Among some of the top kendo manuals that are said to have had an impact on the development of modern kendo we have BUDO KYOSHI (1895), by Kumamoto (Keishicho Battotai), KENDO (1915) by Takano Sasaburo (the infamous Koto Shihan Gakko’s kendo teacher), and KENDO NO HATATSU (1912/1926) by Shimokawa (Budo Senmon Gakko’s head of the literary/arts dept.).
The table below is an interesting section from the earlier book of the three mentioned above. It shows a point scoring system for kendo. The translation is liberal, and the original is left for those with Japanese ability.
| Area struck | Description | Points |
| Men | A strong cut to shomen or yoko men | 10 |
| Men | Slightly weak, too deep, or otherwise imperfect men | 9 |
| Kote from jodan* | Fully out streched cut or hikiwaza | 8 |
| Kote from jodan* | A cut that is a little bit light | 7 |
| Do | A string cut to the left or right do or hiki do | 6 |
| Do | Slightly light cut or one that brushes the tare | 5 |
| Men tare | A strong 1 or 2 handed cut | 4 |
| Men tare | Slightly weak cut or one that glances off the mengane | 3 |
| Seigan kote# | Makikomi or slightly tapping cut | 2 |
| Seigan kote# | A light cut or one that strikes the fist stongly | 1 |
* Heiji(?) kote (兵字小手): Based on an article written by Nagao (近世・近代における剣術・剣道の変質過程に関する研究：面技の重視と技術の変容) this is a kote scored from jodan.
# Seigan kote (精眼小手): based on * above, I think its a safe guess that this refers kote scored from seigan/chudan kamae.
Its hard to know exactly how popular this scoring system was at the time (or if it was indeed even used), but it is fact that kendo competition in years gone by were sometimes fought for many points (the most on record was 12 – see 剣道を知る事典). Although discussion of the matter is purely academic, it is interesting to imagine how kendo could have developed had a point system as the above been enforced early in the 20th century. Anyway, just a piece of interesting kendo history for you to put in the knowledge bank!!
Jesus. Could you imagine trying to keep track of all of this during a match?
Shinpanning is hard enough as it is!
Fascinating info George. This is a good example of the purpose of this blog.
My sensei said that during the war the matches he participated in were usually ippon shobu. It’s great to find out not only that different systems might have been used, but also get an understanding of how different cuts were valued comparitively. And not only that but cuts that no longer score at all, e.g. “men tare” is that a cut that lands on the shoulder…? Also, had never heard the term “heiji” before. Really good stuff! b
Ben, cheers.
First, i’m not sure if the character combination is read “heiji” or not, thats simply a guess. Second, I have no idea the popularity or non-popularity of multiple scoring methods…. but they definitely did exist. Third, I am not sure exactly as to what “men tare” applies to… I would have to do deeper research into it (see the article on research posted earlier this week), And finally fourth — the wealth of information available in Japanese about kendo is staggering… and the vast majority isn’t available in English. What you get with this blog is often tailored to the individuals likes and dislikes.
At any rate it is – as you said – fascinating… hence the quick translation. More to come soon!!!
Very interesting.
Obviously, I haven’t read the passages that give context to heiji kote, but I’d think that such a huge difference in score between it and seigan kote would make more sense if it were the kamae of the person struck rather than that of the striker.
Also, could “kasume uchi” be taken as “striking given the chance” instead of “glancing blow”?
Mendare is what I’ve always heard the flaps on the men called.
Kent, was hoping you would comment.
‘heiji kote’ – do a web search for that article by Nagao and let me hear what you think. What you say is possible, but I am not sure.
掠め撃 -> hmm, probably. Will probably change it to your suggestion.
Mendare -> Of-course we all know what “mendare” are, but its hard to know exactly what part they are referring to here. It could just be from the neck up the side of the men (which is what I would guess at) and not the flap parts of the mendare that cascade to the side. Again, I am not sure.
Despite possible (probable!) inaccuracies in the translation, I still think this small piece serves to introduce the idea that point systems were actually designed and perhaps even used back in the day.
Cheers for the input!!
Kent and George: I think the original interpretation of 掠め撃 is pretty accurate. “A grazing blow” describes it well – not a solid ippon, but something that vaguely connects. 掠めて with regards to an attack suggests to me something that makes light contact or just misses.
I did a quick search for 兵字小手 and came up with a piece stating quite clearly 「上段からの小手」, so I think that is fairly clear.
I think this scoring system is quite interesting. First, it has the potential to reflect what (dare I say it?) might be called a more “realistic” approach to kendo, i.e. recognition of the fact that kendoists wield a sword and, like horseshoes and hand grenades, close does count for something when it comes to sword cuts. Also, the addition of the men-dare to target areas is something that would elimnate the silly “head dodging” and make kendoists recognize that, by offering your neck to a cut rather than your head, you are still dying. My wife’s uncle is a battto-do sensei in Japan, and he opined the neck cut is the “ichiban” target for a sword. I often think of that when I witness (and sadly sometimes peform) “head dodging” in kendo.
Also, I am fascinated by the “shiai” illustration. Unless I am mistaken, there are a number of spearmen in it? Amazing to see how the spear has almost disappeared in just over a century. Do illustrations like this one indicate that isshu-jiai (mixed practice) between different weapon arts was common at one time?
Inter ryu competitions it seems were very common at the time. Especially in Sakakibara Kenkichi’s gekiken shows.
I have seen kendo vs sojutsu but it is very rare.
Edit: in fact, I am translating a short article as we speak that tells you how to fight against spear…
George-
I would LOVE to read your translation of that article. Yes, please!
-Brian S.
A short series “dead and dying waza” will come out soon enough.. we have a backlog of stuff waiting to be released. If we released everything at once that would be no fun!!!