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training weapons

The use of a mock sword known as a shinai is what makes the art of Kendo possible. Japanese warriors traditionally trained with katana (the long sword) and a hardwood replica sword termed a bokken or bokuto.

Bokken or Bokuto

During the centuries when warriors actively pursued their calling, the process of learning swordsmanship was one that entailed an intense study of basic techniques through solo movements, as well as choreographed patterns with two students, known as kata. Free fighting, while liberated from the constraints of kata, was also real fighting. Combatants could use either a real sword or the bokken, but the results were often deadly. Even the wooden training sword can be fatal in the right hands. The famous swordsman Musashi Miyamoto, for instance, used a wooden sword with fatal effect in a number of duels. With live blades, the probability of injury was even higher. Japanese swordsmen figured that, in any duel, they had one chance in three of coming out unhurt. The samurai felt that if two opponents of equal ability crossed swords, the extreme sharpness of the katana probably meant that both would be killed or seriously injured. If a warrior fought someone of superior skill, he expected to die. Only if the fighter was confronted with an opponent of inferior skill could he hope to emerge unscathed.