you would never expect how real Ken are used.

Its a finesse weapon, the blade cannot travel in two planes, when it strikes at target it will warp.

kendo and, kenjutsu are farce.

Much like western gun duels, it is either over in an instant or it is a dirty grimy bowel exploding, shit covered ordeal.

The cuts are Shomen(straight up and down strike to the forhead), Yokomen(angled attacking the neck or temple), Do(angled attack to the sides of the stomach, right above the hips), hashi(attacking the back of the knees), and tsuki(thrusting). They can be executed on both sides of the body.

They are for cutting soft unarmored targets, with exception to Shomenuchi (most samurai had helmets with crests on them)

Most cuts are done with about 5 inches of the tip of the sword. There are no parries or, blocks. These movements are done so that the swordsmen knows where the enemies weapon is, because eyes should always be locked on their target. The only way to keep from getting hit with the weapon is to move your body out of the kill zone. Blocking puts your weapon in danger of damage.

I still dig these clips .