First of all, although shinai looks like a stick, it represents a
sword. It is constructed from 4 elastic bamboo strips, has a hand grip,
hand-guards, front side and a back side. Only the last third portion of
shinai is used to strike, but the whole length can be used for paring
or blocking.
All cutting/hitting techniques in Kendo are more or less based on one
general downward cut – there were many fencing schools in
Japan that developed their own styles during the centuries, but only a
few proved worthy for actual combat in wartime. All of them are simple
and straight-forward, and the same is true for modern Kendo offensive
cuts.
This means that the shinai is held by both hands and that strikes or
cuts comprise of three elements: movement, strike and kiai.
The movement starts from the lower abdomen and travels from there in
two directions – to the upper-body, or the shoulders, elbows
and wrists that will delivers the strike, and to the lower body that
will drive the practitioner to his or hers target.
The strikes can fall on the head, left or right side of the abdomen,
wrists or the throat region. Of course, all of these areas are
protected by bogu (armor). The cuts can be long or full, when the
shinai is lifted above the practitioner’s head, or shortened,
when the shinai travels the shortest possible distance, thus cutting
the reaction time. The first option involves shoulders and elbows,
while the second one uses mostly elbows and wrists of the practitioner.
Basic cuts are called Men-uchi (hit on the head), Kote-uchi (a hit on
the wrist, usually the right one) a Do-uchi (a hit on the side of the
abdomen).
