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Combat, in other words, was the proving ground of sword skill in feudal Japan. Once the country was unified in the seventeenth century, however, the samurai did not have as many opportunities to refine their swordsmanship. Controlled free fighting that was nonlethal was impossible with a real blade, and only marginally better with a wooden one What was needed was a relatively safe training aid that would permit a type of free fighting without fear of injury.

The shinai, a fencing foil of split bamboo bound together with leather, is what emerged. A more detailed description of the evolution of Kendo is presented in Part ssss1, Wind, but after a century or so of evolution, the shinai was developed in its modern form.

shinai specifications by class

Class Length Weight Adult < 1. 18 meters >468 grams High School < 1. 15 meters 415- 485 grams Middle School 1.10 meters 300-375 grams

The shinai is different from a real or wooden sword in a number of ways. In the first place, it is longer, the handle having been lengthened to accommodate the protective mitts worn in Kendo. In the second place, the shinai is not really a cutting implement at all. It is roughly tubular, and so has different aerodynamic properties from a real or wooden sword. The shinai is also much lighter than the other two. A glance at the different swords used today in various martial arts concerned with swordsmanship shows an evolutionary progression toward a nonlethal implement that can mimic the action of a sword. What modern Kendoka use, in other words, is a type of symbolic sword that captures the essence of the swordsman's intent, but can by no stretch of the imagination be thought to impart a complete knowledge of swordsmanship. In fact, the reason for the inclusion of kata training in Kendo is, in part, to familiarize students with how to use a wooden sword, which requires greater use of the hips and different use of the hands. The advantages of paired work with bokken, hearkening back to traditional patterns of training, is emphasized through the study of kendo no kata (see Part ssss1, Wind). Finally, no swordsman's studies are complete without training in iaido, where real katana or replica swords known as iaito are used.