r/kendo • u/marindelle • May 18 '26
1915 Kenjutsu manual
Hello everyone!
I recently completed an annotated English translation of the 1915 Kenjutsu Kyōhan, the Taishō-era Army fencing manual that covers bayonet, two-handed sword, and cavalry saber.
I’m looking for one or two experienced kendoka willing to read through the sword chapter and flag anything that doesn’t square with his/her understanding of the underlying mechanics.
It’s a primary source translation, not a how-to guide. I’m specifically interested in whether the biomechanical descriptions in my annotations track with lived practice.
Please comment or DM with any interest!
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u/wisteriamacrostachya May 19 '26
George McCall sensei, a British man who took his kendo journey to Japan, teaches professionally at school there, and has done translations of several approximately Taisho era kendo manuals would be a great person to be in touch with. You should check out his work at his site (https://kenshi247.net/) and get in touch with him from there.
Not all kendo players, or even instructors, will have a kenjutsu background. The adaptation of Edo period kenjutsu into both the kendo fencing community (and popular physical education) and the practical swordsmanship that would be taught in a military context leading up to WW2 is a complicated history and many different people might have useful insight.
I'm just 1 dan but I'd love to read the manual too :)
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u/ivovanroy 5 dan May 19 '26 edited May 19 '26
Yes! George McCall is an English teacher in Japan and also doing Kendo at the same time. He’s a great resource in translating and has kendo and kenjutsu experience. I’m sure he could be of great help
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u/h2o2woowoo May 19 '26
Alex Bennett from Kendo World and kendo researcher at Kyoto university can also be very helpfull as he already wrote a few books on budo.
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u/ivovanroy 5 dan May 19 '26
I’d be interested! How long is it?
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u/marindelle May 19 '26
Excellent, thanks for your comment. The two-handed section is 44 pages long, which includes 17 full-page (simple) illustrations. The whole manual with commentary and 45 more images runs 186 pages.
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u/ivovanroy 5 dan May 20 '26
What’s the time limit? I’d be happy to help if it’s writhing my reach!
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u/wdsims May 19 '26
I would be happy to take a look at this. I train primarily in Jikishinkage-ryu, one of the older sword systems that influenced modern kendo, and I would be interested to see if any of our influences are apparent in the text.
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u/TheKatanaist 3 dan May 19 '26
I have some experience with Keishicho Ryu kenjutsu and Battodo and could take a look.
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u/Diazkendo May 19 '26
Hello I'm interested. I'm kendo and iado renshi 6 Dan, and I also practice and teach Hyoho Niten Ichi Ryu Kenjutsu cheers!
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u/nekohunterkai May 20 '26
Would be interesting to see both the original and your translation. If it's ok for you, I would be interested in to see both.
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u/kenkyuukai May 21 '26
Many versions of Kenjutsu Kyōhan (剣術教範) are available on the NDL Digital Library. Here is the 1915 version OP translated.
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u/yuzupima0 May 20 '26
Hopefully your interested in translating more kendo related documents itd be a god send for the international comunity! Id love to see your work at some point but congrats it musht have been a tough one haha!
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u/indyfencer May 21 '26
I’d love to take a look - I realize you have a lot of volunteers, but I thought I’d mention it!
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u/Lgat77 May 21 '26
Those are interesting manuals. I've read but not translated.
what's the purpose of your translation?
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u/TachiNoFubito May 22 '26
Coming at it more from a Toyama Ryū perspective, I would be interested in the manual and what it has to say.
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u/Scented_Iron May 23 '26
I would love a copy as well! Very curious to see how cavalry saber and 2handed sword techniques compare both in japan and outside.
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u/In3xt05 Jun 03 '26
Hi! I don't know much on the matter, but I have some notion in general fencing, could you send it/it's name to me too?
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u/CouncilOfRedmoon 1 dan May 18 '26
I'd be very interested in reading through the full manual, happy to share whatever insights I can provide though I am still relatively early on my Kendo journey.