Читать книгу Complete Kendo - John J. Donohue - Страница 9

PART ONE

GROUND

In the Book of Five Rings, the famous swordsman Miyamoto Musashi begins his reflections with a consideration of basics. He discusses how the masters of all trades are those who take the time to learn the basic things: a devotion to fundamentals is a hallmark of mastery. They are people intimately familiar with even the tiniest details of their callings. Today, in an age obsessed with speed and immediate gratification, a more measured, careful approach to mastery is sometimes difficult to understand. Nonetheless, the experience of generations of swordsmen bears Musashi's contention out. While we all aspire to mastery, it is appropriate to begin with first things first.

The study of the Way of the Sword opens a number of new worlds to the trainee: new ways of doing things, new customs, new surroundings. Any worthwhile learning experience is one that is not only challenging and rewarding, but also a bit confusing. Therefore, as the novice Kendoka begins study, a bit of explanation and orientation may be in order.

1. Sword and Spirit

The sword is a living thing. Although a product of man's technical precocity, it is far more than just a tool, a fusion of carbon and metals hammered and shaped into utilitarian form. A sword is a conduit of power. It pulses with the psychic energy of its wielder, and takes on the nuances of that individual. It transforms the holder, investing the swordsman with a form of force that is the result of some occult melding of body and blade. The Japanese tell tales of swords that sing in their scabbards to warn their owners of danger, of blades forged by evil men that do evil deeds, of other swords, created by beneficent smiths, whose razor edges would not cut a leaf innocently borne to them by wind or water. The sword augments our strengths, it magnifies our faults. It is an implement of discipline, a symbol of courage, a tangible representation of justice.

The human fascination with the sword transcends cultural boundaries and time. The magic of Excalibur and the failed quest of Arthur are as compelling now as they ever were. A new generation of children respond viscerally to the power and danger of the Force and light sabers. It is the skill of a master fencer (and true love) that rescues the Princess Bride. Watch the eyes of any child as a sword is drawn from its sheath. What you will see there expresses the power of the sword far more powerfully than any prose: the recognition of beauty, danger, and potential embodied in a gleaming, elementally cruel form.

To attempt to come to grips with the sword in all its implications is to explore peril, fear, and wonder in a fundamental way. The sword is a physical entity whose utilization demands an intense discharge of psychic energy. At the same time that it enhances our power, it also makes us vulnerable to others similarly armed. Because it is a weapon, it confronts us with the terror of mortality and considerations of moral action, often making the linkage between the two painfully real and present.

The sword, as a Yagyu swordsman once said, can both give life and take life. To take up training in the sword, then, is to confront life itself.

2. The Way of the Sword

Over centuries, Japanese warriors, or bushi, reflected on and refined the use of weapons. While armed with a variety of fighting tools—the bow, the spear, the halberd known as naginata—over time, the professional class of feudal fighters known as samurai developed a special affinity for the sword.

When a samurai boy reached the age of five, he underwent a special ceremony. Standing on a go board, the child was presented with a replica sword, henceforth to be carried as a symbol of his status and his duty.

Of course, for fully adult samurai, the sword was more than a symbol. It was a tangible source of power—the back-country clans of military retainers had literally hacked their way to political primacy in Japan. Their fascination with the weapon had a practical dimension, since it was by skill in military arts such as kenjutsu (swordsmanship) that a samurai served his master, provided for his family, and preserved his life (when possible).

Over the years, as a practical need for sword arts faded, the Japanese nonetheless persisted in training. This was because they felt that the pursuit of excellence in technique, the focus needed in matters of life and death, and the discipline required of the trainee had the potential to help the individual transcend questions of protection and lead to a type of spiritual illumination. Even as the feudal era passed away and the Japanese were confronted with the promise and peril inherent in the modern era, they sought to preserve the warrior's training. What evolved were any number of martial disciplines centering on different weapons and many that used the suffix do (way) to stress the spiritual element in training.

Budo

Kendo (the Way of the Sword) is the modern martial art that perhaps lies closest to this intent. It is an activity demanding great energy and skill and a fidelity to hard training. Yet it is also a pursuit of spiritual calm in the midst of a duel's heat, of the beauty embedded in flawless technique, and of the humility required in the pursuit of self-perfection. As such, it is emblematic not only of the unique experience of the Japanese, but also of the universal human propensity to create beauty out of the most unexpected materials.

3. Equipment

Kendoka use the following equipment in their study: a practice uniform, a split bamboo foil for engagement matches, a wooden sword for forms practice, and a four-piece set of armor for protection.

the uniform

Students of Kendo wear a distinctive uniform that echoes the garb of the feudal samurai who pioneered the art of the sword. Unlike the gi worn by karateka and judoka, the uniform worn by Kendo trainees consists of the pleated split skirt known as a hakama and a heavy cotton top referred to as a keikogi. The effect of the long, swirling hakama is to impart a certain grace and dignity to Kendoka as they train. In addition, this piece of apparel is meant to convey some inner meaning.

Kendoka in uniform in jodan no kamae

The hakama was part of the formal wear of Japanese warriors. By wearing it, Kendo students underscore the link their training creates between the present and the long tradition of the martial arts in Japan. The hakama has seven pleats in it, and each pleat is said to stand for one of the Confucian virtues a warrior was to possess: jin or benevolence, gi or honor, rei or courtesy, chi or wisdom, shin or sincerity, chu or loyalty, and koh or piety. It is knotted in the front and, as with many martial arts, this knot is placed near the hara, the physical center of balance in the human body as well as the reputed center for the generation of ki, a type of physical/psychic energy.

The hakama is a bit more complex to wear than the pants of a gi. In the first place, there is a right way and wrong way to put one on. You should always put your left leg in first when donning a hakama. When taking it off, you should remove your right leg first. Novice swordsmen who tend to think that this is taking an attention to detail a little too far should know that it is not uncommon during tournaments where students are seeking promotion to have judges observe them dressing in order to check on this aspect of the management of the hakama.

Once you have stepped into the hakama, bring the front panel up to your waist. Bring the strings on either side around to the back. Then pass them around to the front, crisscrossing them, and then back again. They should then be tied behind you. Then raise the back panel, fitting the high, stiff portion of the hakama known as the koshita into the small of your back and above the knot created by the front panel ties. The back ties are shorter. Weave them through the secured front ties on either side of your hips, bring them around to the front, and tie them. There is a variety of knots that can be used in tying the hakama. These different styles of knots convey different meanings regarding a student's affiliation to a dojo or martial art style. In many Kendo dojo however, the knot is simply a square knot. It is formed in much the same way as the knot used to tie the obi, or belt, in karate or judo. As with these belts, the ties on the hakama are knotted in front. The loose ends, however, are tucked in along the sides of the tie tapes.

As a pleated garment, the hakama requires some care. It is not necessary to wash it after every practice. The loose nature of the garment prevents it from becoming too soiled during practice. After a session, hang it up to air. If necessary, the hakama should be washed by hand or on a gentle machine cycle and allowed to drip dry. Hang the hakama up and permit the legs to fall free. To preserve the crease of the pleats, you can clip them together with clothespins as the garment dries.

Folding the hakama for transport to or from practice or tournaments also requires some care to preserve the crisp lines of the uniform. The diagram shows the process of folding the hakama. You can also use special knots to tie it together, also illustrated on the next page.

Hakama folding

The keikogi is the quilted cotton top worn tucked into the hakama. When one is dressing, the top is donned first, and the hakama is drawn up over it. Keikogi are much like the quilted tops that judoka or aikidoka wear, although they have a pair of ties at about chest height on the right side to keep the keikogi neatly in place during practice. The heavy fabric of the top helps in protecting the torso (and particularly the upper arms) from stray blows during matches.

Hakama folding

Kendoka wear uniforms that are most often dyed a rich dark indigo blue. The distinctive blue keikogi in Kendo is said to be dyed with a special medicinal pigment known as aizome. The dye in the best of these garments tends to rub off on the skin, and is said to help promote healing when a student is bruised or cut during training. Hakama are also dark blue in color, although not dyed with the same substance.

Students, depending on the preferences of their instructors, are also free to wear other colors in training. All black training uniforms, all white uniforms (particularly for women in some dojo), as well as uniforms composed of a hakama of one color and a keikogi of another are also common. In modern times, children often wear an unbleached white keikogi with black cross-stitching, known as a shiromusashi.

The colors worn in Kendo, as in all the martial arts, are types of symbolic statements. The dark blue or black uniform colors are associated with the samurai's traditional role as representatives of social order. Dark blue is also associated with the god Fudo, the immovable. White is thought of as the color of purity and death. Combinations of dark and light are often thought to express the duality of in-yo (or yin and yang), a phenomenon traditionally thought to underlie all existence.

Kendo utilizes the kyu/dan system of ranking pioneered in judo and used in many martial arts systems today. Unlike many of these systems, Kendo does not use a system of colored belts to indicate rank. In Kendo, rank levels are demonstrated by performance. Beginners start at sixth kyu and move up in rank through the kyu levels five, four, three, two, and one. At this point, trainees are eligible for dan ranking, the point at which a black belt is awarded in other martial arts. Dan ranks proceed numerically up through tenth dan. At the fourth through sixth dan levels, an individual is entitled to the title renshi. At eighth through tenth dan, a Kendoka is given the honorary title of hanshi.

Individuals vary in the time it takes to advance in Kendo rank. Generally speaking, it will take from two to three years to advance through the beginner kyu levels. Standards vary from organization to organization, but there is also usually a mandatory time limit that must be spent in training before the next promotion. This is especially true of dan levels, where the amount of time spent in grade gets longer the higher the dan level. It is generally held that kyu examinations below first kyu may be held at individual dojo. For promotion to first kyu and above, however, the aspiring student is required to participate in a promotion shiai where Kendoka from a number of schools are tested by high-ranking instructors. This is to ensure that the rigorous technical standards of Kendo are adhered to.

training weapons

The use of a mock sword known as a shinai is what makes the art of Kendo possible. Japanese warriors traditionally trained with katana (the long sword) and a hardwood replica sword termed a bokken or bokuto.

Bokken or Bokuto

During the centuries when warriors actively pursued their calling, the process of learning swordsmanship was one that entailed an intense study of basic techniques through solo movements, as well as choreographed patterns with two students, known as kata. Free fighting, while liberated from the constraints of kata, was also real fighting. Combatants could use either a real sword or the bokken, but the results were often deadly. Even the wooden training sword can be fatal in the right hands. The famous swordsman Musashi Miyamoto, for instance, used a wooden sword with fatal effect in a number of duels. With live blades, the probability of injury was even higher. Japanese swordsmen figured that, in any duel, they had one chance in three of coming out unhurt. The samurai felt that if two opponents of equal ability crossed swords, the extreme sharpness of the katana probably meant that both would be killed or seriously injured. If a warrior fought someone of superior skill, he expected to die. Only if the fighter was confronted with an opponent of inferior skill could he hope to emerge unscathed.

Combat, in other words, was the proving ground of sword skill in feudal Japan. Once the country was unified in the seventeenth century, however, the samurai did not have as many opportunities to refine their swordsmanship. Controlled free fighting that was nonlethal was impossible with a real blade, and only marginally better with a wooden one What was needed was a relatively safe training aid that would permit a type of free fighting without fear of injury.

The shinai, a fencing foil of split bamboo bound together with leather, is what emerged. A more detailed description of the evolution of Kendo is presented in Part IV, Wind, but after a century or so of evolution, the shinai was developed in its modern form.

shinai specifications by class

Class	Length	Weight
Adult	< 1. 18 meters	>468 grams
High School	< 1. 15 meters	415- 485 grams
Middle School	1.10 meters	300-375 grams

The shinai is different from a real or wooden sword in a number of ways. In the first place, it is longer, the handle having been lengthened to accommodate the protective mitts worn in Kendo. In the second place, the shinai is not really a cutting implement at all. It is roughly tubular, and so has different aerodynamic properties from a real or wooden sword. The shinai is also much lighter than the other two. A glance at the different swords used today in various martial arts concerned with swordsmanship shows an evolutionary progression toward a nonlethal implement that can mimic the action of a sword. What modern Kendoka use, in other words, is a type of symbolic sword that captures the essence of the swordsman's intent, but can by no stretch of the imagination be thought to impart a complete knowledge of swordsmanship. In fact, the reason for the inclusion of kata training in Kendo is, in part, to familiarize students with how to use a wooden sword, which requires greater use of the hips and different use of the hands. The advantages of paired work with bokken, hearkening back to traditional patterns of training, is emphasized through the study of kendo no kata (see Part IV, Wind). Finally, no swordsman's studies are complete without training in iaido, where real katana or replica swords known as iaito are used.

Shinai and its parts

The importance of the shinai (and therefore of Kendo) is that it permits trainees to engage in simulated combat without fear of serious injury. No Kendo sensei would say, however, that this freedom means that the proper attention to proper form and to basic techniques should be overlooked by any serious trainee.

The shinai is made of four bamboo staves bound together. The saki-gawa is the covering that is placed over the tip of the weapon. A string runs from the tip down the symbolic "top" of the shinai shaft. About one third of the way down, the staves are bound together by a leather tie known as the nakayuki. Finally, the handle, or tsuka, also of leather, serves as a place to grip the stave and to hold the base together. The shinai is both a practical and aesthetic object, and there is a specific way of tying the various components together. A basic guide is replicated on page 20.

Trainees should take the time to maintain and care for their shinai. The bamboo staves that are the weapon's main component will splinter after hard use. Before every practice session, the student should carefully examine the shinai and its fittings to make sure that no jagged splinters are exposed. Use a piece of sandpaper or a sharp knife to trim jagged edges. Small cracks that develop in the individual staves can be repaired using carpenter's glue.

The leather ties and string that secure the sakigawa, nakayuki, and tsuka in place should also be routinely checked, tightened, and replaced when necessary. Finally, the shinai should be oiled to keep it from drying out. With proper care (and good technique) a shinai can last the Kendoka for a year or more (although it is always a good idea to have an extra handy, particularly during matches). In recent years, graphite shinai have been produced for serious practitioners. They are flexible and strong, and do not wear like more traditional shinai. They are, however, considerably more expensive than bamboo foils and, because these graphite models are relatively heavy, some Kendoka prefer using bamboo shinai in sparring.

Through the use of the shinai, Kendo students can also replicate the fast-paced, emotionally charged experience of a duel. As anyone who has experienced this sort of competition can tell you, it is a grueling test of an individual's ability to apply the basics of what he or she has learned to a fluid situation.

Ideally, Kendoka should train with all three types of swords. It is particularly important as the student progresses that he or she gain some familiarity with the use of the katana, since handling it effectively is a very different matter from using the shinai. This conviction has led to the well-known saying in Japanese swordsmanship that Kendo and iaido form two wheels of the same cart—both are necessary to go anywhere.

Bogu

body armor

Kendo bogu was modeled on the battlefield armor of the feudal samurai. This armor was lightweight and flexible, compared to that worn by European knights, and this tradition has endured to influence modern Kendo's protective coverings.

Bogu today consists of four pieces of equipment: a face and head protector made of metal and fabric that serves as a modified helmet and is called a men, a lightweight chest protector called a do, a cotton hip protector, or tare, and a pair of mitts, or kote, to protect the Kendoka's hands and wrists. Clad in the sweeping training uniform of a hakama and keikogi and swathed in protective bogu, a kendo trainee cuts an exotic figure that is reminiscent of Japan's feudal tradition (and also seems to have influenced the futuristic costumes of Star Wars).

Bogu represent a significant investment for a trainee—even a set of inexpensive beginner's bogu can run around four hundred dollars—and should be appropriately cared for. As in the rest of the art, there are certain "do"s and "don't"s regarding bogu.

When donning bogu, the student sits in the formal position known as seiza. The kote are placed side by side (palms down) in front and to the right. The men is laid face down on the kote. The tare, or hip protector, is put on first. The cords are wrapped around the back, crossed, and brought to the front. They are tied underneath the central flap of the tare.

The chest protector is then put on. There are two cords on each side of the do. The top cord, which is longer, is brought up and across the back and then tied to the loop on the front of the do (the left-side cord tied to the right loop and vice versa). The shorter cords are tied loosely behind the back in a neat bow. When tying the do, the right-hand cord should be tied to the left loop first.

The next step is to put on the men. To absorb sweat and prevent the himo (cords) that secure the men from catching the hair on the back of your head, a cotton cloth known as a hachimaki or tenegui is worn. Tenegui are often given as souvenirs when Kendoka participate in tournaments or visit other dojo.

The student puts on the men, being careful to fit the chin in the rest in the front of the face mask. You should also make sure that the ears lie flat and are not creased inside the men: apart from being uncomfortable, you also run the risk of creating enough pressure to rupture an eardrum if a strike goes astray and hits the side of your head.

The cords attached to the bottom grill of the face mask (the fourth row from the bottom) are brought around each side, wrapped around the back of the head, and then stretched up to the front of the men, where they are put through the top of the iron grid, criss-crossing and leading once again to the back of the head, where they are snugly secured. It is considered good form for the cords not to be twisted and to lie flat. You should also attempt to make sure that the ends of the bow you tie when securing the men are even. A simple way to do this is to pull the loops of the bow out until you can see them in front of you, and make adjustments accordingly. Once the bow is completed, toss the ends back over your shoulders so they hang behind you.

The kote are the last piece of equipment put on. Always put the left mitt on first, then the right. When taking them off, always remove the right mitt first. The pattern here echoes that of stepping into the hakama. It is considered good form to put on your kote this way, since any time you are wearing your right-hand mitt, you are considered ready to spar. Making it the last thing put on signals a definitive readiness to engage in training. In the same manner, by removing the right kote first, when you are ending your activity, you make a clear statement about your intentions. Since the Kendo dojo is, in many ways, a psychically charged environment, clear signals are needed to signify individual readiness.

Removing your bogu in a formal training or contest session is a process we will discuss under Etiquette (see below). When you get your equipment home, however, some special care is needed A vigorous training session wearing bogu tends to make you perspire. When you are finished, you need to permit your armor some time to dry out. The fabric part of the men will often become sweat-soaked. After taking it off, you should lay it face down and let the air get at it, wiping off any surface moisture with your hachimaki. The palm part of the kote will also be wet. The mitts should be placed face up to dry. Be careful to let your bogu air in a place that avoids direct sun or moisture, since these can damage the pieces.

When storing your dried bogu, there is (as in most things in Kendo) a method.

First the cords of the tare are folded up neatly and secured. The tare is a placed upside down and wrapped across the front of the do. The long do cords are wrapped to the front and crossed over. One cord is drawn up and over the top of the do. The other is drawn under the bottom. These cords are tied in a bow in the center of the do's back. The shorter cords are wrapped around the bottom of the tare and tied in front of the do.

Particularly when the men is new, the side panels (or "wings") formally known as men-buton need to be bent up when stored so they will fit correctly when worn. The process will be familiar to anyone who has ever broken in a baseball mitt. The kote are placed with the hand portion in the bowl created by the face mask. The wings are bent up and forward and tied in place by the strings. The men then fits inside the do for storage.

Bogu, tangible symbols of the heritage of the samurai, should always be treated with care and respect. Especially in the dojo, bogu should be neatly placed in the appropriate manner. Kendoka should be careful never to step over the armor or hit it with their feet, nor should you ever touch anyone else's bogu or shinai without permission.

4. The Community of Learners

kendo's development

Kendo as a modern martial art, or shin budo, is a relatively recent development. Of course, it is widely known that the art has its roots in Japan's feudal past, and some of the dash and exotic flavor of the era of samurai warriors cling to it even today. It evolved from the techniques of swordsmanship developed from the fourteenth through the nineteenth centuries and practiced by a class of professional fighting men. They were known as bushi (warriors) or samurai (a more formal designation of their class).

Bowing in

We discuss this historical development in the sections of the book entitled Wind and Void.

Briefly, Kendo was developed into its modern form by adopting selected elements of swordsmanship and adapting them to the changing needs of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Japan. The Abe Ryu was the first to formally designate its system as "Kendo," during the eighteenth century. Prior to this, swordsmanship was generally labeled kenjutsu.

Part of Kendo's development included the adoption of safety features. It was for this reason that fencing gloves and armor were introduced into practice, along with the widespread use of the shinai. The increased margin of safety in practice encouraged training in Kendo even by those who were not professional fighting men, and, by the mid-nineteenth century, a substantial number of Japanese, samurai and commoners, were engaged in what was known as shinai-geiko, or the type of training in which students used the shinai and protective armor.

During the nineteenth century, Japan entered the modern world with the collapse of the Tokugawa shogunate and the restoration of the Emperor Meiji. At the same time that the government felt driven to modernize Japan's economy and government, however, there was also a feeling that much that was good in Japanese culture and society needed to be preserved. The particular qualities of courage, loyalty, and discipline that were believed to be encouraged by training in arts such as Kendo were considered vitally important by officials of the Meiji government. As a result, beginning in 1871, traditionalists urged the Japanese Ministry of Education to make Kendo compulsory in all public and private schools in Japan.

Despite this, interest in Japan's martial heritage began to wane in the late nineteenth century, as the Japanese people focused on modernizing their country. Public Kendo exhibitions became common during this period in the hopes of reviving interest, and this may have encouraged a further development of Kendo's evolving "sport" and competition emphasis.

Government sponsorship of these arts eventually served to revive interest. In 1895, the government established the Dai Nippon Butokukai (Greater Japan Martial Virtue Association) in Kyoto, which stressed the role of Kendo and judo in the moral education of Japanese citizens. Making arts such as Kendo and judo part of the education of Japan's young eventually ensured that interest would not die out. In 1905, Tokyo University became the first college in the nation to sponsor a Kendo team, and other colleges soon followed. In 1928, the All Japan Kendo Federation was established as a governing body to regulate and standardize the art throughout Japan.

The close involvement of the government with the martial arts caused the Allied Powers to temporarily ban their practice after Japan's defeat in World War II. The aggressive militarism of Imperial Japan during the 1930s and 40s made it seem as if the martial arts had little positive to offer the world, and the attitude of the Allied Powers is understandable. The arts most closely associated with the samurai, particularly those associated with swordsmanship, were proscribed. This ban lasted until 1948.

The fundamentally positive aspect of Japanese budo soon impressed itself upon officials, however, and they came to understand that the excesses of Japanese expansionism could in no way be attributed to budo itself. This process of rehabilitation was aided by the fact that many Allied servicemen stationed in Japan soon became fascinated by the martial arts.

In 1950, the Butokukai was reopened, and judo and Kendo were selected as the primary arts for the training of the newly organized Japanese police force. The rehabilitated image of budo gave rise to increased public participation in these arts. The early 50s saw the first extensive export of budo to the United States. In Japan, the increasing popularity of Kendo and judo was encouraged by a heightened emphasis on sport competitions during the 1960s. The Nippon Budokan, a massive sports arena, was built in 1964 in Tokyo, and is used to host major tournaments in Kendo and judo. As individuals in other countries became familiar with the heritage of the Japanese martial arts, interest in Kendo grew. As a result, the International Kendo Federation was established in 1971. Each nation typically has a ruling body devoted to maintaining the high standards of Kendo and preserving links with the IKF in Japan. Today, Kendo has millions of adherents throughout the world.

As people in the West have been exposed to the Asian martial arts and have come to recognize their value, there has been a steady growth in more "exotic" martial arts forms. In addition, as martial artists who began study in the 1960s and 70s have faced the wear and tear of advancing age, they have begun to look for martial arts forms that do less damage to the body and still offer the physical and psychological benefits of systems such as karate and judo. Finally, large numbers of women are seeking participation in martial arts whose philosophy is attractive and whose techniques enable them to transcend the physical disparities in size and strength between the sexes. All these things have acted to make Kendo increasingly attractive to Western practitioners.

In the United States, the All United States Kendo Federation is the official body regulating the practice of Kendo. It was founded in 1995 when two other Kendo organizations, the Kendo Federation of the United States and the Beikoku Kendo Renmei, were merged. The AUSKF maintains twelve regional Kendo federations, each with a board of directors and officers. Today, there are some two thousand practitioners of Kendo affiliated with the organization in the United States.

the training hall/dojo

Although Kendo can (and should) be part of everyday life, and can be practiced anywhere, formal training normally occurs in a special location known as a dojo. The name signifies a place for learning a Way (Do), and it should be treated with respect. Every dojo will have its own special details of etiquette (reigi), and the process of learning them is a voyage in developing the appropriate respect for the training hall.

Dojo are symbolically divided into zones of higher and lower status. The place of honor in the dojo is variously referred to as the shomen or kamiza. Its location is usually marked by a small shrine of some sort (hence the term kamiza, which means "deity seat"). Shomen are sometimes designated by a display of some sort, often calligraphy. During ceremonies in the dojo, the sensei sits closest to this special area, and students range themselves in rank order, the lowest ranks being farthest from the shomen. When entering and leaving the practice floor proper, you always bow to the shomen as a sign of respect for the art of Kendo.

Since the dojo is a special place, special behavior is required. Whatever our positions or problems in the outside world, when we enter the dojo, we enter a special realm where all our attention and energies should be devoted in a positive way toward creating an environment where the best is elicited from each of us.

the dojo hierarchy

As in all Japanese martial arts, there is a pronounced hierarchical emphasis in Kendo. This is demonstrated by the ways in which the class lines up as well as by the ways in which individuals relate to one another in the dojo.

Kendo as an art demands perfection of us, but no one but the most naive of students would believe that the mere practice of this art will lead to perfection. We nonetheless honor Kendo as a way that can help us move further along the path to self-perfection. As a result, we also honor those who have walked this path longer than we have.

In Kendo, seniors are treated with respect. Sempai (seniors) are given preference in the day-to-day workings of the dojo. Kohai (juniors) listen to their advice with respect and do their best to emulate them. All trainees treat each other with courtesy and strive to show, even in the littlest things, how Kendo's lessons have influenced their outlook and behavior.

the goals of training

Different people look for different things in Kendo training. Some seek the exhilaration of exercise and the challenge of hard physical training. Many Kendo students come to the art after exposure to other types of martial arts. They seek to broaden their knowledge of the martial way and, perhaps, to find a closer link to the samurai experience that they believe created these arts in the first place.

There is room for all these motivations in Kendo. At base, however, it is a special type of martial art. A modern development, it is highly ritualized and codified. It has little immediately practical utility in selfdefense. It is an excellent source of aerobic exercise and can present the trainee with an exciting tournament dimension. Most importantly, however, Kendo is a method for disciplining and refining the human spirit. It is this, above all, that it is designed to do.

An excellent summary of the goals of Kendo is provided by the All Japan Kendo Federation:

The concept of Kendo is to discipline the human character

through the application of the principles of the katana.

The purpose of practicing Kendo is:

To mold the mind and body,

To cultivate a vigorous spirit,

And through correct and rigid training,

To strive for improvement in the art of Kendo,

To hold in esteem human courtesy and honor,

To associate with others with sincerity,

And to forever pursue the cultivation of oneself.

Thus will one be able to love his country and society, to

contribute to the development of culture, and to promote

peace and prosperity among all peoples.

Kendo, in short, is not merely about what you can learn to do. It is about what you can learn to be.