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Fencing is a blast. However, it is 150 years ( at least ) removed from "real" swordfighting. Kendo much more closely resembles the fighting styles from which it descends, but it somewhat less mobile. Kendo bouts are also over more quickly and more heavily ritualized. It's hardly "bopping each other with sticks," but it does tend to be more limited than Fencing, because the legal target-area is very, very small ( head, wrists/forearms, and chest ).
Both with be EXTREMELY expensive. Most of the expense in Kendo is wrapped up in the armor ( $600+ typically ), and a complete kit of Fencing equipment ( Jacket, Knickers, Plastron, 2 Foils, Lamee ) can easily run to more than $1000, especially if you compete in multiple disciplines, or if you go in for high-end gear like Triplette Arms, PBT, or All-Star. Avoid cheapie France-Lames or Blue Gauntlet stuff.
There are three Disciplines in Fencing: Foil, Epee, and Sabre.
Foil: Oldest of the three, most tightly regulated. Target area is the torso; no arms, legs, or head.
Epee: Larger, heavier blade. Target area is the entire body.
Sabre: Fastest and most aggressive of the three; Sabre is for sadists. Target area is everything above the waist, and you can cut as well as thrust.
Foil and Sabre are govorned by an extremely complex system of scoring rules called the "Right Of Way" rules. These are designed to prevent "double-touch" scoring, where each person gets a point, and are based upon deciding which person had control of the action when the touch was scored. These rules began as a training-aid when Foil was developed, in the 17th century: their purpose was to get people into the habit of -not- "trading punches" with their opponents by creating a system in which you only got a point if you were controlling the action. It's a kind of "artificial fear." It's also a PITA, but learning how to manipulate the rules can be a sick sort of fun.
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