Nanbanjin
30-12-2003, 08:09 AM
Very brief history of Shinai
The word Shinai is written 竹刀 in Japanese. Normally this would be pronounced Chikutoh, but for kendo the reading is Shinai.
The explanation for this is that the word Shinai comes from Shinae, which is in turn derived from the verb shinau( 撓う ) (http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/search.php?MT=%A4%B7%A4%CA%A4%A6&kind=jn&mode=0&je.x=26&je.y=12), to bend.
In the past Shinai has also been written as 撓, 品柄, 革刀, 竹袋, 順刀 and 試合刀.
The characters 竹刀 were originally used in reference to practice blades used in spear training. In this case the reading "chikutoh" was used, not "shinai"
Kendo shinai were originally made from a single length of bamboo split into 32 strips which were completely covered in leather or cloth. This was known as "fukuro-shinai" ( 袋竹刀 ), the word "fukuro" meaning "bag".
Eventually the sakigawa, nakayi, tsuru and tsuka-gawa of the modern shinai were added. The word "Shinai" remained to describe this training weapon, and the word "fukuro" was dropped. The characters 竹刀 were retained to represent the Shinai that we train with today.
The word Shinai is written 竹刀 in Japanese. Normally this would be pronounced Chikutoh, but for kendo the reading is Shinai.
The explanation for this is that the word Shinai comes from Shinae, which is in turn derived from the verb shinau( 撓う ) (http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/search.php?MT=%A4%B7%A4%CA%A4%A6&kind=jn&mode=0&je.x=26&je.y=12), to bend.
In the past Shinai has also been written as 撓, 品柄, 革刀, 竹袋, 順刀 and 試合刀.
The characters 竹刀 were originally used in reference to practice blades used in spear training. In this case the reading "chikutoh" was used, not "shinai"
Kendo shinai were originally made from a single length of bamboo split into 32 strips which were completely covered in leather or cloth. This was known as "fukuro-shinai" ( 袋竹刀 ), the word "fukuro" meaning "bag".
Eventually the sakigawa, nakayi, tsuru and tsuka-gawa of the modern shinai were added. The word "Shinai" remained to describe this training weapon, and the word "fukuro" was dropped. The characters 竹刀 were retained to represent the Shinai that we train with today.