The World Kendo Championship are an international kendo competition contested by the member nations of the International Kendo Federation. FIK is the international federation of national and regional kendo associations and the worldgoverning body for members of FIK. The championships have been conducted every three years since their inception in 1970. The hosting of the World Kendo Championships usually rotates in order through the three FIK administrative regions of Asia, the Americas and Europe. The competition is divided into 4 divisions: Men's Team, Women's Team, Men's Individual, Women's Individual. Team matches are individual between 5 members from each team which change sequentially at the end of each round. There is an opinion in Japan that this tournament is not of the same caliber as the All Japan Kendo Championship or the All Japan Police Kendo Championship, the argument being that there is a distinct qualitative difference in the playing level and style of countries where Japanese live, immigrated, or reigned before WW2, and countries that began the practice of Kendo post-war. This is changing rapidly however. Until 2006, Japan had never lost a championship in any of the four divisions, when the Men's Team suffered a narrow loss against USA in the semi-final, with South Korea claiming victory in the final. This was Japan's first official defeat despite other teams coming close, such as South Korea and Canada in 1997 and 2000 respectively. In the individual division, more and more South Koreans are appearing in the semi-finals and final. Another opinion is that the level of non-Japanese referees is not of high enough caliber for matches to be judged fairly. In order to offset this, mandatory international referee seminars are organized by the International Kendo Federation with high ranking Japanese Kendo officials as lecturers.
Men's Division
Men's Team
The following is a summary of medals acquired by country for the Men's Team Division.
Individual Champions (Men)
Women's Division
Women's Team
The following is a summary of medals acquired by country for the Women's Team Division.
