boxing and Martial Arts are competitive now but their origins come from fighting to stay alive. Competition and Combat are different even though they share many things. why did I compare Kendo to fencing? Well now I couldn't compare it to bowling, could I? Fencing is a sport. Kendo is a sport. They share in that they both started as combat training but now stress technique to acquire points as opposed to inflicting damage or death to the opponent. I myself studied martial arts as child. More stress was on being able to compete, being able to actually defend in real danger was secondary. Later on I was trained to fight and had to unlearn many bad habits.

When in doubt look it up, so I did.
Kenjutsu (剣術?) is the umbrella term for all (koryū) schools of Japanese swordsmanship, in particular those that predate the Meiji Restoration. The modern styles of kendo and iaido that were established in the 20th century included modern form of kenjutsu in their curriculum, too.[1] Kenjutsu, which originated with the samurai class of feudal Japan,[2] means "the method, or technique, of the sword." This is opposed to kendo, which means "the way of the sword"