In Kendo: Culture of the Sword, Alexander Bennett follows the technical and cultural evolution of Japanese swordfighting from the days of the samurai warrior class to its current status as one of the “sportified” martial arts (budo). In detailing this history, Bennett also gives an overview of the basics of performing kendo; however, this is not an instruction manual, and the descriptions of the moves, rules, and equipment are very basic and are used mostly to provide the reader with some grounding for the substance of the book.
