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Examining Martial Arts Styles
Generally speaking the term "martial arts" creates the mental picture of a person in white kicking with a leg or chopping with an arm. This illustrates one of a number of misconceptions associated with the martial arts, in particular the belief that...
The Plight of Industrialized Man
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Training Traditional Martial Arts
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Weight Loss: Customize, Personalize, Spice Up!
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You Have To Try This Workout
I've tried many forms of exercise: weightlifting, martial arts, swimming, running and so on. But there's one form of exercise I started doing about 3 months ago that's proved to be an unbelievable workout.... ....boxing! Now I don't mean with...
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Kendo: A summary
http://www.international-kendo.com
Kendo, which literally means "way of the sword", is the Japanese
art of fencing. Kendo was created by the samurai during the
Kamakura period (1180-1230) so they could hone their skills
without killing each other. It was originally grounded in Zen
Buddhism. The teachings of kendo helped the samurai learn to
disregard their own lives in the heat of battle. This is one of
the main reasons it is considered the way of the sword.
Kendo was originally called kenjutsu however, as a result of the
world war, Japan had to change its name to kendo. It is also
known in some cultures (mainly korean) as kumdo. Kumdo is
essentially kendo without the ettiquite and with different
terminology.
In kendo there are 4 basic targets, the goal being to
disarm/kill your opponent in one hit. The basic targets are the
head (men), hand (kote), stomach (do), and finally, the throat
(tsuki). There are combinations of the hits, one example
being
"kote-men", in which you "cut off" their hand and cut their head
open immediatly after.
In kumdo the targets are the same. However, kenjutsu is more of
a "no rule/kill your enemy/not a sport" art.In kenjutsu, unlike
kendo, it is not uncommon to "spar" with 4 or 5 people at a time.
Ettiquete is a very big part of kendo; kendoka must bow upon
entering and leaving the dojo and must show respect to their
sempai (older students including sensei).
Kendo, unlike other martial arts, has no external signs of rank.
In order to know what rank another kendoka is, you must keiko
against them and judge their skill. There there are 2 sets or
rank: the Kyu (lower ranks) and the Dan (black belt). A kendoka
starts at 1 Kyu and climbs up the kendo ladder to the 8 Dan
mark.
About the author:
http://www.internationa
l-kendo.com is an up and comming kendo site with a wealth of
information.
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