The answer received by NeilG regarding some opinions i wrote in the the thread “Has Judo defined Martial Arts as we know it?”, increased my curiosity about the developement of Kendo from old school Kenjutsu and the similarities i find with the Judo as an evolution of old school JJJ.
Recognizing i’m not a Kendo practitioner myself (only have one Aikido dojo mate who practices it and a peruvian e-friend who’s also a Kendo practitioner ) probably my info about said evolutive process is very flawed.
Then, trying to educate myself about the subject, i’ve found this article about the history of the Bogu.
Can someone with Kendo knowledge tell me if the linked article is BS? and or point me to reliable Kendo info in the web?
If your interest is related to the development of Kendo equipment, Sasamori’s “This is Kendo” also says all of it (the men, do, kote, tare and the fukuro shinai) originated with Chuzo/Chuta Nakanishi ca.1765.
Modern kendo has it’s main technical origins in Itto-ryu, and thus Sasamori’s reference is to the development of bogu within that school. But I think the Kendo World article is probably a more complete picture of the development of the equipment. Certainly the simplified view presented in the other thread that implied that there was the equivalent of a Kano who said “OK, that’s settled then, we’ll use this subset of waza and this equipment and then we can all spar and see who’s the best” is wrong.