Colours in Kendo

by Toby
(Europe)

I got some questions about Colours in Kendo.

On old photos I often see Kendokas with colourful armors and hakamas.

It is clear to me, that those Pictures are often not the real colour, because they were shot in a time, when there was only black-white-photography.

But when I look at Kendo today I always see Kenshis with Indigo Outfits and mostly indigo/black bogu.

I find that this is sad to see, because the individuality is lost at this point.

So are there any official rules, which colour my bogu, hakama, gi, tsuru, mengane,... has to have?

Answer: Thanks for your question. I am out of my residential country so I have no regulation books with me. So I might be wrong but as far as I recall we have navy and white for kendogu (bogu) and keikogi and hakama and white and yellow are the colour of tsuru. I think the black mengane came out but banned in some tournaments in Japan. Apparently you cannot see your opponent’s face.

Hope this helps.

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