Kendo Equipment

Kendo equipment consists of the swords, uniform and armor.

There are two types of wooden swords used. First, the bokken or bokuto: a solid wooden sword. The bokuto is used for basics and forms practice (kata).

Second, the shinai, is made up of four bamboo staves and leather. The shinai is used for full contact sparring practice. Adult men use a size 39 shinai, while women use a size 38 shinai.

The uniform, or dogi, consists of woven cotton top called a keikogi and pleated skirt-like trousers called a hakama. The armor or bogu consists of four pieces: the helmet (men), the body protector (do), the gloves (kote), and the hip and groin protector (tare). There is also a head cloth (tenugui) worn under the men.