Shinai Care and Maintenance
Care of the bamboo shinai is a critical part of practicing kendo.
We hope the following information is useful to you.

Parts of a Shinai
Its useful to buy two of the same kind of a shinai at the same time, later making a third shinai from scavenged parts of the two shinai you bought for this purpose.

Sand, Condition, Wax
To care for your new kendo shinai you must first sand and round the edges with sand paper. Essential to preparing your shinai for use is to oil to condition the bamboo, and coat the bamboo with a protective coating of wax.

The angled edges in a new shinai are the surfaces that will either break and loosen up or cause other fibers to splinter off from impact.		Sand all the angled edges inside and out. Provides protection from splinter damage caused by angled edges of a new shinai.

Sanding (method 1)
Untie and remove string (tsuru) from bottom of shinai and leather ties (nakayui), leather cap (sakigawa) remove leather handle (tsukagawa). Sand and round all edges of shinai inside and out. Finish by sanding with the grain using fine sand paper.

Sanding (method 2)
Untie string (tsuru) from the handle, remove the leather tie (nakayui) and leather cap (sakigawa) from the top half of the shinai leaving the leather handle in place. Carefully spread shinai staves sand and round all edges of shinai inside and out. Sand only the top half of the shinai. Sand using medium sand paper then finish with fine sand paper.

Oil - Conditioning
Next apply our BestKendo shinai oil/cream conditioner allowing the oil/cream to soak over night, remove and buff the remaining oil from shinai. You can use canola oil as an alternative to our oil/cream, apply a thin coat to cover the shinai, and buff off the excess oil after a night of soaking. Oil conditioning of your shinai should only be done one time during the life of the shinai (there is no benefit to applying oil more than once.)

Wax
Next apply three coats of our BestKendo shinai wax buff with a soft cloth to a remove excess wax. Reassemble the shinai being careful to tie the leather (nakayui) and string (tsuru) on tightly (see TIP below).

TIP: When oiling or waxing your shinai. You can quickly accomplish this maintenance WITHOUT taking your shinai apart. Simply expose the edges of your shinai by pressing down on one bamboo stave and waxing the exposed edges.Use our shinai wax once a week or every two weeks to maintain a smooth, hard finish on your shinai.

	General Information:
	This photo shows a cross section of a shinai stave. Note how the grain of the bamboo appears to be more widely spaced on the edges making the edges very weak and vulnerable to splintering.

Shinai Assembly

	Tie bottom first
	Tie leather
	TIP: Prevent your tie (nakayui) from coming undone by securing the end of the leather with a small amount of hot glue, cut off excess leather.

		Carefully check shinai for splinters before each practice
		Cracks in a shinai are not often seen from the top of the shinai unless it is checked carefully.

Sand, Wax
If your shinai is not conditioned it should be done one time only using our Shinai oil/cream or canola oil using the a modified sanding method.

Sanding Used Shinai (method 1)
Carefully check shinai for splinters mark location of splinters with a pencil. Untie and remove string (tsuru) from bottom of shinai, leather tie, (nakayui), leather cap (sakigawa) and leather handle (tsukagawa). Lightly sand and round edges of shinai with medium grade sand paper, sanding across the grain or use a sanding block removing splinters. Finish by sanding with the grain using fine sand paper.

Sanding Used Shinai (method 2)
Carefully check shinai for splinters mark location of splinters with a pencil. Untie string (tsuru) from the handle, remove the leather tie (nakayui) and leather cap (sakigawa) from the top half of the shinai leaving the leather handle (tsukagawa) in place. Carefully spread shinai staves sand and round all edges of shinai inside and out. Sand and round only the top half of the shinai. Sand across the grain with medium sand paper removing splinters then finish sanding with the grain with fine sand paper.

Wax
See "wax method"