1. What is kendo?

Kendo is the way of the sword, Japanese fencing. About 8 million people worldwide participate, 7 million of them in Japan. It is taught as part of the school physical education curriculum. College kendo teams in Japan are high-profile; major competitions are televised complete with colour commentary.

Kendoka wear armour protecting the head, throat, wrists and abdomen; these are the only legal targets. The split-bamboo practice sword, called a shinai, is wielded two-handed; the kendoka faces his opponent squarely. A small number of high-level practitioners utilize a shinai in each hand. Kendoka move using a peculiar gliding step refined for use on the smooth floors of the dojo. Kendoka generally practice as partners although the basics of posture, movement, grip and swing are learned in supervised solo practice. Because of the equipment, kendoka can and do practice full speed and full power, including free-sparring. Kendoka sometimes practice partner kata similar to kenjutsu, in which two partners carry out a prescribed series of attacks with wooden or steel swords.

1a. OK, then what is kenjutsu?

Generally (but not always) in Japanese martial arts, the "do" forms are those used to improve the self, while the "jutsu" forms concentrate on teaching the techniques of war. Note that this is a modern convention, not something that reflects historical usage of the suffixes: what we now call kenjutsu may have once been referred to as kendo. The jutsu/do terminology convention as used in the west was largely popularized by Draeger.

Having defined terminolody, the art of winning real fights with real swords is kenjutsu. The primary goal of kenjutsu is victory over opponents; the primary goal of kendo is to improve oneself through the study of the sword. Kendo also has a strong sporting aspect with big tournaments avidly followed by the Japanese public. Thus kendo could be considered the philosophical/sporting aspect of Japanese swordsmanship. Howver, since the early 1700s virtually all ryuha teaching kenjutsu have promoted it as a means to self-improvement and emphasized the philosophical aspects of the art.

In terms of learning to fight with a sword, kenjutsu has a more complete curriculum. Kendo of necessity limits the range of techniques and targets. Kendoka generally use shinai, which allow techniques which do not work with real swords. Kenjutsu practitioners do not usually use shinai in training, preferring to use bokken (wooden swords) or katana (steel swords) in order to preserve the cutting techniques of real sword fighting. Kenjutsu training largely consists of practising cutting technique and performing partner kata. For safety reasons, free-sparring is seldom practised with bokken or katana.

In some ryu, there is contact, which usually happens in a controlled manner within a partner kata. Some of the ryu use protective equipment, such as the gloves and head padding of the Maniwa Nen Ryu. Others, Shinkage Ryu in particular, use a fukuro shinai which is made of bamboo split into many pieces at the end and completely covered with leather.

1b. Isn't bokken technique taught in aikido?

Yes, with qualifications. Not every aikido dojo offers qualified instruction in actual sword techniques. Many of them use bokken practice only as a way of better understanding the empty-handed techniques, as these techniques are grounded in kenjutsu.

Ueshiba-sensei was trained in many styles of bujutsu, including kenjutsu, jojutsu and aikijutsu. He distilled and modified the myriad of techniques he knew into modern aikido. Most modern students do not have the time or inclination to learn the empty handed curriculum as well as bokken and jo, so the concentration tends to be on the aiki techniques. Even among those dojos which emphasize bokken, the techniques are somewhat different from kenjutsu. Ueshiba-sensei's swordsmanship was excellent, incidentally. Should you ever get an opportunity to watch film of him with a bokken, take it.

1c. What is kumdo?

Kumdo is the Korean pronounciation of kendo. Kendo was introduced to Korea by the Japanese during the occupation. After the Japanese left, the Koreans continued practicing using slightly different gear and new terminology. A considerable amount of revisionist history can be found regarding Kumdo which can be attributed to a strong nationalistic attitude, not to mention bitterness towards the Japanese.

According to some sources, Korea does have its own style of swordsmanship but it is little practiced and mostly lost. The older style seems quite circular and often incorporates kicks and punches into the forms: it seems related to Kumdo only in that a sword is used. During the 15th century Japanese swords were imported in significant numbers; previously Korean swords had been straight and mostly double-edged. Most of the older texts which survive label the weapons used as "Japanese swords" but may have been showing older forms incorporating the more modern weapon.

1d. Are there different styles of kendo/kenjutsu?

Kendo is pretty much the same world-wide. Most dojos are governed by the International Kendo Federation (IKF), which grew from the Zen-Nippon Kendo Renmei (ZNKR, the All-Japan Kendo Federation). There is a second federation in Japan, not as popular, but the differences are more political than technical.

There used to be hundreds of kenjutsu ryu; only two dozen or so have survived and they are mostly very small organizations. One of the oldest is Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu. There is also Itto Ryu, from which much of modern kendo is derived. Here is a list of known surviving ryu compiled by Antony Karasulas and Satoshi Yokota:

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