Category: Kendo and Gender
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Guest Essay: “Experiences of a Transgender Kendoka” by Natalie Rhodes.
A lot of discussion seems to happen around the topic of transgender women in the martial arts without necessarily spending a whole lot of time listening to our experiences or attempting to empathise with our feelings. So I am going to take this opportunity to voice my thoughts and feelings about kendo practice as a…
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‘The Exclusion of Transgender and Non-Binary Athletes in Major Kendo Tournaments: A Human Rights Issue.’
By Kate Sylvester. Transgender is an umbrella term for persons whose gender identity, gender expression or behavior does not conform to that typically associated with the sex to which they were assigned at birth. A non-binary person is someone who does not identify as exclusively a man or a woman. The word cisgender (often shortened…
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‘Women’s Participation at the 19th World Kendo Championships (Part 2): Women’s Collective Voices.’
By Kate Sylvester. This text is part 2 of a 2-part article that focuses on women’s participation at the 19th World Kendo Championships (WKC). Part 1 shared highlights from the women’s competitions at the tournament. Part 2 delves into women’s perspectives on the 19th WKC which highlight the positive developments in WKC kendo, as well…
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‘The 19th World Kendo Championships: A Historical Moment for Women’s Kendo’ with Chieko Yano (Belgium), Angela Papaccio (Italy), and Katja Fleury (Switzerland).
Foreword by Kate Sylvester. This is the last article in the series that focused on women’s perspectives and approaches to competitive kendo leading up to the World Kendo Championships (WKC) in Italy (July 4-7, 2024). The articles have featured insightful and inspiring reflections from brilliant and accomplished international level women competitors, coaches and referees. The…
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‘It is OK to Call Out Sexism in Kendo’ by Kate Sylvester.
It is OK to Call Out Sexism in Kendo by Kate Sylvester. A few months ago, I published an anonymously penned essay titled “Is it OK to Call Out Sexism in Kendo?” The essay shared the author’s experience of sexism in kendo and the negative impact the experience had had on her confidence and motivation…
Kate Sylvester Perspectives 