At the 1964 Summer Games, Japan had the double pleasure of strutting its postwar rebirth on the world stage and introducing judo as an Olympic sport.

Kendo, judo’s lesser-known sibling, was featured as a demonstration sport in Tokyo; both martial arts had been banned by Allied administrators for a few years after World War II because of their “militaristic” elements.

Six years later, the International Kendo Federation, known as FIK, was formed with 17 member nations, and the first World Kendo Championships were held at the Budokan arena, which had been built for the Tokyo Games. Now with 54 member federations, the sport is on display this weekend at the 15th World Kendo Championships in Novara, Italy.

For many sports, the ultimate goal would be to go one step further and make it onto the Olympic schedule. But not in the case of kendo. Many in the sport’s global community are against that, saying it would spell the end of kendo as they know it.