kendo in movies

[mononokifool]

i was watching mad max last night and relized that towards the begining of the movie one of the head honchos was in bogu and was holding a shinai. even though it was breef it caught my attention and i was wondering how many other main stream movies kendo was in. please list the movies taht you know

[Nanbanjin]

i was watching mad max last night and relized that towards the begining of the movie one of the head honchos was in bogu and was holding a shinai. even though it was breef it caught my attention and i was wondering how many other main stream movies kendo was in. please list the movies taht you know

Which Mad Max movie?
As I said in another thread Star Wars Attack of the Clones has people from Sydney Kendo Club in it.

[Dr. Hellsing]

there were shinais in the scorpean king

[Nanbanjin]

They're great for kendo practice, but shinai's are the lamest weapon. Like that ad with David Beckham - waving a shinai around just doesn't look tough.

[DCPan]

i was watching mad max last night and relized that towards the begining of the movie one of the head honchos was in bogu and was holding a shinai. even though it was breef it caught my attention and i was wondering how many other main stream movies kendo was in. please list the movies taht you know

My barbaric girlfriend (Korean Romance movie)
- the dojo they used in the movie was actually featured in Kendo Nippon...I wonder if the two people in the background were Korean Team members.

You only live twice (James Bond movie)

[dbanbury]

Moonraker (also a Bond flick) has the villian's henchman attacking Bond in a Venetian Crystal Factory dressed in bogu and using a shinai.

[Lloromannic]

In Kung Pow one of the evil guys near the beginning wears bogu and is armed with a wall hanger katana.

Shinai are a common sight on Mexican telly, on every sunday morning channel 9 has a large block dedicated to Lucha Libre (wrestling) and it is not unusual for one of the wrestlers to grab a shinai (from the crowd or from some unspecified point off camera) and to sart whackin on the other guy for a while. However in an amazing display of research the shinai do NOT have the red strings still attached. They are however, known not as shinai, but rather as Kendos.

[KhawMengLee]

They're great for kendo practice, but shinai's are the lamest weapon. Like that ad with David Beckham - waving a shinai around just doesn't look tough.

On the other hand...the simple folding chair is the geatest weapon of the 21st cent. Ask any respectable triad in Mongkok(HK)...you can destroy ppl with it and walk down the street with it and the cops can't nab you. Wanna see how effective it is? Watch "The God of Cookery" with Stephen Chow...

[Richiro]

On the other hand...the simple folding chair is the geatest weapon of the 21st cent. Ask any respectable triad in Mongkok(HK)...you can destroy ppl with it and walk down the street with it and the cops can't nab you. Wanna see how effective it is? Watch "The God of Cookery" with Stephen Chow...

lol! funny but true. I tink i should try em
:evil:

[Nanbanjin]

On the other hand...the simple folding chair is the geatest weapon of the 21st cent. Ask any respectable triad in Mongkok(HK)...you can destroy ppl with it and walk down the street with it and the cops can't nab you.
Plus you can take time out to sit down, relax and admire your own handy work once the job is done.

[Yiu Fai]

On the other hand...the simple folding chair is the geatest weapon of the 21st cent. Ask any respectable triad in Mongkok(HK)...you can destroy ppl with it and walk down the street with it and the cops can't nab you. Wanna see how effective it is? Watch "The God of Cookery" with Stephen Chow...

Ah, Stephen Chow! He's responsible for much of my laughter in the past decade, funny man he is :)

Not so mainstream movie would be Volcano High (Korea). Red Kendo gear...

[Catherine]

Let's not forget that pinnacle (cough) of movies - the first 'Punisher' movie. It was made in NSW years ago and featured most of the then NSW Kendoka.

There was a James Bond movie where he went to Japan and was attacked by a guy with a brand new fatboy shinai ... and no armour. The attacker had a really bad looking cutting action - his arms weren't extended at all. I can't remember if that was one of the James Bond movies that has already been mentioned. I forget their names...

Catherine

[KhawMengLee]

Kendo in movies?

Hmnnnn...lesseeeee

The Hunted
Black Rain
All About Lily Chou-Chou
Gohatto
My barbaric girlfriend/my Sassy Girl
etc

[Seiza_Seizure]

I borrowed and old Stephen Speilberg movie made in 1986/87 called Empire Of the Sun which introduced Christian Bale- (A.K.A. Batman Begins/American Psycho) I`m sure you have heard of him.
I recall seeing this film years ago, and having watched it again was suprised at how good a film it was, aswell as Bale`s performance at such a young age. He must have been about 10 years old.
Anyway... while watching a scene, for a brief second in a sweeping shot you see some Japanese Soldiers doing keiko in the background.
Definitely an interesting film, worth the watch, see if you can spot the scene I`m talking about.
Good get? What do you reckon? Like to hear feedback, and of any other films where Kendo makes an appearence.
See if you can spot any other actors. You`ll be suprised!

[Nanbanjin]

I borrowed and old Stephen Speilberg movie made in 1986/87 called Empire Of the Sun which introduced Christian Bale- (A.K.A. Batman Begins/American Psycho) I`m sure you have heard of him.
I recall seeing this film years ago, and having watched it again was suprised at how good a film it was, aswell as Bale`s performance at such a young age. He must have been about 10 years old.
Anyway... while watching a scene, for a brief second in a sweeping shot you see some Japanese Soldiers doing keiko in the background.
Definitely an interesting film, worth the watch, see if you can spot the scene I`m talking about.
Good get? What do you reckon? Like to hear feedback, and of any other films where Kendo makes an appearence.
See if you can spot any other actors. You`ll be suprised!
In the novel young Jim (I think that's right) practices with some of the guards but the doctor at the prison camp is horrified because of the risk of TB from a borrowed men.

[Seiza_Seizure]

I will have to chase it up.

I`m sure the book goes into the young boy`s (Jim`s) relationship with the Japanese soldiers and fighter pilots. Nothing was covered in the film with him practising Kendo. None the less, still a decent film.

[The great I AM]

There was a film called Snowflakes on Cedars or Cedars in the Snow or something like that, where a nissei was accused of using kendo to kill a fisherman with cultural motives (it was set around the end of ww2) I think it had Tim Robbins in it, I think. There was a little bit of actual kendo in it.

[Nanbanjin]

There was a film called Snowflakes on Cedars or Cedars in the Snow or something like that, where a nissei was accused of using kendo to kill a fisherman with cultural motives (it was set around the end of ww2) I think it had Tim Robbins in it, I think. There was a little bit of actual kendo in it.
In the book the Japanese community have a dojo set up at the local sports centre or something. The guy who gets accused of murder (Kazuo?) trains from childhood and is meant to be kickarse. He goes to war and joins the famous Japanese platoon (Don't know if that's the best word - I've heard it was the most highly decorated 'platoon' in US military history) that fights in Italy where he excels in hand to hand combat.

There's an article in this month's Kendo Jidai about an early kendo pioneer who migrated to the US in the 1920's. The dojo was closed down during the war but was apparently reopened and is still operating. Maybe someone from the US might be able to elaborate.

Makes me wonder whether kendo might have been practiced by the Japanese who settled as pearl divers in Broome, West Australia.

[Dr. Hellsing]

Kendo in movies?

Hmnnnn...lesseeeee

The Hunted
Black Rain
All About Lily Chou-Chou
Gohatto
My barbaric girlfriend/my Sassy Girl
etc

my sensei was in black rain, Nobaru Kataoka from nyc kendo club

[mononokifool]

wow i did nto know it was in so many movies but i do remeber it in volcano high. i do know it is in several animes though

[KendokaJim]

my sensei was in black rain, Nobaru Kataoka from nyc kendo club

I believe Kataoka-sensei was in The Hunted as well. He played one of the headh honcho's henchman.

[KhawMengLee]

I borrowed and old Stephen Speilberg movie made in 1986/87 called Empire Of the Sun which introduced Christian Bale- (A.K.A. Batman Begins/American Psycho) I`m sure you have heard of him.
I recall seeing this film years ago, and having watched it again was suprised at how good a film it was, aswell as Bale`s performance at such a young age. He must have been about 10 years old.
Anyway... while watching a scene, for a brief second in a sweeping shot you see some Japanese Soldiers doing keiko in the background.
Definitely an interesting film, worth the watch, see if you can spot the scene I`m talking about.
Good get? What do you reckon? Like to hear feedback, and of any other films where Kendo makes an appearence.
See if you can spot any other actors. You`ll be suprised!

Yeah...there's a bit in it when the japanese Sarge starts to smash the windows in the hospital(in retaliation for the US bombing his prison) with a shinai and the doctor tries to stop him. He gets smacked with a few men and a tsuki.

[KhawMengLee]

There was a film called Snowflakes on Cedars or Cedars in the Snow or something like that, where a nissei was accused of using kendo to kill a fisherman with cultural motives (it was set around the end of ww2) I think it had Tim Robbins in it, I think. There was a little bit of actual kendo in it.

Ethan Hawke. They had a scene where the japanese guy is being taught kendo by his dad when he was young.

[otakuworldwide]

yep, mostly i've seen shina's in wrestling, mostly in ECW, two people carry them around wherever they go, the sandman and tommy dreamer to be exact. and then i've seen it in Volcano High also, red bogu chick, with the kendo club... there is a ton of anime that touches on kendo...but yeah! (^^)

[SkippyDaStudent]

yep, mostly i've seen shina's in wrestling, mostly in ECW, two people carry them around wherever they go, the sandman and tommy dreamer to be exact. and then i've seen it in Volcano High also, red bogu chick, with the kendo club... there is a ton of anime that touches on kendo...but yeah! (^^)

Exact same thing said here.

[Henry Jones Jnr]

Having happily watched James Bond appear again in Moonraker, I should like to inform everyone that James was fighting a very very bad man!. I mean if you look closely you will make out the little red threads that the very very bad man forgot to cut off before he procceded to hack/slice/grate/mash/stir/prod and generally make a big mess while our hero skipps off scot free etc etc.

[Nakaleen]

There was this one B movie. I can't remember the name but It is annoying me greatly (searched googles for ages).

The movie was about a cop and her partner (as always) She is asian and ummmm VERY talented up front :P (imagine a scene where she is wearing a white shirt and falls into the water while chasing a crim). Anyway the story s about a smuggling racket where crims smuggle drugs using breast implants.

Anyway in this movie she dose Kendo, VERY poorly... unless I miss the class where they taught to do rolls and flips.

[LNGUYEN]

And the latest" Transporter 2" where the bad guy wear flashy white and red girl bogu practiced against several guys. The amazing thing is when two or three guys attacked and thrust his mengane and broke it. miracle happened, this guy vanished and reappear again below and started attacked all the legs. I wish I can do that in the tournament against Gibbo. Attack his legs.

[hobbit]

The Yakuza - 1960's film with Robert Michum, Takakura Ken: One of the leads ( Ken ) is an ex-Yakuza - turned Kendo Sensei. Features a nice bloodbath at the end. . . not upto Quentin Tarrantinos' standards, but good for the time.:beard:

[Tiki-kun]

In reference to the first post in this thread - I just watched Mad Max last night, and the bogu appearance is very odd. One of the police commisioners (or something of that sort) is wearing a Do under a suit jacket! Very odd - he is also holding a shinai and men. I have no idea why he was dressed like that - wanted to listen to the commentary track, but the DVD was scratched (rental) and we couldn't even finish the film.

[Inouye02]

my sensei was in black rain, Nobaru Kataoka from nyc kendo club
my dad was in black Rain also ...

[T.Lee]

i just did a IMDB search in black rain and the hunted. what i found interesting was that there is a guy who was in both movies named Toshirô Obata who is "Founder of International Shinkendo Federation".

http://www.shinkendo.com/main.html

talk amongst yourselves...

[Angelfire]

my dad was in black Rain also ...


small world! :)

[Angelfire]

There was a film called Snowflakes on Cedars or Cedars in the Snow or something like that, where a nissei was accused of using kendo to kill a fisherman with cultural motives (it was set around the end of ww2) I think it had Tim Robbins in it, I think. There was a little bit of actual kendo in it.


Snow Falling on Cedars. Yeah that movie is a pretty good one. One of the most highly decorated unit (if not the most) in World War II is the one formed under the Japanese-Americans.

[Angelfire]

I watched this Japanese movie, it's about a Kendoka. But the main story revolves abound a deaf-mute guy who practices Kendo in his hometown (it's on an island).

I dont know the title, i hope youd know. Im searching for it but i cant really locate it i the net. Its a drama kinda flick. Hope i can get some help. I watched this a counple of weeks ako in Wowow Channel.

[Moe-KendoFreak!]

Having happily watched James Bond appear again in Moonraker, I should like to inform everyone that James was fighting a very very bad man!. I mean if you look closely you will make out the little red threads that the very very bad man forgot to cut off before he procceded to hack/slice/grate/mash/stir/prod and generally make a big mess while our hero skipps off scot free etc etc.

what little red threads are u talking about???

[bullet08]

what little red threads are u talking about???

i think he means red threads that hold the shinai togather when you first get it from the vendor.

pete

[Grenamier]

Anyone remember the TV show Ohara, starring Pat Morita? I remember an episode once where a Japanese policeman was visiting to investigate a case. The policeman wasn't well thought of and losing face, I think. There was a pivotal scene in the show where Ohara and the policeman practice Kendo in bogu together and the policeman realizes he has to buckle down and get the job done after Ohara lays him out on his butt.

[TJHara]

Snow Falling on Cedars. Yeah that movie is a pretty good one. One of the most highly decorated unit (if not the most) in World War II is the one formed under the Japanese-Americans.

I believe their official title was the 442nd Regimental Combat Team [Edit: Google agrees]. I know my grandfather served in that unit, and I want to say two of my great-uncles served as well, with a third who was in the MIS, although it could be that all three served and one or more went on to MIS. I know it's a bit of family history I really should be more "up" on, but honestly? I have trouble as it is just keeping up with the here-and-now.

-TJ

[Eiliries]

i just did a IMDB search in black rain and the hunted. what i found interesting was that there is a guy who was in both movies named Toshirô Obata who is "Founder of International Shinkendo Federation".

http://www.shinkendo.com/main.html

talk amongst yourselves...

Hey, that guy played Shredders henchman in "Teenage Mutant NInja Turtles II: The Secret of The Ooze"!

[ShinKenshi]

I was just watching a James Bond movie and it had a bunch of kendoka in it! It was "You Only Live Twice" and they had a couple guys wearing some older looking do and men, tied with white himo, and a couple shots of some guy doing what looked like kirikaeshi and some shiai. It's when James has to become trained as a ninja to infiltrate a SPECTRE instalation on a Japanese island. Watch that section of it and tell me if you guys agree that they "Hollywood-ized" the martial arts. I'll admit a couple things looked legit to me but I'm not sure.

[KOMA]

Highlander III: The Sorcerer had some kendo in it

[Hisham]

I remember seing an "old" australian action movie (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0173443/) which has a jigeiko scene between the hero and his master. As you'll notice Nicole Kidman plays in it.

[Lloromannic]

This (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mil_Mascaras) famous mexican wrestler used to do Kendo with my sensei and appeared in many movies, some using Kendo. My sensei appeared in a couple as his stuntman for some of thge Kendo scenes, including one where he played a henchman beating on another wrestler with a shinai in full bogu. I forgot to ask my sensei if he wore his mask inside his men, I'll ask him when I see him.

[Gregory]

I believe their official title was the 442nd Regimental Combat Team [Edit: Google agrees]. I know my grandfather served in that unit, and I want to say two of my great-uncles served as well, with a third who was in the MIS, although it could be that all three served and one or more went on to MIS. I know it's a bit of family history I really should be more "up" on, but honestly? I have trouble as it is just keeping up with the here-and-now.

-TJ

442nd had the most medals awarded and the most casualties.

[Angelfire]

442nd had the most medals awarded and the most casualties.

The price of freedom.

[twotoedgiraffe]

Didn't Austin Powers have a goofy scene in it? I just remember the villan's wall of shinais which I thought was kinda of lame considering you'd probably just bruise someone badly from smacking them un-bogued. Or was that James Bond?

[IronMonkey]

There's some old-school kendo action in 'Sword of Doom.'

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060277/

Tatsuya Nakadai plays Ryunosuke, a skilled swordsman, who, from the opening moments of the film, proves also to be homicidally indifferent to human life. Ryunosuke is a strange and difficult character. His fighting style is passive, and he remains mostly uninvolved, both with the political turmoil surrounding him, and with his family - from his dying father, who fears the evil in him, to his lover (the wife of an opponent he kills) and his child. Nakadai's performance is magnetic, comparable to Montgomery Clift in it's singleminded, unyielding intensity.

While some of the subplots without Ryunosuke aren't quite as compelling, the ending is memorable and disturbing, and the direction will remind in some ways of Orson Wells.

[Mishima-san]

Kitano "Bîto" Takeshi's "Zatôichi". In a flashback sequence, the ronin Genosuke Hattori (acted by Asano Tadanobu of Oshima Nagisa's "Gohatto" fame) is shown duelling with his kendō master.

[sakanasama]

And the latest" Transporter 2" where the bad guy wear flashy white and red girl bogu practiced against several guys. The amazing thing is when two or three guys attacked and thrust his mengane and broke it. miracle happened, this guy vanished and reappear again below and started attacked all the legs. I wish I can do that in the tournament against Gibbo. Attack his legs.

Im a noob and evenI felt his skillz were weak.....powerful weak. and it never comes up in the movie again (thank god!)

[sun_tzu83]

Did I mention the guy in Transporter 2 also used his elbows against his sparring partners? Hansoku, 1kai!!!

[Gregory]

Im not sure if this was mentioned, but I have my TiVo record anything with the keyword "kendo" in it (trying to get the tournaments, etc.)

Turns out there is some episode of the show "murder, she wrote" called "kendo killing"

about 20 minutes into it, there is a REALLY nice kendo scene. Dressed in white gi, nice black bogu, etc.

The best part was the actual crap they were doing. My favorite? guy 1 kicks the other in the face, then guy 2 hits his shins, then guy1 "whips" guy 2 with his shinai on the back.

Oh, then he takes off his men like a helment and goes. AGGH

They had girly kiais too :P

[pailhead]

http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs117.snc1/4726_93113451034_515121034_2601582_4735815_n.jpg

from punisher


I just watched moonraker, and went :confused: when that guy attacks bond with a shinai wearing full gear. I understand the movie came out just after star wars, maybe they were expecting people to think its a lightsaber not a shinai.

[ghostdancer]

The Yakuza
robert mitchum http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073918/

[Houseofalvarez]

Shinsengumi: Assassins of Honor
This is a great Toshiro Mifune movie where the samurai wear DO into battle.
Love and Honor
This was also a good one where a samurai goes blind and has to learn to fight again.

Both of these have many Kendo references.

[kaze]

"Hannibal Rising"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNKlFr3i6b8

Not the best Kendo I´ve seen........not that I´m an expert, but at least I know how to place my hands in the tsuka.

A little bit strange right at the first seconds of the clip, when the guy is doing suburi...............just look at the way he is holding the shinai.

BTW...........thanks to KW staff for the great 14 KWC videos.

[pailhead]

Not a movie,

but nonetheless

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucc78Ug4Pn0

[ScottUK]

Some kenjutsu/kumitachi in Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nflu3gL-rvo).

[Anime12478]

There is the movie "Ken" which is based on one of those Yukio Mishima stories that was made in 1964. They talked about it on Kenshi247 (http://kenshi247.net/blog/2009/07/24/ken-by-mishima-yukio/comment-page-1/#comment-486) a while back. If you want to know more, you can see a detailed review here (http://www.bindpose.com/review_ken/), and if you're interested in buying it, then you can go here (http://www.kurotokagi.com/others.htm). But, to buy it, you need Paypal, which is something I haven't used in about 5 years or something like that. The movie itself is the sixth from the bottom and the name is "The Sword," which kinda threw me off a bit.

[b8amack]

Clouseau and Cato in Revenge of the Pink Panther! At least, I think it was Revenge.

[sobasan7]

its been mentioned already but i love this scene from: My sassy girl (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ga0i1E8Ea4g)

[SanguineKendoka]

Some friends who went to see Blood: The Last Vampire at the cinema tell me there was a bit of Kendo in it, but I can't really confirm as I didn't go (blatantly a terrible film).

Gohatto (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0213682/) is another Shinsengumi flick with some pretty good Kendo in it, the difference between this and other Shinsengumi flicks being the catastrophic amounts of man-love involved. It was on BBC3 a while back - I think it may have been an ambush.

[D'Artagnan]

Some friends who went to see Blood: The Last Vampire at the cinema tell me there was a bit of Kendo in it, but I can't really confirm as I didn't go (blatantly a terrible film).


The 'Kendo' in that movie was B.A.D

[bobdonny]

The 'Kendo' in that movie was B.A.D

With a capitol BAD, but you'd hope it may bring an influx of budding anime kendoka :)

[Theodore]

Who can forget 2007's Ramen Girl? (http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GARRQfJt-bQ)

[MartialArtsGirl]

well, this is actually a really obscure thing, and its not exactly a movie but a music video: In one of the music videos by Enigma, theres a lot of Kendo stuff. (bad Kendo may I add). Its in the music video for the song "Push the Limits" (by Enigma). Funny thing is, I saw that way before I even knew what Kendo was.

But anyway, that was completely not what the OP asked for, but I'll give it out anyway. :D