'Imagine what it's like with a real sword in hand': Kendo club slices into history

Long-time Ballarat Kendo club member, David Tannard, imported tatami mats from Japan to give a small number of people in the club the opportunity to participate in an authentic training exercise.

The aim of the exercise is for the sword wielder to make a clean, classical cut into the rolled mat - it is an event the club aims to hold every five to six years.

Founder of the club, Gary Oliver, said the event gives club members a newfound appreciation for how difficult the skill is.

"It's important to remember exactly where it evolved from," he said.

"Before you get big-headed about your ability to fight each other, just imagine what it's like with a real sword in hand."

Oliver made his first cut into a tatami mat during a trip to Japan 30 years ago, and it has now become one of the many authentic experiences offered by the club.

Ordering the mats from Japan, and then preparing them for the event is an expensive and tedious process.

Oliver said it takes about a week to get the mats ready once they arrive.

"It's a matter of timing and knowing what you do," he said.

While those who participate in the martial art can test their sword speed in other ways such as cutting into pieces of bamboo, or suspended plastic bottles of water - Oliver said nobody has come up with a good replica.

"We like to be as authentic as we can, and it certainly gives our members a really good understanding of where our swordsman ships come from," he said.

"(It shows) just how important it is to do things traditionally and authentically."

Oliver and Tannard's efforts were not in vain - Oliver said the members of the club who participated in the exercise enjoyed the experience immensely.

"We said 'we're gonna start at six o'clock and we should be finished by half past seven'," he said.

"Well, it was quarter to nine, I think by the time the last person had cut."

There was a mix of first-timers and veterans on the night, as well as a series of successful and unsuccessful cuts.

"It brought us all together," he said.

"When people made a mistake or knocked the whole thing over off the ground, everybody just sort of clapped and laughed good heartedly."

Some of the members brought along family swords and swords from their own collection.

"Some of them worked really well, others would have a hard time cutting through butter if they were hot," Oliver said.

Oliver said the tradition will continue again in the next five or six years, but the experience is only available for those who are a member of the Ballarat Kendo club.

"It's certainly a highlight of our activities," he said.

"We don't invite people from other martial arts in unless they're very highly regarded because otherwise people are going to get the wrong idea."

According to Oliver, the experience is an appreciation of the swords, and the swords themselves.