Construction of the Shinai
Practice sword made of four bamboo slats (take) held together by two leather caps, tsuka-gawa (handle) and saki-gawa (tip), and a string (tsuru). Placed under the saki-gawa is a rubber plug saki-gomu. To prevent the four take do get misplaced there is a small piece of metal, chigiri, placed between them inside the tsuka-gawa.