Martial Arts Of The World - Webs

596 Swordsmanship, Japanese
others. By attempting to perfect a predetermined set of movements, practitioners
can focus on their own body movements and state of mind without
being distracted by real opponents. Thus, the kata provides a vehicle for
what many Japanese have always valued highly—self-improvement and
character building. Even when the iaidô practitioner performed the kata
with a practice partner, the emphasis remained on perfection of movements
and attaining a spiritual connection between the practitioners. Nevertheless,
the use of wooden or metal practice swords did allow for the preservation
of the combative nature of swordsmanship in kata practice, and
when iaidô was evaluated by the American occupation forces after World
War II, it was indeed classified as a method of warfare.
Under the American occupation following the Pacific war, Japan went
through a social and cultural transformation that, in the decades that followed,
popularized sports competition. The American command in Japan
restricted any form of martial art practice, including kendô, in official educational
institutions. In response to this policy, the Japanese made a radical
change to the nature of kendô by placing strong emphasis on the use of
bamboo swords, which were unlike weapons of war, and re-forming kendô
as a competitive sport devoid of its martial essence. Permission to practice
kendô in schools in its new form was granted only in the early 1950s. For
almost a decade and a half of American occupation, teachers and students
who were devoted to the preservation of martial traditions and who, in
many cases, were also hard-line nationalists practiced swordsmanship behind
closed doors. Shortly after the Occupation ended, the Japanese government
lifted the restriction on kendô, and it quickly became part of
schools’ curricula once again. Similarly, kendô practice in the police force
was resumed, leading to the revival of what is commonly referred to as
“police kendô.” Although post-Occupation kendô includes both sports
competition and traditional forms, it is much more a sport than a practical
martial art. Consequently, the increasing popularity of kendô as a competitive
sport, together with diminishing interest in premodern martial traditions
among younger Japanese, has made old-style swordsmanship
anachronistic. Moreover, the concept of swordsmanship as a fighting skill
of premodern warriors has lost its meaning for the common Japanese.
Therefore, the image of kendô in contemporary Japan is that of bamboo
swords, body protection, rules, umpires, and tournaments. Nevertheless, it
is still viewed as a practical way for building stamina and perseverance,
which are viewed by Japanese as the heart of true Japanese spirit.
Currently, kendô is one of the most widely practiced forms of competitive
martial sport. It remains part of school education, and is a popular
choice of practice for Japanese policemen. Premodern forms of swordsmanship
are gradually becoming a thing of the past, or a feature of enter-