» For the village near Anjar, Kutch, Gujarat, India, see Shinai village. is a weapon used for practice and competition in kendo and are meant to represent a Japanese sword. Shinai are also used in other martial arts, but may be styled differently from kendo shinai, and represented with different characters. The word "shinai" is derived from the verb, meaning "to bend, to flex", and was originally short for shinai-take (flexible bamboo). Shinai is written with the kanji 竹刀, meanin… (More on Shinai)