ALL Maltese Pass their Dan Grading Exam at the 1st
International Kendo Event in Malta
On Sunday 27th September for the first time a kendo grading was held in Malta from 1st to 5th Dan under the supervision of the visiting sensei and the Maltese kendo Federation affiliation wit the European Kendo Federation. The grading was part of the four day seminar and all seven Maltese Kendoka passed their Dan grade.
The seminar had quite an excellent turn out as 70 Kendo players from 18 countries attended the first International Kendo Seminar which was hosted by the Maltese Kendo Federation. The kendo event took place in September from the 24th to the 27th at the Gozo Sports complex.
An official opening ceremony took place on the 25th where dignitaries met the top Japanese sensei, and also witnessed the Japanese tea ceremony, swordsmanship demonstration and the Traditional Sport of Japan: Kendo. Also an official letter of support was sent by the Japanese Consulate based in Rome was read out.
Team competitions were held were the Maltese kendo team participated as the first step in preparation to participate in the European kendo Cup 2010. Further kendo practice in both shinai and sword technique was held at other times over the four days.
This international kendo sporting event was supported by the Ministry of Gozo, Kunsill Malti ghall-iSport and by the Malta Tourism Authority and the Ministry of Youth and Culture.
Kendo the way of the sword embodies the budo spirit of Japan and is highly revered as it incorporates in its practice cultural aspect such as etiquette, Zen, spiritual and mind meditation with aerobic physical agility. Over 10 million people practice kendo world wide with the International Kendo Cup held every three years. Kendo is one of the oldest martial arts of Japan and was practiced by the samurai and as the traditional sport of Japan the discipline continues as part of national Japanese education curriculum. Many books have been written about the art and are studied in many Universities world wide. In business studies one of the most popular is “the book of five rings”.