In the 8th century warfare was conducted in Japan by local conscript armies who were drilled in horsemanship, grappling in Armour and in the use of bow, spear and sword by professional military instructors.
Later, with the rise of the great clans, skilled swordsman found ready employment as instructors to clan warriors. The techniques that were developed by them are still alive today.
By the end of the sixteenth centaury it was estimated that there were more then 200 sword schools.
Command tournaments were often arranged by local Lords to establish technical supremacy among outstanding swordsman. Then strong reputation publicly established they would very often open sword schools in large towns. Here the students would use a solid wooden dummy sword, the bokken in practice bouts.
However it was not until the beginning of the eighteenth century that serious thought was given to protective Armour to protect the trainees from permanent disability or even death during vigorous training bouts.
In 1871 the Japanese Ministry made the study of Kendo compulsory in Japanese schools. The drive to adopt Western culture led to many sword schools to close. Famous fencing masters held exhibitions around the country and drew great interest from many people who had never been allowed to train in Kendo.
With all the events that led up to World War 2, Kendo toke on a strong militaristic and ultra nationalistic flavor. In the immediate post war period Kendo was removed from schools curriculum until 1952 when a purely sport version of Kendo was introduced back as part of the school curriculum.
In 1953 Kendo was reintroduced but not with the outdated aim of learning survival techniques for non-existent battles but rather with the aim of building character through training in the principles and methods of the sword.
No longer limited to Japan alone, Kendo is now popular all over the World. At the beginning of 1970 the International Kendo Federation was founded with the aim of promoting Kendo development further and in this way spreading international goodwill and friendship, then later in 1970 the 1st World Kendo Championships were held in Japan.
These Championships are now held every 3 years. The 3rd World Kendo Championships were held in England in 1976. The 13th World Kendo Championship was be held in Taipei, Taiwan dec. 2006 one of our members was selected to be part in the mexican antional team for this Championship.
