What are the kendo swords made from?

Answer 1

*a cheap replica is made of ''stainless steel'' and is very brittle

*a good tameshigri practicing katana is made from ''carbon steel'' witch is very strong and flexible but still affordable

*a REAL traditionally made katana is made from ''tameshigri'' a very and i mean VERY rare metal today it is made in a giant forge witch takes 75 long hours to make this steel is still made today BUT there is only 1 place left in Japan that makes this rare and amazing steel only the best of the best svordsmiths can get their hands on this metal and is only allowed for Javanese svordsmiths to have.

and if you want such a sword you will have to go to japan your self and pay a fortune for it

ps: it is incredibly rare that someone actually someone got to buy this kind of sword

Answer 2

Kendo uses mainly two swords; the most common is the shinai (竹刀; lit. bamboo sabre) that is made of four bamboo slats tied together by pieces of leather, the other is the bokuto (木刀; lit. wooden sabre) or bokken (木剣; lit. wooden sword) and is made of solid wood (usually oak).

The shinai is used for actual practise (duels and stuff), it's shape is designed solely for the purpose of safety and thus it doesn't really look like a real sword, but it's the best way to do some impact-practise in kendo without severely injuring someone.

The bokuto is basically a katana made of solid wood, it was created to be a cheaper substitute to the steel sword (back in samurai days you wouldn't want to waste your katana in a training session) and it tries to simulate a steel sword in almost every aspect. In modern kendo, the bokuto is used mainly in kataand other non-impact exercises. The use of the bokuto mantains the kendoka closer to the feeling of the real katana.

Experienced kendokas can also use real katana instead of bokuto, and it's called shinken (真剣) when it's sharp.

Answer 3

Most are made of bamboo. The bamboo swords are called shinais. Metal and wooden swords are used for kata. Although Kendo uses as its main influence techniques from the Yagyu style of Kenjutsu, Kendo is not considered a martial art, its considered a sport.

Answer 4

The main practice sword is made from bamboo and leather.
However, wooden and metal swords are sometimes used for kata.