External – English Books, Articles and Sites on Kendo

Here’s a compilation of books, articles (with links for most of them) and sites on various aspects of kendo.  The organization of the resources are presented first.  Resources for beginners are listed in this article on “Resources for Beginners”.

• Books
  • Available Openly On-line
  • For Purchase
• Articles
  • General
  • Mechanics (tenouchi, sae, kinesiology)
  • Tactics (Strategy, seme, Fighting an Opponent in Jodan)
  • Mind Training  (Mushin)
  • Shiai (Competing, Refereeing)
    
  • Shinsa
  • Kata
  • Body Maintenance
  • Equipment Manual
  • Etiquette
  • Terminology
• Websites
  • Kendo
  • Budo

Updates:  Moved the Shinsa material to a separate article “Shinsa (Promotional Exam) Resources”on Oct 28, 2019.

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Books

Available Openly On-line

• Noma Hisashi (1910-1939), The Kendo Reader (PDF, 55 pages)
• Matt Jackson Sensei, Kendo Training Handbook (PDF, 84 pages)
• Kendo Curriculum – Techniques (PDF, 88 pages)
• Cary Yoshio Mizobe, Introduction to Kendo, Westside Kendo Dojo  (PDF, 108 pages)
• Coaching Children – Guidelines for children’s practice in Kendo including competition (article).
• Yamamoto Tsunetomo, Hagakure:  Book of the Samurai (translated by Lapo Mori).
• Booklets:
  • SCKF, “Kendo Reference,” AUSKC Team Commemorative Booklet, 1996 (MS Word, 10 pages).
  • Calgary Kendo Club, “A Technical Guide of Kendo:  Basic and Advanced Hitting, Drills and Techniques,” v0.21, 2004 (PDF, 32 pages).
  • Dublin Kendo Kobukai, Introduction to Kendo – Japanese Fencing (PDF, 15 pages)
• Thesis
  • Jeffrey Lewis Dann, Kendo in Japanese Martial Culture: Swordsmanship as Self-Cultivation, Ph.D. Thesis, March 3, 1978, University of Washington. (PDF, 311 pages)

A Partial List of Additional Books (For Purchase) – There’s many more.

• Hiroshi Ozawa, Kendo – The definitive guide, Kodansha Int’l, 1991.
• All Japan Kendo Federation, Japan Publications:
  • What is Kendo? Its Origin and Development to Date (Iaido and Jodo)
  • Fundamental Kendo, 1974.
• Junzo Sasamori and Gordon Warner, This Is Kendo : The Art of Japanese Fencing.
• Noma Hisashi, Kendo Tokuhon – The Kendo Reader, edited by George McCall.
• Ogawa Kinnosuke, Teikoku Kendo Kyohon (The Kendo Textbook of Imperial Japan, 1932), edited by George McCall.
• Michael Finn, The Way and Sport of the Sword
• Paul Budden, Looking at a Far Mountain: A Study of Kendo Kata
• John J. Donohue, Complete Kendo
• Darrell Max Craig, The Heart of Kendo

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Articles

General

• George McCall, Translation of “Takano Hiromasa’s keys to improvement in kendo,” 高野弘正先生の「上達の秘訣」, Kenshi247.net, Dec 11, 2015.
• Training Correctly
  • Peter Boylan, “When It Comes to Training, Fast is Slow and Slow is Fast,” The Budo Bum, July 30, 2014.

Mechanics

• Tenouchi
  • Geoff Salmon, “Tenouchi,” KendoInfo.net, Nov. 2009.
  • George McCall, “Tenouchi for men cutting” kenshi247.net, Jan 14, 2012.
  • Kendo Terminology: Tenouchi, kendo-guide.com.
  • University of Michigan Kendo Club, “The Parts of the Shinai, and How to Hold it Properly,” p. 4.
• Sae (snap)
  • Geoff Salmon, “Sae”, KendoInfo.net, Oct 2012.
• Kinesiology
  • Jonathan Riddle, “A Rebuttal to the Response of a Kinesiology of Fencing and Kendo,” The Iaido Journal, May 2014.

Tactics

• Strategy
  • Miyamoto Musashi, A Book of Five Rings,(五輪書, Go Rin no Sho) HolyBooks.com, 1644 (PDF, 49 pages).
• Seme
  • This section has been moved to a separate resource page on seme.
• Fighting an Opponent in Jodan
  • S. Quinlan, “Defeating Jodan”, Jan 29, 2011 (PDF, 16 pages).

Mind Training

• Attitudes:
  • Sotaro Honda, 6th Dan, PhD,” Maltese Kendo Federation, Mar. 2012:
    • “Attitudes to Jigeiko”
    • “Attitudes to Jigeiko Part 2”
    • “Attitudes to Shiai Part 1”
    • “Attitudes to Shiai Part 2”
• Mushin
  • See “Resources on Mushin-no-shin (The Mind of No Mind)
• Meditation, Breathing
  • A Brief Introduction to Omori Sogen’s Breathing Method, Shidokan Kendo and Iaido Club.
  • Eura Kazunori, Iaido Hanshi 8-dan, “Zen – Meditation Experience,” Translated by Stephen Robert Nagy (PDF, 2 pages).

Shiai

• Competing
  • Masashi Chiba (Hanshi 8th Dan), “Know Your Opponent,” Translated by Alex Bennett (7 Dan), Kendo-World.com, v4.3, Dec. 2008.
  • Hajime Ichikawa (Kyoshi 8th Dan), “Preparation for Shiai,” Translation and Introduction by Andy Fisher, Kendo-World.com.
• Refereeing
  • Terry Holt Sensei, The First Steps to Becoming a Referee – Basic Rules of Kendo Tournaments and Refereeing, Update, Jan 2013 (PDF, 32 pages)
  • Gotha Kendo Club, Sweden, “The Guidelines – For Shiai (competitions) and Shinpan (referees),” 2001 (PDF, 20 pages).
  • Gotha Kendo Club, Swden, “The Regulations of Kendo – For Shiai (competitions) and Shinpan (referees), 2001.
  • AUSKF Referee Seminar Presentation (pptx)

Shinsa

• See Shinsa (Promotional Exam) Resources.

Kata

• Stephen D. Quinlan, “Nihon Kendo no Kata & Kihon Bokuto Waza,” Kingston Kendo Club, May 19, 2014 (PDF, 85 pages).
• Kata Observations – Nihon Kendo Gata (Kata) Supplied by Jumpei Matsumoto former BKA Chief National Kendo Coach From the original writing of Noboru Shigeoka Hanshi 9th Dan.
• “Detailed Kendo Kata Notes,” Norwalk Kendo Dojo. (Includes notes and links to videos of each kata – explained in Japanese.)
• “Japan Kendo Kata, Meaning of,” by はくどー/佐々木博嗣, Hakudoh.com, Translated by Ted Imoto sensei (PDF, 6 pages).

Body Maintenance

• Ren Ma, “Warm Up and Suburi – Training for Basic Kendo Skills,” Sept 14, 2004, (PDF, 1 page)
• “Nutrition,” Maltese Kendo Federation, Mar 18, 2012.

Equipment Manual

• Kendo Equipment Manual (PDF, 51 pages) (mirror site)
• S. Quinlan, Shinai Maintenance, Oct 31, 2006 (PDF, 40 pages).
• Andy Fisher, The Complete Bogu Buying Guide, kendo-bogu.com (PDF, 14 pages).

Etiquette

• Tyler Rothmar, “What Sensei Do,” Kendo-World.com, 3.4, 2007 (hand signals).

Terminology

• Dictionary for Japanese-English Kendo Terms (PDF, 50 pages)
• Glossary of Kendo Terminology, Rembuden Kendo Club (PDF, 5 pages)
• Glossary – Terms Used in Japanese Swordsmanship, Mizukan Dojo, 2005 (PDF, 12 pages)
• Stephen D. Quinlan, Kingston Kendo, “Counting, Commands, & Glossary of Common Terms in Kendo,”, Apr 3, 2012 (14 pages, PDF).
• The language of Kendo, Maltese Kendo Federation, Mar 18, 2012.

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Websites

• Kendo
  • Fine Ladies Kendo Worldwide – The First Ever Women’s Kendo Magazine
  • kenshi24/7.net – Kendo all day, everyday
  • kendoinfo.net – Kendo information from Geoff Salmon Sensei
  • kendo-world.com – Crossing Swords & Borders
  • Kendo-Guide.com – Instructions on Kendo
  • Kendo Philosophy
  • Kendopark.net – News and Topics
  • Kendó kultúra
  • Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) Kendo Club – Resources Page
  • Kenshi Journal – Kendo Musings
  • Maltese Kendo Federation – Articles
  • Shugo-Nanseikan
  • Tozando Weblog
  • Tozando Kendo Articles
  • Tsurugi no Michi – O Espírito Marcial has a nice list of websites under “Recomendados”
• Budo
  • The Budo Bum (with writings on the philosophical aspects of budo)

 

Keywords: Blog, Blogs

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