Various Katana Styles

Many forms, or styles, of martial arts use a katana as the major focus of their training or as part of advanced training. The katana is referred to by different names, depending on the martial arts style. A traditional katana is a Japanese sword with a single-edged, slender blade that exhibits a moderate curve. The blade length is greater than 60cm or 23.6 inches. It features a circular or square hand guard and a grip long enough to accommodate both hands. It's worn at the waist in a sash, or obi, with the sharp edge facing up.

  1. Kendo

    • Kendo translates as the way of the sword. Students of Kendo focus on honing their fighting strategies. Kendo is an extremely popular sport whose techniques include sparring, strikes and thrusts that target specific parts of the body. In Kendo, the katana is represented by a shinai. Shinai are made of bamboo slats held together by leather or cloth.

    Kenjutsu

    • Kenjutsu means the art of the sword. Students of Kenjutsu study katas, choreographed patterns of defensive and offensive movements that express the hidden techniques and attributes of attack and defense. Kenjutsu makes use of the shinai and the bokken, which is made out of wood, as the katana.

    Iaijutsu

    • The art of Iaijutsu focuses on killing the opponent on the draw. Here the katas, called seitei-gata iaido, becomes a beautiful, almost meditative set of movements that are extremely formalized and deliberate. Unlike Iaido, Iaijutsu is direct and forceful. Another name for it is Battojutsu Iaijutsu.

    Iaido

    • Iaido means the way of the sword. This style of martial arts grew from Iaijutsu. Iaido is the art of smooth, controlled movement of drawing the weapon, cutting the opponent, cleaning the blade and replacing it in its sheath. In an Iaido kata, the sword begins and ends in its sheath. The katas focus on fighting techniques and are practiced against imaginary opponents. Iaido practice weapons include bokken, unsharpened katana and iaito, which is a replica of a katana.

    Shinkendo

    • Shinkendo students study five aspects of swordsmanship: suburi, basics and swinging the weapon; battoho, combative drawing and sheathing of the weapon; tanrengata, a set of solo katas; tachuichi, training with partners; and tameshigiri, test-cutting practice. The katana used in this type of martial arts includes bokken and shinai, as well as actual katana in tameshigiri.