Nakayui: Symbolic?

[kj_kim323]

As I got to the nakayui knot while I was retying my shinai today, it just struck me intricate the knot itself is.

If the nakayui was there simply to demark the valid striking portion of the shinai, why is it tied in such an intricate manner? Could a more mundane and simple knot do the same thing, if not better?

This got me thinking that the nakayui perhaps has some significant symbolic meanings behind it.

Or maybe we just like aesthetically pleasing knots.

Any thoughts on that?

[Yzakj]

I haven't seen the Nakayui type knot anywhere else really, maybe because I haven't been looking hard enough. But most of the knots and ties in Kendo itself are aesthetically pleasing, just look at all your bogu. I guess it all could be tied on with basic knots, and you could just put away your keikogi and hakama by just tossing it in a bag, but that's just not how it is done now. I am sure there is a history behind it, and I am not gonna say much now. Hopefully someone else will know, it seems interesting.

[JSchmidt]

I got similar knots on my baseball glove...

Jakob

[Banza Joe]

i'm pretty sure there is a sailors knot just like it. Its probably used cos it can be tightened and flattened in a manner that will not protrude or come undone.

Somehow, a fancy bow just wouldn't look the same :ko:

[Dave Fowler]

The nakayui is there not just for showing where abouts the striking should be, but primarily for holding the staves together so that the bamboo doesn't break as easily.

As for the knot, i'm sure that it is the most efficent and simple knot for the job as over the years i'm sure someone would have come up with something else otherwise. :-)

[Neil Gendzwill]

The advantage of the knot used is that it can be tied tightly on the string without putting a kink into it. And actually it only looks complicated - it's really just a series of half-hitches, very easy to do once you know how.

[Paikea]

The advantage of the knot used is that it can be tied tightly on the string without putting a kink into it. And actually it only looks complicated - it's really just a series of half-hitches, very easy to do once you know how.Gendzwill-sensei, does the knot finish with the tag end toward the sakigawa or toward the tsuba? I've found diagrams (and brand-new shinai) that show it either way.

[Neil Gendzwill]

I've always done it towards the tsuba but I don't think it really matters. The main thing is to not have too much sticking out or it will get wedged between the take - so cut off the excess.

[Paikea]

I've always done it towards the tsuba but I don't think it really matters. The main thing is to not have too much sticking out or it will get wedged between the take - so cut off the excess.Thanks for the reply!

Oh yes, definitely trim the tag end to maybe 3/8" when done. The funny thing is, I have one shinai tied that way, and one the other (and the question really should be: which way to do the wrapping, clockwise or counter-clockwise) and have been told that each was wrong and to do it the other way by two different sensei.

I hate it when that happens...:)

[Stimpson J. Cat]

Gendzwill-sensei, does the knot finish with the tag end toward the sakigawa or toward the tsuba? I've found diagrams (and brand-new shinai) that show it either way.

A sensei once told me that that the end should point toward the sakigawa in the spirit of going forward, but like Gendzwill-sensei, most people whose shinai I've looked at (including sensei) have them pointed toward the tsuba and that's the way I've usually seen them on new shinai, so it seems like that's a minority opinion based on my personal experience. Pointing it toward the tsuba does seem less likely to get it caught and messed up by an incoming shinai.

[Andou]

I've started to tie mine so that the tail goes up towards the sakigawa because the first time I went to class with it like that I had a good day...I'm not superstitious usually...but I think I need all the help I can get in improving my kendo...even if it is something like that.

[Pokie]

actually it's shaped like that..because back in the old days...they used to fill it with dust..that's why so many knots. So when u're in trouble, whack opponent near the eye with reverse shinai and smokey dust will disorient them a bit, creating a suki..then that's when u attack.

Pokie's Believe it...or not