The kendo reader

Written by the celebrated kenshi Noma Hisashi and published posthumously in 1939, The Kendo Reader is a true kendo classic. Here, for the first time in any language other than Japanese, we are proud to present the book in its entirety. 

Everybody that has helped work on the project or has held a copy of the final product in their hands has said that it is - without a doubt -the most definitive kendo book available in the English language. 

The Kendo Reader is a wonderful little book: only 120-some pages and not much in the way of practical explanations of technique. There are some chapters on the different waza, and a brief description of each. These are more like an inventory than a how-to manual, however. Noma doesn't bother to describe such things in too much detail. Instead, he tries to cover broadly and briefly all the main elements of Kendo. It's a bold undertaking but he succeeds remarkably well. From starting with "Why study Kendo?" he progresses to basics like "Clothing and Appearance" and "How to hold the sword". These chapters are as enlightening to experienced kenshi as much as they are for beginners. Later chapters cover more subtle concepts, such as "Kyojitsu" (Truth and Falsehood), "Hinkaku" (Dignity of Character) and "Sen" (Initiative). These are definitely aimed at those who have been training for a while.