Martial Arts

1. Martial Arts Martial Arts are a form of self defence that is familiar in Japanese culture and is loved by many citizens. Many of the citizens are trained in this art.

2. Karate-Do Karate is a very popular Japanese martial art and is one of the most famous forms of martial arts worldwide. Karate originally came from China and was evolved by some men from Okinawa in Japan who travelled to China. When karate was first written in Kanji, it was written meaning ‘Chinese Hand’.

3. Kendo Kendo means ‘Way of the sword’ in Japanese and is a sword focused Martial Art which requires a lot of strength. The weapon that you use is a shinai (a type of sword). It is mentally and physically training as you need to be committed to it if you want to succeed because it takes a long period to go up the ranks. You have to be at least 14 to start.

4. Judo Judo in Japanese means ‘Gentle way’. The way of fighting is by grappling your opponent, then to choke and finally throw to the ground. You will usually use strikes and thrusts using your hands and feet. It is a very physically demanding sport as you need to be able to lift and throw your opponent around. Once you have strangled your opponent it stops the blood going to the brain, leaving them unconscious. They will only be unconscious for a few seconds which leaves you with enough time to win.

5. Bibliography Kids Web Japan – Explore Japan: Sports http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/explore/sports/index.html Tuesday 24th August 2010 Wikipedia – Karate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karate Sunday 29th August 2010 Wikipedia – Kendo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kendo Sunday 29th August 2010 Wikipedia – Judo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judo Sunday 29th August 2010 Google Images http://images.google.com/ Sunday 29th August 2010

6. By Matthew Roberts & Joshua Kleckin 7O