Kendo clothing and bogu (equipment) consists of the following:
- shinai
- tenugui
- keikogi
- hakama
- tare
- do
- kote
- men
- equipment manual
At Norwalk Dojo,
beginners use shinai (bamboo swords) from the first day of practice.
After that there is a set of guidelines
for when beginners are allowed to begin wearing different items of
clothing and bogu.
The basic parts of the shinai are labeled below:
The monouchi is the optimal point on the shinai for executing
an effective cut. It is similar in concept to the "sweet spot" in
other sports implements.
The image below illustrates how to tie the nakayui:
The image below illustrates tying various parts of the shinai
(click on it for an enlargement):
