Product Description

The old Kendo teachers loved to ask their new students "What is Kendo?" Then they would sit back and listen to them philosophize about the way of the sword.

The question is like a Zen question. If you find an answer, it will always be wrong for there is no answer.

Kendo is something different to each and every student who picks up a Japanese sword. Old Kenjitsu had no rules. Modern Kendo sometimes described as sport Kendo, does. This is the difference between the two.

To learn Kendo properly you must not think of it or practice it as a sport. You must think of it as a way of life. When taking up Kendo the student must keep in mind that the Japanese sword is like no other sword in the world and the skills required to master it are as ancient as time itself.

This book addresses advance level Kendo skills including equipment, exercises, wazas and the last three katas of the All Japan Kendo Federation, which uses the short sword (Wakizashi).

* Equipment of Kendo and its care

* Advanced Waza

* Fundamental Movements

* All Japan Kendo Federation Short Sword (Kodachi) Katas

* About the Samurai and his swords

* Sword Collecting

* Sword Nomenclature

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #509841 in Books
• Published on: 2004-05-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781594390029
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

About the Author
Darrell Max Craig is a highly regarded teacher of many of Japanese martial arts, and a pioneer in their development in the West for over forty years. He holds multiple black belts and is a U.S. Kendo champion, leading the U.S. Kendo team to the world championships. In 1973 he was awarded the title of Shihan, or Master Teacher. Among his many books on the subject is the widely praised The Heart of Kendo. He lives in Houston, Texas.

Customer Reviews

More helpful to the practitioner but beautiful
Samurai seem to be everywhere. From the Oscar-nominated films The Twilight Samurai and Tom Cruise's The Last Samurai to anime marital arts sagas and the hit Emmy-winning Cartoon Network series, Samurai Jack, the robed, inscrutable, unstoppable warriors conquer our hearts with their martial arts and their dignity. The illustration of a black-robed Japanese gentlemen seated in a meditation pose with a katana by his side, one in his lap, sets the tone for Kendo and Kenjitsu practitioner Darrell Max Craig. Although Craig, like so many martial arts devotees, is a gai-jin (foreigner), he displays a reverence and knowledge of Japanese culture, samurai in particular, that is to be respected and admired. Craig goes into great detail about the katas, combat, clothing, equipment, and most of all, the swords of his art. He writes of the details with the same intricate deftness of a skilled samurai dueling with an adversary, and his strokes of the keyboard baffle and enlighten us as much as the strokes of the katana, or the other sword Craig introduces us to, the shinai.

Those readers who, like this reviewer, have not read Craig's previous book, The Heart of Kendo, and are not familiar with Kendo and Kenjitsu, may find the details difficult to master. This is not a casual read, but if you truly desire to learn martial arts, or at least collect Japanese swords, a pastime to which Craig devotes the last two chapters (perhaps recognizing, wisely, that some of his audience for the book may be Japanophiles and collectors), The Way of Kendo and Kenjitsu is a worthy place to start.

Enjoyable read
Mr. Craig has again written another fine book and I can recommend it as a enjoyable read. It maintains the traditional Craig writing style that integrates authentic personal stories, but written around completely new information and insight into one of the more mysterious of the martial arts - kendo. This book is as good as, and in many ways much better, than Mr. Craig's previous books. If you don't read it for the diagrams and technical depth, it certainly should be read for his historical reflections. I found it particularly interesting to understand that the martial experience Mr. Craig has gained - enough to write an authoritative book on the subject, comes from his long relationship with a family in Japan that has been practicing kendo in one form or another for almost 800 years.

I only will point out an observation that Craig gets slowly around to making. He describes that kendo has a very pragmatic modern application. In spite of the list of ranks, skills and titles that Mr. Craig has (l)earned, he writes that the marital samurai is not a person brute bristling with weapons and bravado, but rather a courteous, indifferent person who carries within himself, unseen except when called to action, a martial spirit and a courage to battle for a right.

Terrific Kendo and Kenjitsu Writer
Another terrific book by the Texas Samurai, Darrell Craig. Unlike his last book on kendo, this one goes much deeper and further into the spirit of kendo and talks more about the essence of kendo and kenjitsu. Craig talks a lot about the "gentleman's" side to kendo and how kendo can be a source of experience where a person can, "mold themselves into better people through strengthening their dignity, sense of duty and honor". This book is a great companion book to the first kendo book that came out earlier this year, I think was called - The Heart of Kendo. Craig has a web site with some really good photographs at www.houstonbudo.com. He readily admits that kendo is not for everybody and that kendo can be tough and a challenge. But he writes something to the effect that if you can stop the impulse to run from difficult challenges such as kendo, you can deflect fear's energy into fuel for continuing on a very traditional, seasoned and proven path. Worth the read. Seven stars