KENDO DEFINITION
Kendo (剣道), means 'the
way of the sword'. The definition of Kendo is linked to tradition where
purpose and methodlogy are decisive for the frame of reference. In Tokugawa
period (1603-1868) there existed local autonomous groups within Kendo with
each their own tradition (dento).
Kendo was based on the 'Classical
Martial Ways' in the Tokugawa period and
represents the oldest traditions of budo. The Classical
Martial Ways is in contrast to shin-budo (after 1868), which has become competitive.
Today, it is still possible to practice Kendo based on the classical budo traditions.
As a development of an art there is found a reference to the use of the
bokken (hardwood sword) as a weapon about A.D. 400. In middle of the Heian period
(794-1185) the katana (samurai sword) was used as weapon, and the sword
fighting art (kenjutsu, later became one of the main battle
disciplines together with horse riding (bajutsu), archery (kyujutsu) and use of the spear
(sojutsu). Even though the sword was the symbol of
the samurai, the sword was never the weapon of choice on the battlefield.
Furthermore the bokken is a weapon and some warriors preferred the bokken instead of
katana in the period of 1584-1645.
Bokken and katana were supplemented with a bamboo sword in 1563, called
fukuro-shinai. This bamboo sword was used for training to prevent
injuries. At the beginning of the 1700s Nakanishi Chuta from the sword fighting school, Ono-ha Itto-ryu
improved fukuro-shinai to the type of shinai as we know today.
About 1716 Naganuma Shirozaemon Kunisato of the Jikishin-kage ryu developed men (helmet)
and kote (protects the hand and forearm). Subsequently followed the
development of do (chest plate) and tare (hip and groin protector).
Also, during the same period, kendo was practiced with katana and bokken in the form
of kata (formalized techniques). Furthermore was shinai used in connection with
contact practice (shinai-geiko) where the armor was worn.
In this period this form of swordsmanship was called 'Kendo'. The word
ken means sword and the word do means way or path. Historically
Kendo was taught by Abe Gorodaiyu, the founder of the sword fighting
school Abe Ryu around the year 1673. At approximate the same time, the Heijo
Muteki Ryu, founded by Yamanouchi Renshinsai, also used the term
'Kendo' to describe its teachings. This Kendo was by no means common or standard in the
Tokugawa period.
Later during the Meiji Restoration in 1867-1869 the Japanese government
took the initiative to modernize the Japanese society. Thus, the Japanese authorities began
abolishing the feudal society.
After the Meiji Restoration the Japanese culture of war
was continued under a modified modern form. Parts of fencing skills and
spiritual values from the various swordsmanship schools were transformed into a modern
budo of exercises known as shin-budo. In this way the modern kendo was finally created by the
Japanese organization 'Dai Nippon Butokukai'.
However, outside and inside Japan there still exists few Kendo groups which are
interested in preserving the old
Kendo traditions (classical martial ways).
These groups are typical organized in autonomous local social units.
KENDO SPORT
It is most difficult for the average person
to understand that Kendo should not be considered a Sport, especially today
in view of the increasing popularity of national and international kendo
championships, of which Japan is a staunch supporter. To employ in matches a
shinai is exactly the same as to use the sword to kill; this is
satsujin-ken and is, therefore, quite wrong. The purpose of the sword's
use in Kendo is to control vanity and not to demonstrate mere skill or
superiority over a weaker opponent.
Yamada Jirokichi (1863-1931), the fifteenth
headmaster of the Jikishin-Kage-ryu, despised the tendency in Meiji to
make kendo as Sport. Kendo training for Yamada Jirokichi was simply a matter
of 'killing the self (ego) in order to succeed'. He took issue with the
trend of Meiji-era kendo to cater to sport or entertainment and amusement.
For Jirokichi, earning money through public displays of kendo was
particularly reprehensible. The moral essence of Kendo appears in some of
the precepts listed in Jirokichi's Kendo Ron (Treatise on Kendo) for
example don't seek popularity or power.[1]
Takano Kosei, the current headmaster of the
Nakanishi-ha Itto-ryu, regards the Meiji era (1868-1912) as the beginning of
the 'dark ages' for kendo. It is from that time onward that the essential
spirit and purposes of classical tradition become clouded over by
superficial values. The characteristics of kendo in the Taisho era
(1912-1926) shows a clear emphasis on shin-shin shugyo (mind-and-body
training) for the development of a unified national sense of spiritual ardor
and morality. This modern emphasis differs from the classical interpretation
of do in that it was less concerned with the individual's
self-perfection as an individual than with the fact that individual citizens
must be spiritually bound together to perfect the contry. Kendo thus became
a social cohesive force to harness spiritual energy for the purpose of
buttressing nationalism. This use of kendo continued unabated as Japan faced
grave national emergencies that culminated in World War II.[2]
NOTES
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1 |
Draeger, Donn F. (1974) Modern Bujutsu and Budo.
Weatherhill. New York, pp. 103-104.
|
|
2 |
ibid., pp. 104-105.
|
FURTHER READING
CLASSICAL BUJUTSU
The Martial Arts and Ways of Japan; Volume 1
by Draeger, Donn F.
Weatherhill, 1973.
ISBN 978-0-8348-0233-9 CLASSICAL BUDO
The Martial Arts and Ways of Japan; Volume 2
by Draeger, Donn F.
Weatherhill, 1973.
ISBN 978-0-8348-0234-6 MODERN BUJUTSU AND BUDO
The Martial Arts and Ways of Japan; Volume 3
by Draeger, Donn F.
Weatherhill, 1974.
ISBN 0-8348-0351-8 REDISCOVERING BUDO,
from a Swordsman's Perspective
by Knutsen, Roald.
Global Oriental, 2004.
ISBN 1-901903-61-3 KENDO IN JAPANESE MARTIAL CULTURE
Ph. D. thesis
by Dann, Jeffrey.
University of Washington, 1978 |
