Kenjutsu

Kenjutsu (Japanese: 剣術) is a classical Japanese martial art, a koryu budo. There are many different schools, with the objective to teach the efficient use of the Japanese sword in combat.

Related Topics:
Japanese - Japan - Martial art - Koryu - Budo - Japanese sword

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The practice is largely done in the form of kata, and also by actual cutting and thrusting of the blade against water-soaked rolled mats and bamboo poles tameshigiri. The practice tool is either a bokken (wooden sword), iaito (unsharpened steel sword), or shinken (live blades such as katana, tachi, etc.). A common misconception of practitioners and observers alike is that the bokken is used for safety when performing two-man kata, when in fact it is used to minimize the chance of damaging the blade of either the shinken or iaito. Some schools of kenjutsu have adopted the shinai (bamboo sword) from kendo for safety reasons, and at least one family of schools (derivatives of Yagyu-Ryu) uses a modified leather-wrapped version of the shinai.

Related Topics:
Kata - Tameshigiri - Bokken - Iaito - Shinken - Katana - Tachi - Shinai - Yagyu-Ryu

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