In common with all of the Asian Martial Arts and Ways, Kendo has Kata, or pre-choreographed forms which summarize the main principles and situations.

In Kendo, the Kata are divided into two main groups, Zen Ken Ren Kendo Kata performed with a partner, and Zen Ken Ren Iai Kata performed solo.

The unifying theme running through the particular selections in both the Zen Ken Ren Iai Kata and the Zen Ken Ren Kendo Kata is a very simple one, really, and that theme is, they deliver waza to us which we can use to support practical applications on the Kendo floor.

What we call "Kendo" is not "classical bujutsu" like a bee in amber, but a living, vigorous, cold and objective combatative art. The panels of tough, wise old sensei who have distilled the Kendo and Iaido Kata for modern Kenshi have put a tremendous amount of thought and study into which particular Kata to hand down to us.

For us, these Kata are not museum pieces, but part of our living practice, and they mesh deeply and beautifully with the "reality check" of Keiko and Shiai, where we do our talking, not with yak-yak-yak, and not with protractors and micrometers, but with our shinai in all-out full contact duelling.

Iai Kata are the same thing as Kendo Kata, but in them the maai is so close, they can't safely be practiced with a partner. In other words, Iai Kata are one-person Kendo Kata. Iai Kata also give every Kendo student the setting in which to learn how to properly handle the shinken or live blade.

The two groups of Kata comprise a kind of "synoptic grammar" of Kendo. They are a non-verbal transmission of extremely important information which the Kenshi may actually put to use in Keiko and Shiai. The longer people practice, the more gems they find embedded in the Kata. As their understanding deepens, Kenshi realize yet more variations and combinations of this rather immense body of silent lore which they can then apply in real-time matches.

There are no real secrets in Kendo. The information is right there for people to see, if they have the eyes to see it. It's all out in the open. And yet, as we study on, ten, twenty, thirty years in, more and more simple, yet subtle, applications are revealed to us. The longer we study, the more amazed we are at the deep and flowing well of the Kata.

In short, other people may study Iai for whatever reasons, but Kenshi study it as a resource for applied Kendo, and therein lies the rationale behind the particular selections found in the Zen Ken Ren Iai curriculum.

A few words scratching the surface of the superb Zen Ken Ren Iai... as taught in the Pacific Northwest Kendo Federation

All of modern Kendo is rooted in the koryu, traditional schools of swordfencing which date back hundreds of years. The particular koryu which is taught in the PNKF is the Musou Shinden Ryu.