| Kendo, which literally means "way of the sword", | | | | There are combinations of the hits, one example |
| is the Japanese art of fencing. Kendo was created | | | | being "kote-men", in which you "cut off" their hand |
| by the samurai during the Kamakura period | | | | and cut their head open immediatly after.In |
| (1180-1230) so they could hone their skills without | | | | kumdo the targets are the same. However, |
| killing each other. It was originally grounded in Zen | | | | kenjutsu is more of a "no rule/kill your enemy |
| Buddhism. The teachings of kendo helped the | | | | not a sport" art.In kenjutsu, unlike kendo, it is not |
| samurai learn to disregard their own lives in the | | | | uncommon to "spar" with 4 or 5 people at a |
| heat of battle. This is one of the main reasons it | | | | time.Ettiquete is a very big part of kendo; |
| is considered the way of the sword.Kendo was | | | | kendoka must bow upon entering and leaving the |
| originally called kenjutsu however, as a result of | | | | dojo and must show respect to their sempai |
| the world war, Japan had to change its name to | | | | (older students including sensei).Kendo, unlike other |
| kendo. It is also known in some cultures (mainly | | | | martial arts, has no external signs of rank. In |
| korean) as kumdo. Kumdo is essentially kendo | | | | order to know what rank another kendoka is, you |
| without the ettiquite and with different | | | | must keiko against them and judge their skill. |
| terminology.In kendo there are 4 basic targets, | | | | There there are 2 sets or rank: the Kyu (lower |
| the goal being to disarm/kill your opponent in one | | | | ranks) and the Dan (black belt). A kendoka starts |
| hit. The basic targets are the head (men), hand | | | | at 1 Kyu and climbs up the kendo ladder to the 8 |
| (kote), stomach (do), and finally, the throat (tsuki). | | | | Dan is an up and comming kendo website. |