This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.
Written by Zero Pilgrim
Described as a team elimination sport of Samurai knights, where strategy, swordsmanship, and fast-paced tactics battle for victory, Kendoball is an up-and-coming new martial arts sport.
Kendoball was invented by James Andrews. He plays with his team at Kanemoto park, where players fight in front of the large japanese pagodas the park is famous for. When interviewed, Andrews says, “Kendoball is about learning control, discipline, focus, coordination, and other strong qualities. The amount of stuff I had to learn, taking on this project, as far as self-confidence goes, willpower, dedication--I learned a lot."
He invented the game in 2008 with his friend Justin. The two were in the backyard of their buddy Jessie's house. They were fighting with shinai--the bamboo swords used in kendo, when Justin started throwing some of Jessie's dog's tennis balls, which Andrew blocked with his shinai. Justin kicked a soccer ball at him, sensing it was the only reasonable thing to do. Andrew then charged. In that moment, Kendoball was born, and the three main tools of the game; the shinai, the ball, and the Fodderball were adapted into the sport.
The rules for each are simple: You can use your shinai to defend yourself against shinai and balls, and of course to “kill” opponents. By kicking the Fodderball into the “keep” at either end of the field, one can break the lines of scrimmage to allow their team to cross over to the enemies’ side, however this also allows the opposing team to cross the lines of scrimmage as well. Winning strategies involve gaining early control of the Fodderball and holding it until the time is right.
In 2015, Andrews’ team had their first public prize competition, The Gauntlet. The Gauntlet is a three round test of might where each round escalates in difficulty. The difficulty comes from the number of opponents per round. The first round has one opponent, the second has three, and the third round has five. Though no one has won The Gauntlet yet, all the top players have completed the challenges of its individual rounds during regular play.
This last June, a Kendoball game was featured in a half-time event during the Boulder County Bomber's roller derby game at the Boulder County Fairgrounds.
Though it’s mostly regulars, these days, even young children as old as eight or nine, and adults of all ages enjoy Kendoball. In October, kids enjoyed a game with blue and red shinai and began calling it “Jedi Ball.” Andrews says, "Everyone wanted to be some swashbuckler, jedi, ninja, samurai, or Indiana Jones as a kid growing up. So of course, all the kids love it. Parents love it because their kids love it, most feel some sense of nostalgia for sword-swingin, even the dog gets to chase a ball."
Kendoball is played every Sunday at Kanemoto Park, located at 1151 S. Pratt Parkway. Practice is held at 2 p.m. and play begins at 3 p.m. Andrews mentioned that he has plans of going national someday, and would like to invite everyone to like Kendoball on facebook and come out to the field to watch and play.
