Foreword by Kate Sylvester
Brave. Is the word that comes to mind when I first read Johanna Nowak’s FaceBook posts questioning women’s exclusion from the high status 7 dan category of the Open de France (France Kendo Open).
Bewildered. Is the word that discribes how I felt hearing that no category would be created despite there being 16 7 dan women in Europe (as of 2023) and that a so-called difference in Chi or Ki between women and men was a legitimate reason to not permit women to fight alongside men in the category.
Anger. Is what I felt reading the rather apathetic responses from the president of the French Kendo Federation regarding the raised issue (see Fine Ladies Kendo Worldwide Magazine link at bottom of this page).
I do, however, choose to focus on the word BRAVE in this context and commend Johanna Nowak for her courage and tenacity in writing this follow up article. Before I leave readers with this well-articulated and insightful article by Johanna Nowak, I will state that it is intolerable for men, especially those in positions of power, to make derogatory sexist comments to women in kendo spaces. It is also unacceptable for women, or anyone—to be fearful of raising democracy related issues in kendo in the case that it may impact negatively on their future grading or competitive opportunity. Revealing that there is a problem, some other women, including myself, share this sentiment of fear, with one woman disclosing that a president of a national kendo federation threatened that her future gradings were in jeopardy if she persisted with seeking punitive action for a sexist comment made by a senior male sensei.
Democratic values understate the philosophy of kendo. It is not the responsibility of women alone to callout sexism or uphold gender equality related democratic values in kendo.
Photo: Poster featuring Joanna Koan
Johanna Nowak, kendo 2 dan, is a member of Kendo Bordeaux (USBBX) and has been practicing for 7 years. She is a highly active and contributing member of the French kendo community.
Raising Your Voice: About the Open de France, and Beyond it.
By Johanna Nowak
Early 2020, at the end of a women Kendo seminar I was attending, a high-ranked male teacher came to participate in the mixed-gender mawari-geiko that ended the event. As we were taking a break according to the female-sensei’s advice, he berated us: “stop talking about make-up, dresses and cooking, and get ready for the salute!”. It was so harsh and unexpected, everyone froze for a minute.
The seminar had been perfect, the atmosphere was light and we, I think, were all quite happy with our day so far. To be shouted at like this, and with such a sexist line, at least for me, broke the spell. I immediately had the urge to snap back at him. I opened my mouth and… just stayed silent.
I thought of his supposed authority, his position – an older ‘“influential” high-graded man. Could I really “talk back” to him? Wouldn’t I become the one at fault? Wouldn’t it have an impact on me later on, in future seminars, gradings? I got a bit scared and said nothing.
Later on, as I was getting home, I couldn’t help but think back to that specific incident. It got me thinking about all those times I had suffered from this sort of sexist behavior in kendo, and just let it go.
It opened my eyes to a lot of things, and I told myself that I wouldn’t not tolerate it anymore. Two years later (Winter 2022), yet again at a women seminar, I learned that in 2019-20, three women 7th dan went to the Open de France, thinking they would be taking part in a 7th dan specific tournament. When they learned that they were expected to fight with the lower ranked women, they apparently refused and asked to fight apart from them (in a female 7th dan category) or with the other 7th dan men. It was refused.
The women involved then went on a tourist trip around Paris.
With this event rather fresh, and the fact that France got its first three women 7th dan in 2022, it was expected that a specific “7th dan women” bracket would open at the Open de France 2023.
I was really impressed by the newly 7th dan women I had the chance to train with, and was looking forward to seeing more of European’s best women in Kendo at the Open de France (7th dan and otherwise).
In December 2022, the Comité National Kendo (CNK, also called France Kendo now) opened the registrations for the Open de France 2023.
Imagine my surprise when I saw that there was absolutely no women 7th dan specific category. Even worse than that, I learned that while men 7th dan had their own time, by themselves, after the main competition (in order for everyone to watch and learn), women 7th dan were expected to fight with lower ranked women, earlier in the day.
Such a disrespectful way of treating women really made my blood boil. I thought that if someone was going to publicly question this, and risk any sort of backlash, it would be me. The rest, you may know of- Women at the Open de France: why it matters to me, and why it should matter to you.
Now, as there are only about 16 women ranked 7th dan in Europe, not all of them interested in shiai, you might wonder why all of this matters ? I’m nowhere near 7th dan myself, it does not personally affect me.
Some might think that women, being less numerous than men in kendo, shouldn’t be given much specific thoughts and consideration. To them, it doesn’t really matter if they are in or not. Even more, to some, women should create their own favorable circumstances: get more women into kendo, more women 7th dan, more women competitors, so on, so forth…and then we will accommodate you.
Well, I beg to disagree. To me, how you treat the less represented party in your group affects the whole community. Giving everyone a fair and equal experience makes us collectively better. It makes us grow. It is not an inconvenience, it is an opportunity. If you give 7th dan women in kendo the possibility to fight in a big, prestigious taikai, you show that, as a big national kendo institution, you respect them. Even if they don’t enter. The opportunity was, at least, offered. “We see you and you matter.”
Showing such respect, creating opportunities at the top, holding yourself to the highest standards, tells everyone that we should all, in our daily practice, show that respect, attention and care for everyone around us. We would all benefit from high-ranked women, who are made invisible by their “small numbers”, becoming more visible.
Now, what’s next?
About the Open de France specifically:
After publicly stating in January that there would be no female 7th specific category at the Open de France in the “foreseeable future”, the executive committee of the CNK apparently changed its mind and decided in March that : “there will be a women 7th dan category at the Open de France 2024, if 8 women enter the tournament.”
To this day, although I asked, I don’t know if the 8 participants minimum is a rule across the whole Open de France or if it was set-up only for the women 7th dan. In any case, such a number of competitors would mean a 50% attendance rate for women 7th dan in Europe ; it’s an absurdly high number.
Having 8 men 7th dan fight in the Open de France gives us a 7% attendance for men nanadan in Europe. It’s comparatively very, very low! Why is the CNK expecting so much? Are they somewhat setting up the conditions of failure?
If you decide to make it happen while in the meantime making it impossible for it to happen, are you blind or just mean? Also, it will be very important to see exactly all of this unfolds: will the women fight at the end of the main competition, like the men?
If it happens, we should not let it become a feminist-washing publicity trick: it happened because a lot of people expressed concern and anger about the current situation, not because the CNK evolved on the topic. They were made to, they didn’t care at all. In fact, I do know that, in response to a new French law that will make it mandatory in 2024 for sport federation (such as kendo) to have the same amount of women and men in positions of power, the current CNK team asked: can we get over that rule… as only 20% of license holders in France are women? So I’m very concerned about how all of this is going, and the sort of example it gives to the French kendo community.
A thought for the end…
Raising your voice as a woman is always a gamble, especially in a martial art like kendo, where women are absolutely outnumbered (20% or so in France). Some women friends in kendo expressed concern for me after I openly questioned the Open de France’s organization, as Internet crowds can be wild for women who speak their unpleasant opinion, challenging the status quo.
The fact that we’re not a huge number of people practicing kendo in France also means that I can potentially face people who were very displeased by the debate I created, and I do know that some were.
But, as I said, I now refuse to let myself be silenced by the idea of a threat. I intend to clearly express myself in front of any situation I find discriminatory. The collective silence that women in kendo maintain (at least in France) is not a sign that everything is perfect, it’s a sign that something is wrong. We shouldn’t be afraid to speak our mind, to anyone, on any subject whatsoever.
Also, I’d like to point out that, thanks to the debate around the Open de France, I was able to meet and exchange with quite a number of men and women in France and other countries. This has been a very positive and enlightening experience. Thank you all for your time. I do encourage everyone, men and women alike, to openly express their opinions and beliefs, without concern or fear of anyone.
Further reading on the raised issue:
Is Chi (Ki) Gendered in Kendo by Kate Sylvester
Read the French Kendo Federation president’s response to the raised issue in the article, The Current Status and Future of Women’s Kendo in Europe Seen in the France Kendo Open by Robin Jakuen. In Fine Ladies Kendo Worldwide Magazine (Issue Vol.5)
Kate Sylvester Perspectives 