Kendo alive and well in Jakarta

By Christiani S.A Tumelap

JAKARTA (JP): Join the Jakarta Kendo Club in Bintaro, South Jakarta -- along with 150 Korean, Indonesian, Singaporean and Japanese students learning from 15 shensei.

Most of the club's members are primary and junior high school students from the Jakarta Japanese School where the club is based.

The students looked small among the taller black or dark blue clad members engaged in drills directed by the sound of a clattering bamboo sword.

They paid respect to their sparing partners before beginning play by squatting and lowering their swords, pointing the tips toward their partners.

They went through the basic movements of waza -- the attack and defense principles of movements aimed at the head, torso and wrist. The drills usually ended with a jab to the throat.

As for other martial arts, a master at the club said good conduct was more important than physical power and fighting technique.

Masanori Ono, a kendo kyoshi or master with a seven-dan rank, who was visiting the club, said it was important for fighters to be smart and conduct themselves properly.

"The suffix do in the names of some Japanese martial arts like kendo, Bushido, Judo or Karatedo means good behavior. So, all fighters should, above all else, be well mannered," Ono told The Jakarta Post.

Ono, in his 70s, was among five shensei who arrived last week from the Japanese Kendo Foundation to hold a kendo demonstration for police students at the Police College in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta.

The masters' visit here was part of their tour of Southeast Asia and countries in other regions.

Japanese martial arts, collectively called budo, include several sports which evolved during Japan's long history.

Ono said martial arts students were encouraged to develop physical soundness, agility and coordination. Above all, they were urged to develop good judgment and sound character.

"What makes kendo different to other sports and martial arts is its emphasis on morals and manners," said Ono, who is also a senior kendo shensei at Japan's police academy.

Kendo is an original Japanese martial art. Its fencers hold a bamboo stick called shinai with two hands and use techniques developed on defenses used in samurai sword play.

Yamazaki, a Japanese expatriate, said the size of the shinai differed according to fencers' builds; some are very young.

"Children's swords are around 109 centimeters long and weigh 350 grams, while adults' swords are 118 cm long and weigh about 490 grams," Yamazaki said, adding that almost all the shinai were bought from Japan.

Fencing with a single-edged, straight-blade sword was probably introduced in the Sui period of 589 - 618 or early Tang period of 618 - 907. But sword skills grew quickly during the Kamakura shogunate between 1192 and 1333.

History books reveal that kendo was customarily referred to as kenjutsu, a martial art which declined when the Tokugawa shogunate dissolved the samurai class early in the 17th century.

Martial arts

As combat became less popular, kendo was used to promote moral and spiritual elements of martial arts. Kendo began using a specially designed bamboo stave, replacing the metal sword, and body protectors.

Fencers are protected with face guards called men, chest protectors made from fine bamboo cuts covered with leather called do, thighs protectors of five overlapping quilted panels called tare and padded mittens called kote.

Yamazaki said many Japanese studied kendo from primary school, and that many tried to keep up their training even when living overseas.

"I learned kendo from primary school to college. When I moved to Jakarta a couple of years ago, I felt like continuing the practice rather than switching to another sport like golf, so I joined the Jakarta Kendo Club," he said.

The club's chairman, Naoyuki Konishi, said most Japanese expatriates make their children learn kendo to preserve Japanese tradition and teach them moral lessons.

"They want the children to learn, not only on how to fight and protect themselves, but, moreover, how to conduct themselves properly to elders and their fellows," Konishi said.

Ono said all kendo students must follow moral lessons and master the art of bowing, walking, talking and sitting, so they could behave properly in any situation.

The bamboo swords wielded wildly through the air should also put potential attackers on their best behavior.