A strenuous sport like Kendo deserves a sword, like the Shinai sword. In this particular sport, we’ve a mixture of martial arts, and swordsman skills. In competition, it can be a bit intimidating knowing the pain that may be inflicted on you if you’re struck, but at the same time, it’s hard not to relish in the exhilaration one receives from being able to participate in such an intense sport.

Thankfully, you do have protective armor to add some cushion to the blows that might occur while playing this sport. You’ve to really mentally focus yourself in order to play this sport.

The art of using aShinai is more than just looking the part. You can be the most aggressive, war-like person in the arena, but the real key toKendo and using theShinai sword is keeping calm and being able to keep concentration. You can swing your sword like a mad man, but using this sword requires focus and discipline. Additionally, you’ve to carefully assess your surroundings and footwork. In this sport, you need to be able to maneuver fast and with precision, we’ve all heard the saying that goes “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee”.

Practice makes perfect though, and through training you will be able to enhance yourself in this sport.

Finally, I’m just going to touch on the components of theShinaisword. This sword is a representation of a Japenese sword, and the appearance of it hasn’t changed over the years. It’s basically made up of four bamboo sticks that’re held together by some leather binding, cross guard and cross guard support, and of course a handle.

Over the years, instructors have taught that the proper way to use theShinai sword must be by being able to take into the account yourself as well as the opponent. A commonly held theme when teachingKendo and learningKendo is to aim for unification of ones’ own technique, soul and mind. If you're able to do this, then you'll be great at this sport.