Shinai (竹刀) is a weapon used for practice and competition in kendo representing a Japanese sword. Shinai are also used in other martial arts, but may be styled differently from kendo shinai, and represented with different kanji characters.
The earliest use of a bamboo weapon to train with instead of a sword is credited to Kamiizumi Nobutsuna (1508-1572?) of the Shinkage-ryū. The modern shinai, with four slats of bamboo, is generally credited to Nakanishi Chuzo Tsugutate (died 1801) of Nakanishi-ha Ittō-ryū.[1][2]
The shinai
was developed in an effort to reduce the number of practitioners being
seriously injured during practice, making a practice weapon that was
less dangerous than bokutō (木刀), the hard wooden swords they were previously using. This is also the motivation behind the development of bōgu (防具), the armour that protects the kendoka.
The word "shinai" is derived from the verb shinau (撓う), meaning "to bend, to flex", and was originally short for shinai-take (flexible bamboo). Shinai is written with the kanji 竹刀, meaning "bamboo sword", and is an irregular kanji reading.
In kendo, it is most common to use a single shinai, sometimes called itto style. Some kendoka choose to use two shinai. This kendo style is usually called ni-tō (二刀), a style that has its roots in the two-sword schools of swordsmanship such as Hyōhō Niten Ichi-ryū.
A shinai must be properly taken care of or it can pose a danger to both the user and the people around it. Shinai
should be inspected for splinters and breaks before and after use, and
maintained in a manner considered most appropriate by one's style, dōjō, or sensei.
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