1603), only warriors could own swords.  The rest could only practice with bamboo swords.  The Shinai (bamboo sword), Men (face mask) and Bogu (kendo armour) evolved in this period.  After the middle of the Edo era (1603-1867), sparring with shinais became popular.  Unlike the Kendo today, people then sparred with techniques from different schools and practiced different forms of kata.  After the Meiji Restoration (1868), westernization swept Kendo under the carpet.

Before long, militarism brought Kendo back onto the scene.  It became a medium through which militarist ideologies were spread.  Naturally, all forms of Kendo were banned when militarism was subverted by democratic power at the end of WWII.

Shortly after, the Japanese Alliance of Shinai Sparring was formed (1950).  In 1982, sparring with shinai became part of the physical education programme in secondary and high schools.  A year later, Kendo was properly introduced as a sport to high schools and universities.  That was the turning point where Kendo found its place as a sport, now played all over the world.

Weblink: http://www.oocities.org/nuskendokai