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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Swordsmanship Instructor, February 8, 2001
Presentation = 2.5 stars; Content = 4 stars; Intent = 5 stars_Kendo: Japanese Fencing_ is a good historical video for the historian, martial artist, and anyone else interested in kendo. Its content is such that a professor-emeritus I know used this film in his "Japanese History" classes at San Jose State University. The strength of _Kendo_ lies not in its glitzy "bells and whistles" approach -- it has none. Rather, its strength is in its "time capsule" snapshot of kendo as it was in the early 1960s. For those not old enough to remember, there existed a paucity of authentic information available to the martial art community in those "ancient" days. That which was available was largely judo-centric with some "jiu-jitsu," and a little karate thrown in for "esoterica." Absolutely *nothing* was available to people interested in kendo. Well, I guess this film was available, but only a select few had copies of it. I'd choose this video over some others I could name; and, after 40 years of obscurity, I am glad that the film was re-discovered and brought to light. _Kendo_ sits on my shelf right next to the video I have of the famous kendo and iaido master, Nakayama Hakudo. The Nakayama video is grainy and scratchy without sound (heck, it was made in the 1930s), and the images of him in the late 1950s do not show his at his best. But! C-o-n-t-e-n-t!! I get to see a master perform. I have this self-same feeling for Tsunami's _Kendo: Japanese Fencing_ video. If you want to learn how to score "more-better" points at a kendo tournament, don't buy this video. IF, however, you want authentic historical documentary footage (by a US Army documentary film crew), this is definitely worth your hard-earned money.
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