Nihon Kendo Kata

Quick Facts

About the kata

Nihon Kendo Kata is a set of ten paired forms published by the Dai Nippon Butokukai in 1912 as Dai Nippon Teikoku Kendo Kata. In the seven tachi no kata forms both hold the long sword, while in the three kodachi no kata forms shidachi has the short sword. Per Japanese Wikipedia, uchidachi, the teacher who always attacks first, is the older or more experienced of the pair; shidachi, the student, parries the attack and wins. The All Japan Kendo Federation (AJKF) states that this was the first official use of the word kendo. The forms aimed to unify techniques of various fencing schools and correct shinai strikes lacking the proper cutting angle, hasuji. Each form starts from a different pair of stances: in the first both stand in jodan, in the second in chudan, in the third in gedan, in the fourth uchidachi stands in hasso against wakigamae. Kendo practitioners often name them after their solution: men-nuki-men, kote-nuki-kote, or nuki-do. The International Kendo Federation (FIK) tests them at every grading from 1st to 7th dan: at 1st dan at least three tachi forms, at 3rd dan all seven, and from 4th dan also the three kodachi forms. Japanese Wikipedia notes, however, that they are often practised hastily only just before the grading.

The kata in different styles

Meaning of the name

The name 日本剣道形 reads nihon kendo kata; Japanese Wikipedia also gives kendo kata or just kata. It says the forms train etiquette, the gaze metsuke, stances, breathing, sword handling, distance maai, confidence kigurai, footwork and zanshin. It also names two victory principles: in tachi forms 1, 2, 3 and 5 shidachi wins by the initiative sen sen no sen, in 4, 6 and 7 by go no sen. The official 1981 AJKF handbook, per the same page, leaves the original text uninterpreted, since the study commission never agreed on it.

Creator and history

The predecessor was the 1906 Dai Nippon Butokukai Kenjutsu Kata: three forms, ten, chi and jin, from a seven-member commission led by Watanabe Noboru, which Japanese Wikipedia says never really caught on. When the Ministry of Education added judo and kendo to secondary schools in 1911, Kano Jigoro pushed for more unified forms, and the Butokukai convened a 25-member commission from eleven regions. Five main members drafted it: Negishi Shingoro, Tsuji Shinpei, Monna Tadashi, Naito Takaharu and Takano Sasaburo. Takano reportedly carried a short knife hidden in his clothing, ready to die if his view lost. After about a year of dispute, ten forms appeared in October 1912; notes were added in 1917, they were expanded in 1933, and after the AJKF formed in 1952 they got today's name. Sasaki Hirotsugu's English-translated commentary instead states forms 1 to 3 were introduced by the ministry already in 1911. Nakayama Hakudo, a commission member, later regretted that the forms are drilled for about three days before a grading and then dropped. Because the short sword is no longer used, English Wikipedia says the set Bokuto ni yoru kendo kihon waza keiko-ho was created, needing only the chudan stance.

Differences between styles

In Korean kumdo the forms are called bon (검도의본). English Wikipedia says kumdo's bon set is either the standard ten forms taken from kendo, or fifteen encounters from the Korean fencing art geombeop. They are usually practised without the Japanese crouch sonkyo, with Korean names instead of Japanese. Korean kumdo association gradings also include the forms Bonguk Geombeop and Joseon Saebeop, unknown to Japanese kendo.

Breathing

Per the principles of Noboru Shigeoka, hanshi 9th dan, published by the British Kendo Association: breathe in deeply before stepping forward, hold the breath during the move, exhale only with the shout. Uchidachi calls "ya," shidachi "to" (Japanese Wikipedia: ヤー and トー). Within striking distance breathe quietly into the diaphragm so the opponent cannot read the rhythm.

Bunkai – applications

Stephen Quinlan of Kingston Kendo Club shows what to carry from the forms into shinai sparring. The first tachi form, he says, holds the fundamentals: initiative sen, seme pressure, correct distance, full commitment sutemi, and zanshin. In the third, shidachi presses until uchidachi's stance collapses; in the sixth he presses in three stages, smoothly, without haste. Sasaki Hirotsugu (Ted Imoto's English translation) reads the second form as shidachi striking the wrist instead of the more common head strike, showing the compassion jin: not killing the opponent, only ending the fight.

Techniques in the kata