   is the umbrella term for all (koryÅ«) schools of japanese swordsmanship, in particular those that predate the meiji restoration. the modern styles of kendo and iaido that were established in the 20th century included modern form of kenjutsu in their curriculum too. kenjutsu, which originated with the samurai class of feudal japan,martial arts of the world: an encyclopedia of history and innovation, volume 2, martial arts of the world: an encyclopedia of history and innovation, thomas a. green, authors thomas a. green, joseph r. svinth, editors thomas a. green, joseph r. svinth, edition illustrated, publisher abc-clio, 2010, isbn 1-59884-243-9, isbn 978-1-59884-243-2 p.599 means "the method, or technique, of the sword." this is opposed to kendo, which means "the way of the sword".  the exact activities and conventions undertaken when practicing kenjutsu vary from school to school, where the word school here refers to the practice, methods, ethics, and metaphysics of a given tradition, yet commonly include practice of battlefield techniques without an opponent and techniques whereby two practitioners perform kata (featuring full contact strikes to the body in some styles and no body contact strikes permitted in others).contact striking during kata is used for example in ono ha ittÅ-ryÅ« historically, schools incorporated sparring under a variety of conditions, from using solid wooden bokutÅ to use of bamboo sword (shinai) and armor (bÅgu). in modern times sparring in japanese martial art is more strongly associated with kendo. ==history== ===early development===  it is thought likely that the first iron swords were manufactured in japan in the fourth century, based on technology imported from china via korean peninsula. {{cite book |last= ozawa |first= hiroshi |title= swords
Japanese_swordsmanship Koryu_bujutsu Sport_in_Japan Swords_of_Asia_by_country