Here is some apparently Pre-World War II footage of two Kendo practitioners training. Apparently both of these practitioners have received the 10th Dan ranking.
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Brian R. VanCise
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I love old martial arts film clips but I am wondering something about this one.
It appears that they are using live swords so wouldn’t this be kenjutsu? It was my understanding form my brief training in kendo (a whole 4 weeks, so I must be an expert 🙂 ) that kendo did not use live blade but instead used the shinai and occasionally the bokken. Or is my ignorance showing again 🙂
Hey Tim,
I imagine that both of these gentleman were kenjutsu and kendo experts. (I am sure they cross trained) Plus I believe that back in the day. (ie. way back) That there would have been a lot more training with the katana or iaito in practice. Modern Kendo took off I believe after World War II and you see mostly shinai and bogu (armor).
Thank You
I do not know all that much about it, even though I took 4 whole weeks worth of Kendo lessons 🙂