Shinaii Size & Weight

[Sinta]

Okay total newbie question here people, please duck.

I got my shinaii on my first day in kendo. It seems everyone got the same kind. But are there special shinaii with certain sizes and weights for certain people?

I sometimes think that my shinaii might be a bit to heavy for me. When I was just beginning I had to strain my arms to lift it (or maybe I just need to build more muscles ^-^)

Feel free to tell me. I'd like to know if I have the right shinaii for me.

Thankies in advanced ^-^

[KhawMengLee]

Well, most women use size 38 shinais. There are certain regulations to the minimum weight used in shiai by men and women. Men have to use shinais above 510g, I'm not to sure what ladies regs. are.

I tend to like to use heavy shinai in training and then lighter ones in shiai.

******************************************

The strain for to your arms is natural, after a few more months it will be no problem. I use a suburito(2kgs) for training at home, I remember when I pulled a muscle trying to do haya-suburi(jumping suburi) with it in the beginning. Now I can do one handed suburi with it.

Its just a matter of time and effort...heh, just practice and practice.

ps. make sure your grip is right. Both hands should form a shape like this before gripping the shinai:

/
V right hand

\
V left hand

in this position when you close your hands, only your last 3 fingers should be gripping the shinai. When you do a cut the left hand is the one doing the cut, the lift and downswing should be on the left hand. The right guides and controls.

MENG

[KhawMengLee]

arrgh! the hand thingy is out!:ogre:

[Sinta]

Thanks for the advice Khaw ^-^ Yeah, I noticed after a good bit of practice, I was able to hold it easier. Ah well, maybe it is just because I am a weak lil girl *sniffsniff* ;) j/k

But I do notice that my bokken is heavier than the others. Which is not a bad thing. I mean we don't exactly to 100 suburis with it. I was just wondering if there was also different weights for shinaii.

Hrm, it seems I have a size 39 Shinaii.. ...It says on the Tsukagawa.

[KhawMengLee]

I think there was a thread on this somewhere...

AH! Got it!


http://www.kendo-world.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=716

there should be the regulation info somewhere there.

also

Hamish at the end of this thread explain where you foregrip should be:

http://www.kendo-world.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=283&highlight=womens+shinai


Carefull, a wrong size shinai is bad fer you.

MENG

[KhawMengLee]

p.s. call me meng;) Khaw is waaAAY to formal, neh?

[Sinta]

Thanks for the threads, especially for the second one. It seems that I've been having the problems they have been having too with 39 shinaii. I guess it's good to tone muscles a bit more, but during practice I feel like I'm losing my grip on the shinai during intensive training. -_- hrm....... I better see about getting a size 38 shinaii to compare.

Thanks again Meng ^-^

Khaw too formal? how is it? (never got to learn malaysian while in kuala lumpur ^-^ heheh.. was just 10)

[KhawMengLee]

Khaw is what I get called in the office by the staff. Usually Mr Khaw in the office and boss on the factory floor, but I don't like it so I ask everyone to call me Meng...heh, I still call my Boss by his surname though;)

Anyways, Meng is what my friends call me, that or <censored>(something too obscene)...heh

[Neil Gendzwill]

You can turn your 38 into a 39, just cut 30 mm off the tip and sand it a bit overall to lighten it up.

[kendomushi]

Adults of both sexes should be using a size 39. However the minimum weight for a mans shinai is 510g and for a womans 440g.

[Neil Gendzwill]

Originally posted by kendomushi
Adults of both sexes should be using a size 39.
Women aren't allowed to use a 39 in competition. The competition rules state *maximum* length and *minimum* weight. If you want to use a 600 gram 36, that's OK for either sex.

[Sinta]

Well, it looks like I'm going to have to get a size 38 shinaii soon. Thanks people :) Hopefully as I was training with the 39 the whole time, there'll be advantages training with the 38.

[kendomushi]

Here in Japan I have never seen a woman use other than a 39 in keiko, shiai, or shinsa. The rules of the IKF and ZNKR as far as I can find do not say other than maximum length of less than 114cm. My ZNKR reference material was published in 2000. Has there been a change I missed?

[Neil Gendzwill]

My apologies, just checked the regulations. The 117 cm maximum length is for people under 19. Women just have a lower minimum weight than men. Adult women and men both have a maximum length of 120 cm (39).

Having said that, most of the women I've seen use a 38.

[Karaken]

Here's the spec from Hiroshi Ozawa's Kendo..

------------ J.H --- H.S --- Univ or Adult
Length --- <114cm <117cm <120cm
Weight(M) > 425g >470g >500g
(F) > 400g > 410g >420g

I thought adult male's shinai min was 510g - is this book correct?

Center-Center-Don't let it go..

[Shelgeyr]

Check this link, I believe it is the most current

Kendo-America Shinai Regulations (http://www.kendo-usa.org/reference/shinai_regs.htm)

[kendomushi]

Oops. Took some cold medicine before that last post and put the jr. high length instaed of adult.
Shelgeyr's link does agree with all the information I have too.

[Neil Gendzwill]

The rise in weight from 500 g to 510 g is fairly recent. We got a notice about it from CKF before nationals last summer so that everyone had a chance to make sure their shinai weren't too light.