Shinkendo is the Japanese art of swordsmanship.
The Founder and Chief Instructor is Toshishiro Obata, a world renowned Swordsman of the highest calibre. Shinkendo is a practical, combative style of Swordsmanship. Shin in Japanese means "real, serious, or earnestly", Ken means "sword", and Do means "the way of". Shinkendo therefore, means the way of the real sword.





Shinkendo is comprised of five equal areas of study:
Battoho (drawing and cutting methods)
Tanrengata (forms)
Suburi (solo exercises)
Tachi-uchi (partner practice)
Tameshigiri (test cutting)

Other areas of study include; sword safety, sword etiquette, the history of the Japanese sword, and other sword related subjects.
Shinkendo teaches a person to be able to use a sword safely and effectively. Test cutting allows a student to learn the correct handgrip, correct cutting angles, proper stances and combative distance engagement. Normally, straw-matting type material and bamboo are used as targets. The practice of test cutting distinguishes practical styles of swordsmanship such as Shinkendo from the philosophical and sporting styles. Since a real sword is used, Shinkendo must be studied and practiced carefully and seriously. At first bokken (wooden swords) are used, later an iaito (sword without an edge) is utilised and after that a student moves on to a Shinken (real sword). No Shinkendo practitioner has ever been injured while using a live blade. This is because Shinkendo is taught as a
step-by-step, safety oriented method of handling a real sword. In Shinkendo, the spirit of Bushido (way of the warrior) has been preserved in its techniques, power and effectiveness.