When it comes to "martial arts" in Japan, most schools are either known to have a strong showing in one "sport" or another. Some are known for their judo club, some for karate and some even for sumo! My school is known for kendo: traditional Japanese sword/stick fighting.
As far as I'm concerned, the English translation of kendo (stick fighting) is a rather weak term to convey the discipline, ferocity and energy involved in this art. You would not want to mess with a kendo practitioner on his/her own terms. From what little I do know of the sport (I studied judo) the goal is to go for the head, if that proves difficult, the hands, if again not possible, the body. One more note of interest: kendo is an extremely noisy sport. The "players" are expected to "kiai" (a piercing verbal outburst of your energy - like a 'grunt' in North American sports but much louder and a bit shrill) and you must hear it firsthand to understand exactly what I'm referring to.
Anyway, I was walking home from the office this evening and I heard (See? Told you it was loud) the university kendo club practicing. I always have my camera on me so I decided to peek in and take a few photos.
1 comment:
Believe it or not, I used to play Kendo when I was a kid. (I was ordered to do so by my parents...) And, you know that I prefer climbing, now.
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