The Meaning and Design of the HKC Logo
We've had our new logo for quite some time now. But, have you ever wondered why it was designed the way it was? The Logo was designed by Chris Hamilton and Steve Quinlan, and quite a bit of effort was put into it both aesthetically and philosophically. The strokes are numbered in the diagram, and their meaning is listed below.
The Men itself is made of five strokes, which represent the five fundamental aspects or stages of Kendo.
- 1. Fire (Tuski-dare): Intensity. A Kendoka must be like fire in the sense that they have a vigorous spirit and strong kiai. The intensity of their effort is like the fiery lava that erupts from a volcano to become a "mountain".
- 2. Water (central horizontal line within the grill of the men): Tradition. A Kendoka must be like the flowing water that carves the volcano/mountain to give it form and substance. The water flows from the past into the future and represents tradition. Like the reflection of the moon on a river, the tradition of kendo remains constant though the water at any given time undergoes continuous change.
- 3. Wind (remaining men-gane, three parts going from lower right to lower left, from lower left to the top center, from top center downwards): Practice. With practice comes endurance, technique, and speed. Like water, wind also shapes the mountain by eroding its jagged surfaces. With every cut of the sword, the blade moves straighter and faster while ones kiai changes from a fiery scream into a sustained deep howl that shakes the earth.
- 4. Mountain (outside profile of the men from left to right): Patience. Like the mountain, a kendoka must become immovable and obtain a weight that presses on the space around them. Timing, patience, and presence are the traits of the mountain.
- 5. Forest (right hand men-dare): Serenity. A bare mountain, forged by fire, sculpted by water and wind, is still vulnerable, because its weaknesses and passes are exposed. Once the slopes of the mountain are, however, mantled by thick bamboo forests, the mountain is impenetrable. Within the dense forest any intruders will become lost in the vast serenity of the deep forest.
Finally, the last stroke in our logo,
- 6. Unity | Void (Zen circle): With time even the forested mountain will erode and disappear, only to reappear as grains of sand all over the Earth... and to the patient observer each grain will be a mountain unto itself. The path begins and ends with kendo just as the final stroke begins and ends with "Kendo" in the logo. The line, however, fades as this path can only be completed with hard, diligent practice.
If you have any questions please contact: hfxkendo@hotmail.com