At Le Mans Kendo Club, ages 8 to 75 on the same floor

A young section, a long history

Kendo is Japanese fencing: you face off with a shinai, a bamboo sword, wearing armor. In Le Mans, the discipline is nothing new: the section's founder has been teaching it since 1985, and the instructor who welcomed us joined him in 1993. In 2024, the team founded a new section within the ASL-CE Renault: Le Mans Kendo Club. It now has between 25 and 30 practitioners, and 6 to 12 per session.

A Saturday morning on the floor

On Saturdays, from 10 AM to noon, the club trains on a dance floor, “the kind of floor you look for”: no tatami in kendo, you need a floor that's springy, but not too much. Every attack combines three things: “the movement, the cut and the kiai […] have to happen in the same fraction of a second. Which makes it pretty loud.” The kiai is the shout let out at the moment of striking.

Two practices share the sessions: shinai combat, in armor, and katas, set two-person exercises with the bokuto, a curved wooden sword made of oak that stands in for a real sword.

On the floor, all ages mix: the club takes kids from age 8, and one of the practitioners is 75. “He practices less hard, but he's just as effective.” In team competition, it's co-ed.

Thank you to the instructors and practitioners for opening their doors and taking the time to introduce us to their discipline.

Getting started: sweatpants are enough

“You can practice a whole season in sweatpants,” the first one at least, with a T-shirt. The minimum equipment is a shinai, and if possible a bokuto. At the start of the season, the club hosts introductory sessions in the middle of the classes and adapts the session for newcomers: the simplest thing is to contact the club before coming. The armor (the bogu) and the traditional outfit come later, at your own pace.

There are no belts in kendo: you progress through grades, six kyu, then up to eight dan. “There's enough there to keep you busy for a lifetime.”

Four sessions a week

• Monday and Thursday, 7–9 PM: adults, at the Bellevue gym.
• Wednesday, 4:30–5:30 PM: kids and students, at the judo dojo on rue du Spoutnik.
• Saturday, 10 AM–noon: all levels, at Salle Marcel-Cerdan, rue du Spoutnik.

Practitioners also go to training camps with other clubs: regional camps, a women's camp, or the big gathering in Saint-Mandé, near Paris.

Next step: we try it

We'll come back to take part in a session, like any beginner. The story, and the video, will follow here.

This club is well worth a visit: share this article with someone who wants to give it a try.

Getting there

• Session open to everyone: Saturday 10 AM–noon, Salle Marcel-Cerdan, 20 rue du Spoutnik, Le Mans.
• To get started: sweatpants and a T-shirt; contact the club before your first session.
• Prices and sign-up: on the club's website.
• Le Mans Kendo Club on Sortir au Mans