Before karate became well known in Japan, the most popular Japanese martial arts were ken-jitsu and ju jitsu. Kendo means the way of the sword, with origins in Japan’s samurai culture and swordsmanship. It covers not only kendo, where heavily protected fighters spar offensively with wooden swords, but also ia-do, defensive sword drawing and cutting from scabbard to the first cut. Japan is famous among Asian martial arts for the skill of its ancient wordsmiths, who forged the finest blades in the Orient