KENDO - THE WAY OF THE SWORD

Kendo is the art of Japanese swordsmanship, a modern-day national sport based on the samurai's martial techniques. Kendo is a sport for all age groups. Last year Stockholm's kendo club was visited by a delegation of japanese kendo teachers, one of which was 83 years old, and they were all very active during a hard training session. Kendo is also good all-round training for children. If you want to learn more about or start to practice kendo, refer to our homepage www.fska.se, where you will find information about Stockholm's kendo club. It is soon time to apply for the beginners course for next semester.

RULES OF COMPETITION

For the unaccustomed, kendo competitions might seem chaotic and violent. However, for an attack to be awarded a scoring point, it must be conducted with good spirit, control and coordination of body, mind and sword, and of course with precision. The targets allowed for attack are the head (Men), forearm (Kote), trunk (Do) and throat (Tsuki). Judging is performed during a match by three referees, who signal their decision using coloured flags. The first competitor to score 2 points, or the one leading at the end of the allotted match time is declared the winner.