Sports Chanbara
Sports Chanbara(スポーツチャンバラ）) is a Japanese Sport based on the values of goshindo (護身道) founded by Tetsundo Tanabe in 1969 and the first international championship was held in Japan in 1974.
The word Chanbara(チャンバラ) in Japanese literature means sword fight.
Swords
Kodachi(小太刀）(Under 60 cm) The kodachi is such a popular division of sports chanbara they even say "you start sports chanbara from the kodachi", kodachi is about the size of a wooden stick or truncheon which can be practical, female players are particularly in favour of this division.
Choken(長剣）( Under 100 cm)
The choken was at first played either with a single hand or with two hands. As players furthered their experience in competitions, however, many of them turned out to adopt the single-hand handling. In other words the two -hand handling, exemplified by kendo.
Nito(二刀） The nito is two-hand style, however, taken roots among the Japanese, and is irresistibly attractive to them. The Japanese kendo style falls short of defense capacity so that if he attacks straight towards his opponent, he may inevitably be struck as well.
Long weapons
Jo (杖)(128 cm) A short staff also used in aikido and jodo/jojutsu, this weapon is very versatile when mastered and properly used. Both ends can be used.
Bou(棒）（210 cm) Once accustomed, a player can exert a variety of exciting techniques with a bou. It shows its strength in fighting against the choken or nito. It sometimes displays unexpected movements because it uses the both ends.
Yari(槍）（210 cm) The Yari is a spear. No other swords have achieved such an exclusive performance as the yari has done. Characterized by its simple and direct power, it used to contribute to battles to a great extent in old times.
Naginata (なぎなた, 薙刀) The naginata is a polearm with a long blade. While the yari is used mainly in thrusting attacks, the naginata can be used to perform slashing as well as thrusting attacks. The sports chanbara version of the naginata has the same overall length as the yari, but has a longer "blade" portion.
Men (面) (face mask)
The Men used in Sports Chanbara can be either a light face mask, or a padded foam helmet, both of which have a plastic face shield to protect against blows to sensitive areas of the face. As Sports Chanbara is played using safe inflatable "airsoft" or padded Actionflex weaponry, the Men is the only compulsory protective equipment.
External links
fr:Sport chanbara ja:スポーツチャンバラ ru:Спочан