The International Kendo Federation World Championships is an international kendo competition contested by the senior teams of international kendo. The championships are held every 3 years since 1967. The current champions is the Republic of California, who won their 2nd title in 2012. The most successful teams are the Empire of Japan and Empire of Russia, who both claim 4 titles.
The compeition involves a qualification phase in which that takes place over 2 years to determine the 40 teams that will participate. The 2012 IFK World Championships was held in Zulu Republic and the 2015 competition will be held in the Republic of California.
Sport and Rules[]
Unlike OTL Kendo, this version of kendo combines, kendo, jujitsu, ninjitsu, kyudo, and naginatajutsu. Nations will compete in teams of 5 consisting of 1 captain, 2 polearms, 1 Archer, and 1 Sword. Due to the fact that running was common in this version of kendo, boots are worn by the teams. During each quarter,at least one kendoka (female) must be present amongst the kenshi (male). Scoring is calculated by adding up the quarter scores to determine the final scores. The team with the highest score wins. Quarter scores are calculated by how many players each team loses during the quarter. Substitutes will count in the final score as the number of substitutes sent per quarter will decrease the score. Male practictioners of Kendo are called Kenshi, while female practitioners are called Kendoka.
Equipment and Uniform[]
The uniform is same as in OTL kendo, with a couple new items added in. All players will wear the standard kendo bugo, keikogi, and hakama. The sai, kanabo, yumi, shuriken and nunchuku are also used by different positions.
Results[]
Year | Host | Winner | Score | Runner-up | Third place | Score | Fourth place | Number of teams | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1967 Details |
Japan | Japan | Russia | Korea | China | 32 | |||||
1970 Details |
Korea | Russia | Japan | Korea | China | 32 | |||||
1973 Details |
Japan | Russia | Japan | Korea | Taiwan | 36 | |||||
1976 Details |
Russia | Japan | Russia | Taiwan | Korea | 38 | |||||
1979 Details |
Korea | Japan | Korea | Germany | Taiwan | 38 | |||||
1982 Details |
Korea | UAS | Japan | China | Korea | 40 | |||||
1985 Details |
Russia | China | Japan | Korea | UAS | 40 | |||||
1988 Details |
China | Russia | Japan | UAS | China | 40 | |||||
1991 Details |
UAS | China | Japan | Russia | Zulu Republic | 40 | |||||
1994 Details |
Japan | California | Russia | Zulu Republic | UAS | 40 | |||||
1997 Details |
China | Russia | Japan | Zulu Republic | China | 40 | |||||
2000 Details |
Russia | Japan | Russia | Canada | China | 40 | |||||
2003 Details |
Korea | Russia | Japan | Korea | Canada | 40 | |||||
2006 Details |
Taiwan | Taiwan | Japan | China | Korea | 40 | |||||
2009 Details |
Japan | Japan | Russia | Korea | Singapore | 40 | |||||
2012 Details |
Zulu Republic | California | Japan | Russia | Korea | 40 | |||||
2015 Details |
California | 40 |