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Kendo: The Way of the Sword

The signature weapon of the samurai was the sword. It was everything to the warrior and has been called the soul of the samurai. Swordsmanship, as opposed to mere hacking away at an enemy with a bladed weapon, dates to as early as 789 A.D., when kumitachi (sword exercises) were used in the instruction of the sons of the kuge (noblemen) at the court in Nara. Its roots no doubt go back ever farther, perhaps even a thousand years earlier.