Are Katanas used in Kendo?
Yes and No. I’ve seen some high level kendoka use shinken (“real sword”) when performing kendo kata, but for the most part most kendoka will only use bokuto and shinai during the course of their training. If you practice the iaido curriculum within Zen Nihon Kendo Renmei, then you will eventually use a shinken. However, keep in mind that kendo is a sport, and while it evolved from classical swordsmanship, the format and rules of shiai do not make it a “perfect” replication of combat (e.g. limited targets, rules on when a target is legal, shinai do not feel or respond like a shinken, etc.). Aside from sparring, I find that the kendo kihon (basics) and kendo kata teach a lot about actual combat. It really depends on what you would want to get out of training. If you are drawn to sparring, then kendo would be a great option for you. If you want to learn classical swordsmanship and how to use a shinken, then you should look to iaido, iaijutsu, kenjutsu, battodo or battojutsu.
