Kenbu Samurai Sword Dancing

Kenbu
Valiantly dressed in a crested kimono and hakama, the performer vigorously draws his sword for successive displays of fencing techniques while shuffling across the stage.
He uses his fan to imitate fallen petals as an expression of the vanity of life, accompanied by the sonorously energetic voice of a poetry reciter in the foreground. Such is kenbu, a performing art established by samurai.

“Kenbu” is a traditional Japanese stage performance art that utilizes the Katana（traditional Japanese sword and Japanese fan while expressing the poems that were mostly written by samurai. In feudal times samurais performed Kenbu to give themselves courage or to achieve mental concentration. In the movie "The Last Samurai" you can see the actor performing Kenbu on the day before the battle.Læs mere