Kendo - Portuguese Kendo Association
Last Update: 05-10-2008

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Kendo

Kendo is a martial art who’s origin is from the combat techniques of the old Japanese warriors.
While Judo, for example, originates from body to body combat techniques, Kendo is an adaptation of the sword (“Japanese katana”) fighting techniques.
It can be therefore considered the art of Japanese fencing.
However one must not think that we are speaking of a violent and dangerous activity, as matter of fact it is quite the contrary. Kendo evolved in the direction of safety and can be a very fun and self-compensatory activity in both psychic and physical conditions. All the protective equipment (kendo-gu), as well as the sword (shinai of bamboo or carbon laths), reduces to almost zero the risk of accidents.
Such as in fencing, and putting it in a very simplified manner, a fight of Kendo (shiai) consists in the confrontation between two practitioners (kendoists), who’s objective is to mark points, made through the use of the technique to reach the adversary in one of the four allowed points.

In Japan, after Baseball, Kendo is the activity with bigger number of practitioners. It has a very important role in the Japanese Physical Education of children since the primary school to the university.
In fact, Kendo is a versatile modality being able to be done by people of any age since children of five, six years to old people, as it is the case of the great masters (sensei). About 7 million people do Kendo in this country, in the rest of the world the number of practitioners is about 213 thousand, distributed for several countries in all continents.
In Portugal is still almost unknown, even so, the Portuguese Kendo Association APD continues to promote Kendo and give us the possibility of being represented as a country at the international level.

This importance attributed to Kendo by the Japanese has a reason. There are cultural reasons, of course, but the most important are related with what Kendo has to offer to its practitioners. Besides providing a very complete physical training, it allows the kendoist to also develop very useful capabilities not only as a kenshi, but as person as well. The power of concentration, resolution, self-trust, loyalty, self-respect as well as respect for the others, to be humble and other aspects related with constant evolution, proper knowing and improvement of oneself, are some examples of what can be achieved through the regular practice of Kendo.

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