leadership, ability in judging character, and facilitation of the advance-
ment of kendô.
Training in kendô involves first mastering basic movements, called
waza(techniques): stances, footwork, cuts, thrusts, feints, and parries.
These can then be practiced in basic forms, or kata. Then fencers can en-
gage in freestyle practice (keiko). Competitive matches are referred to as
shiai keiko.
Competition among fencers who have mastered the basic techniques
involves fencers in prescribed gear—mask, chest, wrist, and groin/thigh pro-
tectors—and holding a bamboo sword, called shinai,which differs in length
depending upon age. Junior high school fencers use shinai up to 112 cen-
timeters in length and between 375 and 450 grams in weight; high school
fencers use up to 115-centimeter shinai weighing between 450 and 500
grams; and adult fencers use shinai that are up to 118 centimeters in length
and weigh more than 500 grams. The fencers wear keikogi(jackets) and
hakama (pleated trousers), approximating the dress of Tokugawa samurai.
The fencers meet in rings measuring between 9 and 11 meters on a
side, and they compete in matches decided by scoring two of three points.
Within the five-minute time limit, the fencer who scores the first two
points, or the only point, will be declared the winner. Ties result in a three-
minute extension. There are usually a judge and two referees, each of
whom uses a red and white flag to designate successful points. Points are
scored by striking the opponent with prescribed cuts: cuts to the center of
the head or oblique cuts to the temple accompanied by the call “men!”
(head); cuts to either side of the body with the call of “dô!”(chest); and
cuts to either wrist with the accompanying call “kote!”(wrist). A point
can also be won with a thrust to the throat, with the call “tsuki!”(thrust).
A fencer must deliver thirteen cuts with proper posture and spirit to be
awarded a point. Normally, two officials are required to agree in order to
award a point.
Kendô is thus largely a competitive sport today, but it retains an as-
sociation with earlier swordsmanship in its concern for decorum, ritual,
character development, and spirit.
G. Cameron Hurst IIISee alsoForm/Xing/Kata/Pattern Practice; Japan; Religion and Spiritual De-
velopment: Japan; Swordsmanship, Japanese
References
Craig, Darrell. 2000. The Heart of Kendô.Boulder: Shambhala Publications.
Donohue, John J. 2000. Complete Kendô.Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle.
Friday, Karl. 1997. Legacies of the Sword: The Kashima-Shinryû and
Japanese Martial Culture. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.
Hurst, G. Cameron, III. 1998. Armed Martial Arts of Japan: Swordsman-
ship and Archery.New Haven: Yale University Press.254 Kendô