Shinai

For the village near Anjar, Kutch, Gujarat, India, see Shinai village.

A shinai made from bamboo

Shinai (竹刀, しない^?) is a weapon used for practice and competition in kendo and are meant to represent a Japanese sword. Shinai are also used in other martial arts, but may be styled differently from kendo shinai, and represented with different characters.

The word "shinai" is derived from the verb shinau (撓う, しなう^?), 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, にとう^?), a style that has its roots in the two-sword schools of swordsmanship such as Hyōhō Niten Ichi-ryū. A ni-to combatant uses a long shinai called the daitō (大刀, だいとう^?), which usually held in the left hand, and a shorter shinai, called the shōtō (小刀, しょうとう^?), which is usually held in the right hand. The daitō maybe slightly shorter and lighter than a shinai used in itto style of kendo. Specifications for shinai used kendo competitions that follow the International Kendo Federation (FIK) rules are below.