Quote:
Originally Posted by CoolNard
Interesting... kenjutsu is similar to kendo.., but not quite... kenjutsu is the teaching of only waza(technique) of sword work, cutting, striking and sparring. kendo is the teaching of kenjutsu with the added aspect of teaching "Do", the way to seishin-ryoku(mental power?). The teaching of "Do" encompases all the mental aspects we associate with kendo; rei-gi, concepts of mushin, heijyoushin, kokoro-gamae, mokusou, zazen and all the others. So, rather than thinking about kendo and kenjutsu as two seperate arts, think of it as kenjutsu and kendo are the same, with kendo adding the extra mental aspect. 
If there's any difference, it would be the proper cutting with a sword, and the targets. Some targets are meant to be aimed at common(fuedal) armor weaknesses. Kendo cuts to the target, merely hitting it. Kenjutsu cuts through the target - quite apart from differences due to weight, length and shape of weapon and the restrictions on what is a valid target in kendo.
For example, in one of my friend's father's dojo, they wear bogu(a special protective armor in the martial arts) sometimes for sparring, as others do in kendo. But the difference comes in the fact that in kendo, they use the bogu as targets for attack, whereas in his school, they use bogu to learn how to cut around the armor. They also custom make their shinai(a bamboo sword used for practising purposes), which are completely different from a kendo shinai so they can execute their attacks without killing anyone. You can tell a kenjutsu school by its curriculum. Kenjutsu dojos were started in the fuedal times to teach the arts of war.
Well, after all that crap, guess I should contribute my two cents, as well. ^_^
An image of a katana
And for those of you who don't know the difference between a katana and a katar, I've specially taken five seconds to locate the picture of a katar =P
A scene in a kenjutsu school, I believe..
A 3 minute video demonstration on Aikido Iaido Yawara do "Tecniche di Kenjutsu". It's kinda cool. 
P.S. If there're any mistakes in my post, feel free to correct me. 
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originally kentjutsu, liek most koryu, had these too...all the do's stress mental awareness of certain aspects of battle, but your not supposed to be thinking when you fighting (you're just doing), so i never got the point of it...to kill and not be killed was the purpose, all mental statises were just along on the ride...if you were in a place that had very few battles and hardly any territory fights (like into the late tokugawa era) then you sharpen your fighters/samurai for war with mind things, but when the blades startt coming down and you want to live to see the other side...you hack away...