Why Kenjutsu is Useless Against Kendo | Kobudo Master Reacts to "KENJUTSU vs KENDO"

Hello. Im blue kenjutsu guy in the video. Thank you Shogo and Sensei!!😁

I love it when Seki-sensei says something very politely then smiles at you to understand and read between the lines, or when he's just explained a niche detail of his arts and smiles right after success.

The thing noticed is that as soon as a combatant thinks they scored, they stop. They don't retreat to a defensive stance or continue with combination strikes. This also leads to reckless "all or nothing" attacks. This is common in all combat sports for points.

It's a natural problem that occurs when trying to pit to styles of fighting against each other. Some people can easily come to a conclusion that one is stronger because of the results- but sometimes they also fail to realize that the process may have had something to do with the results of the match- one major issue being the ruleset discrepancies. For example, you may pit a muay thai fighter against a boxer, and because one of them wins, some people will be quick to judge that the winner has the stronger art. However, that would be fallacious. Putting physical differences aside, people have to scrutinize what the ruleset was. Was kicking allowed? What were the valid targets? What constituted a knockdown? etc. Those discrepancies can skew the results- and therefore must be taken with several grains of salt.

This reminds me of the first time I tried point-sparring when I was used to doing kickboxing. Point-sparring allows for strange and often reckless movements that would not be advisable in full-contact sparring/fighting, but is super effective at getting points in the sport

That was great, thank you both! We have a similar issue in HEMA with cutting vs. hitting, there are some rules to help mitigate this but it can be difficult to know if a strike has been disabling or would have failed to make an impact. As hopefully no one has much experience in cutting human beings with swords, it is difficult to work out exactly what would work!

Definitely evocative of something you see in European longsword, where there are distinct, but unofficial "martial" and "tournament" styles of fighting. In the former, one tends to use a much greater variety of guards in the attempt to provoke a safe opening in the opponent before one commits to an attack. In the latter, people tend to hang in low point forward guards (pflug, breve) and either keep distance to tap the hands, or otherwise fly in with a quick, lunging cut before flying out, relying on athleticism at least as much as technique. I think it's just a natural consequence of gamifying a martial art, since formal competitions require arbitration, and therefore a rule-set. Martially accurate rule-sets can be approached, but never quite reached due to the complexity of arbitration (how long do you want to spend waiting for judges to determine if a hit would've actually been damaging), potentially dangerous (especially techniques designed to counter armor). The further the simulation is from an actual fight, the more the fighting styles will differ as athletes adapt their skills to better fit the context.

Love this crossover! I'd love to see people stress-test iai properly. Anime and video games have created an 'iai fighter' archetype who wastes time re-sheathing their weapon after every swing, but a more realistic sparring parameter might be...putting 5-10 participants in a field, walking around, performing other tasks with a practice katana sheathed at their side. Then, secretly designate 1-3 'imposters' who will try to ambush the others. Not by hiding around corners, but by hiding in plain sight. Can they draw their sword cut down an ambush target, or can their target draw their own sword and defend themselves in time?

Multi discipline weapon martial artist here (HEMA, FMA). I greatly appreciate the breakdown of each engagement from both viewpoints. There are a few Kendoka and Budo enthusiasts I will have to spar with soon, and this is helpful, both with how I plan to engage them and with providing feedback to help them improve, and context for me to understand how I can improve :) Hopefully, I'll do well and we will all learn a lot from each other

Thank you for posting this. I really enjoyed and valued the wisdom and insight of Seki Sensei.

These videos from Weaponism are fun to watch, but not to be taken seriously. Probably shot as a fun experience too! I notice that the 'katana' used was extremely flexible, and therefore the wielder did not make any attempt to block or parry with such an unrealistic weapon lacking rigidity. Interesting analysis though by Seki Sensei and Shogo. I believe that Weaponism now produce a steel practice katana, which would make such an encounter more authentic.

Thank you for that respectful and insightful reaction!

Really nice video, i love the reactions of Seki sensei and in every video I learn something new! Thank you very much!

Originally, Kendo was developed as a way to sparr safely for Kenjutsu. But if it changes the way you fight, then it isn't filling that role.

Seki sensei is very politely when he says: that wisdom is always looking for you, but it seems that you are always a little faster...

Shogo and Seki Sensei, I just want to sincerely thank you for all your content to date. I love and appreciate the humility and grace with which you educate us on your martial arts, all the while showing your own excitement to explore and exchange with other schools of martial knowledge. Thank you for your dedication and hard work!

I really enjoy how much fun you seem to have with these videos!

Thank you for this! I am kind of lost in the loop even from the main channel due to everything going back to normal especially for work. Since time immemorial, people have really been interested in duking out different martial arts but as most Japanese ones, there's the "jutsu" and "do" difference which we have seen and explained from Seki-sensei's responses too.

Another interesting video ! Thank you Shogo and Seki Sensei

That was a very fun video to watch. I think it is good to add this type of reaction video. Thank you ❤