Zen Nihon Kendō Renmei Jōdō, or Seitei Jōdō in short, is a modern form of jōdō created by Japanese martial artist Shimizu Takaji and presented to the All Japan Kendo Federation in 1968. Seitei Jodo The art contains twelve forms (kata) and were developed in part by Shimizu Takaji and by a committee tasked with the creation of a compact Jōdō system to be taught mainly in Kendo dojos. The result was the Zen Ken Renmei Seitei Jōdō system containing twelve forms (kata)and twelve basic techniques (kihon). As such, Seitei is a simple form of jodo, compared to the Koryu styles, (kata), for example compared to Shintō Musō-ryū for instance, which has 64 techniques Both the basic techniques and forms are drawn primarily from the koryu martial art Shinto Muso-ryu. The kata were chosen from the three first series of SMR, Omote, chudan and Ran ai as they were seen to best represent the art. Ten of these kata were taken from the existing SMR kata but with minor modifications as to better suit the requirements of the Kendo Federation. The two other kata was created specifically for the new Seitei Jōdō system and was not part of the original SMR-system. Seitei Jodo is today taught as a part of the Zen Nihon Kendo Renmei (All Japan Kendo Federation). Kata and Kihon Grades Seitei Jōdō is essentially a gendai martial art with modern grades attached to the All Japan Kendo Federation. The dan/kyu system is used for everyone. The koryu training licenses as found in SMR (Oku-iri, Shomokuroku, Gomokuroku and Menkyo Kaiden) are not used in Seitei Jōdō. The Seitei-system includes renshi, kyoshi, and hanshi ranks, although a Seitei Jodo practitioner can of course achieve the older ranks in SMR assuming they are trained in it specifically. Competitions Unlike the original art, Seitei Jōdō holds competitions in which the performance of the uchidachi (sword) and shidachi (jo) is evaluated by a panel of judges giving points for proper execution of techniques. Training gear Jō - The Staff The Jō is featured in several Japanese martial arts. For more information see the Jōdō article. The All Japan Kendo Federation specifies that the Jō should be 128 cm in length, with a diameter of 2.4 cm and be made from red or white oak. According to legend, Muso Gonnosuke, the founder of the original art of Shintō Musō-ryū, was inspired to create