Where can i get a good, sturdy, but cheap shinai?

Question

i REALLY love sword fighting, and i REALLY want two shinai. ive been to a ton of different websites, but all of the reviews have some people who say its perfect, but some people say it sucks and breaks easily. I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO KNOW!!! thaaaaaanx!!

Answer 1

I wouldn't recommend shinai for sword fighting. Get a bokken. It's a lot stronger and is more realistic than shinai. You can get a nice bokken on eBay for like $20.

Answer 2

i would look at 7 eleven they had some pretty gnarly swords if not 7/11 then try costco they give u a lot for a little

Answer 3

There are many things to consider when selecting shinai. Most are a matter of personal preference. Things to consider are, is the shinai for training or tournament, a large handle or small, balance, large diameter body or small, heavy or light. All these things have to do with your style of kendo, what type of practise, age, technical and physical ability.

Most of us outside Japan do not have the luxury of going down to the local kendo store to pick through a rack of shinai. We most often make do with a small selection or buy them mail order.

When buying shinai a good way to stretch your dollar and make your shinai last is to buy a matched set of 3 or more. Match them for size and location of the node. By doing this you get as many as 9 shinai out of the 3. Each time a stave fails you can easily substitute one back in. If ordering by phone ask the seller to match the nodes (fushi) for you. When buying later shinai try to match them to the ones you have.

Shinai are available with two types of handles. The round handle that is commonly used. Also there is the koban oval handle. The name for the shape comes from old Japanese coins that had the koban shape. Koban shinai have a nice feel to them for use and help you to have a correct grip. They are generally more expensive than the average or better grade round handle shinai. Of course there are very expensive high quality round handle shinai. A problem with using koban shinai is when you have to replace a side stave only another koban stave will fit because it is wider. The top and bottom stave can usually be replaced from a regular shinai. So there are trade-offs when using koban shinai. A way around this is to buy a carbon shinai for lots of money. The feel is different but they last.

The first 5 web-sites below show the better carbon shinai.  The others are bamboo shinai.