The Difference between Kendo and Kenjutsu

Generally (but not always) in Japanese martial arts, the "do" forms are those used to improve the self, while the "jutsu" forms concentrate on teaching the techniques of war. Note that this is a modern convention, not something that reflects historical usage of the suffixes: what we now call kenjutsu may have once been referred to as kendo. The jutsu/do terminology convention as used in the west was largely popularized by Draeger.

Having defined terminology, the art of winning real fights with real swords is kenjutsu. The primary goal of kenjutsu is victory over opponents; the primary goal of kendo is to improve oneself through the study of the sword. Kendo also has a strong sporting aspect with big tournaments avidly followed by the Japanese public. Thus kendo could be considered the philosophical/sporting aspect of Japanese swordsmanship. However, since the early 1700s virtually all ryuha teaching kenjutsu have promoted it as a means to self-improvement and emphasized the philosophical aspects of the art.

In terms of learning to fight with a sword, kenjutsu has a more complete curriculum. Kendo of necessity limits the range of techniques and targets. Kendoka generally use shinai, which allow techniques which do not work with real swords. Kenjutsu practitioners do not usually use shinai in training, preferring to use bokken (wooden swords) or katana (steel swords) in order to preserve the cutting techniques of real sword fighting. Kenjutsu training largely consists of practicing cutting technique and performing partner kata. For safety reasons, free-sparring is seldom practiced with bokken or katana.

In some ryu, there is contact, which usually happens in a controlled manner within a partner kata. Some of the ryu use protective equipment, such as the gloves and head padding of the Maniwa Nen Ryu. Others, Shinkage Ryu in particular, use a fukuro shinai which is made of bamboo split into many pieces at the end and completely covered with leather.

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