Weapons · Japan
Kendo
Japanese swordsmanship in bōgu, shinai in hand — men, kote, dō, and a shout that is part of the point.
Find a topic
A map of this art. Live entries are links. The rest is mapped, not written yet.
What Is Kendo?
Kendo (“the way of the sword”) is the modern Japanese sport and budō descended from kenjutsu schools. Practitioners wear bōgu and fight with a shinai. The All Japan Kendo Federation and national federations run the shiai rules most people meet.
Nihon Kendo Kata preserves paired forms with wooden swords. Daily practice is keiko: drills, ji-geiko, and the occasional taikai.
How Kendo Works
A point (yūkō-datotsu) requires striking a named target — men (head), kote (wrist), dō (flank), or tsuki (throat) — with the correct part of the shinai, correct posture, and a committed kiai. Just touching the helmet is not enough.
Footwork is sliding (suriashi). Distance (maai) and the seme that creates an opening are the real game. Read fencing for another sporting blade culture and HEMA when the source is a European manuscript instead of a shinai.
From kenjutsu to the sports hall
Kendo is not “samurai reenactment.” It is a modern educational and competitive art that kept a piece of the Japanese sword tradition alive in armor that lets people hit each other every week.
What You’ll Find Here
This hub is the live overview. Published entries are links. Fighters, gyms, rules, and news are mapped for later — even when those pages are not written yet.
FAQ
Questions we hear on the mats, in gyms, and when fighters compare styles.
Shinai or katana?
Practice and shiai use the shinai. Kata uses bokutō. Live steel is not the weekly training tool.
Is kendo useful for a street fight?
That is not what the art is for. It trains timing, pressure, and a specific weapon. Do not treat a sports hall as a self-defense certificate.
Kendo vs HEMA?
Different sources, weapons, and cultures. Both are serious blade practices. They are not interchangeable.
The Bottom Line
Kendo is Japanese swordsmanship in armor with a shinai. Pair it with fencing for Olympic blades and HEMA for European source-based steel.