The Education Ministry guidelines for junior high schools were revised on March 28, 2008. With the revision, budo, together with dance, became required subjects in all eight areas of health and physical education. The revised guidelines require exercise-related areas to include as part of their educational goals the “active practice of budo, respect for the opponent and observation of traditional ways of acting” as well as an “understanding of characteristics, origins and traditional ideas of budo.”
  As is often said, budo begins with a bow and ends with a bow. This paper looks at the historical background to bowing in budo.
1. Sonkyo-rei (Squatting bow)
   From the late Edo period, a sonkyo-kamae, or a squatting posture, called shikiri started to be practiced in sumo. Taking its cue from this, kenjutsu and kendo adopted sonkyo-rei in which the two opponents face each other with their bokuto (wooden swords) or shinai (bamboo swords) placed between them and exchange bows while squatting. Likewise, judo and jujutsu adopted orishiki-rei, in which the opponents face each other in an oblique stance (or line sideways), with one knee and hand touching on the floor, and bow to each other.
2. Ritsu-rei (Standing bow)
   In the Meiji period, with the introduction of universal conscription, western-style military exercises called heishiki taiso were employed as a part of infantry and military training. Following this, a ritsu-rei or bowing from a standing at attention stance was also employed in budo.
3. Za-rei (Seated bow)
   Za-rei or a seated bow from seiza stance (sitting on the floor with one’s knees bent and with one’s toes directly underneath one’s body) has been widely practiced by elementary school students as part of the etiquette taught in moral classes since the early Meiji period. Combining this with other methods practiced in group teaching for budo beginners, a new form of bowing in budo was adopted, in which one sits in a seiza stance, meditates and bows at the start and end of each class.
  Along with this process, the slogan of “budo begins with a bow and ends with a bow” was adopted and reconstructed as a tradition of budo, which we now call the tradition of budo today.

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  To support the development of kendo in other countries it is important to understand how kendo is practiced and examine the future direction of development of kendo considering circumstances in each country. This study pays attention to kendo in Greece and details how the Hellenic Kendo Iaido Naginata Federation (HKINF) was started and how it has been developed until the present day.
  The research methods that were employed were interviews and email with the staff members of the HKINF and Japanese people who had been living in Greece. Also the EKF Yudansha List inside the EKF Newsletter published by the European Kendo Federation (EKF) was used.
  In 1997 Mr. Ioannis Papadimitriou attempted to start to establish the HKINF. The federation was properly established in 1999. The HKINF was officially recognised by the EKF in 2000 and the International Kendo Federation in 2006.
In the HKINF there are 6 affiliated clubs. The number of registered members is 122, among those 32 hold dan grades. Every year in Greece, 3 kendo tournaments are held, “The All Greek Kendo Championships”, “Combat Sport Tournament Ioannou Eleni” and “Thessaloniki Kendo Cup.” The Greek national kendo team has taken part in the European Kendo Championships and the World Kendo Championships. They have also participated in the “Balkan Kendo Cup” and competitions around the Balkan Peninsula area.
One of the goals of the HKINF is to encourage the development of coaching and refereeing. Another goal is to try to keep people interested in kendo. To do this, the HKINF needs to take positive action to improve their own management skills, and to bring up teachers and referees in the future.

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