03/07/2020
Hi Tarucians! Are you new to kendo and not familiar with kendo? Don't worry, below is the beginner’s guide to the Japanese Martial Art of Kendo. We will be introducing what is kendo in this post!
Kendo (剣道) is a type of Japanese martial arts. A kendo player wears armor and fights with a bamboo stick called “shinai (竹刀).” By hitting your opponent in the right place with the shinai, you will gain a point. There are four parts of the body that you should aim at: men (面; head), kote (小手; forearm), do (胴; belly), and tsuki (突き; throat). Kendo is really exciting, fun, and healthy for your mind and body.
The most important thing to know about kendo is that it is not just a sport. Politeness, manners, and the mind are as highly regarded in kendo as physical abilities, kendo skills, and techniques. We’d like to explain a famous kendo phrase: “Ki Ken Tai Icchi (気剣体一致).” A literal translation would be, “The coordination of mind, sword, and body.” This means that even though you hit your opponent in the right place, if your mind or body is not ready for the strike, it won’t be a valid point. All of these three aspects must focus on the strike. Thus, kendo players try to train their mindsーespecially in terms of concentration and calmnessーas well as their kendo skills.
One of the first things taught by coach was to yell seriously. To those who have no knowledge of kendo, it might look a bit weird. But screaming, yelling, and shouting at your opponents conveys your “readiness” to defeat them. Even if you strike your opponent in the right place a million times, if you cannot shout at the same time, you will never get a point. The judges will think that your mind was left behind. “No yelling. Thus, the strike was a mere coincidence.”
The largest international kendo competition in the world is the World Kendo Championship (世界剣道選手権大会) and is held every three years. About 50 countries from all over the world participated in the 2015 WKC.
Kendo is deep. It’s impossible to explain everything about it no matter how much time and space we have.
If you are interested in kendo, come and join us and explore the beauty of kendo! This is such a wonderful opportunity to start kendo!
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