The register
All 26 entries
Everything on the site, in section order. Each line says which object the entry is about; the entry itself says what it is made of, what it does and how it fails.
Shinai
6 entries| No. | Entry | What it covers | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.1 | Four staves and a knot | Four shaped slats held together by a leather cap at the tip, a cord down the back and a leather grip — with the small knot partway along setting how much the whole thing flexes. Move the knot and it becomes a different implement. | Long |
| 1.2 | Balance point | Where the weight sits along the length, and what shifts it. | Short |
| 1.3 | The tip cap | A leather cup that keeps the four staves together at the one place they most want to separate. | Short |
| 1.4 | The cord | Tension down the spine, and what a slack one means. | Short |
| 1.5 | Splinters | How a stave fails, and why it is checked before every use. | Short |
| 1.6 | The grip | Leather shrunk on, and the wear pattern that shows how it is held. | Short |
Armour
5 entries| No. | Entry | What it covers | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.1 | The breastplate | A curved shell of lacquered material that has to take a full strike and stay light enough to move in. | Standard |
| 2.2 | The helmet | A metal grille, a padded surround and the stitching that absorbs the blow. | Standard |
| 2.3 | Gauntlets | The most-hit and most-replaced piece, and the way the palm wears through. | Short |
| 2.4 | Stitching density | Rows per inch as a measure of protection, stiffness and price. | Short |
| 2.5 | Lacquer | What the finish is actually doing besides shine. | Short |
Wood
4 entries| No. | Entry | What it covers | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | Madake | The species used, why its fibre suits splitting into staves, and what a substitute changes. | Standard |
| 3.2 | Drying | Seasoning bamboo before it is cut, and the cracks that follow if you do not. | Short |
| 3.3 | Grain and node | The nodes are the strong points and the awkward ones. | Short |
| 3.4 | Oil | Keeping the fibre from drying out, and the small routine of it. | Short |
Floor
4 entries| No. | Entry | What it covers | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.1 | A floor that gives | Boards laid on battens over a void so the surface deflects a few millimetres. What that saves and how it is built. | Standard |
| 4.2 | The sleeper joint | The detail underneath that decides how much it springs. | Short |
| 4.3 | Dead spots | Where a sprung floor stops springing, and how they are found. | Short |
| 4.4 | Finish and grip | A surface that must not be slippery and must not be sticky. | Short |
Workshop
4 entries| No. | Entry | What it covers | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.1 | Inspection | What is looked at, in what order, and the faults that take a shinai out of service. | Standard |
| 5.2 | Replacing a stave | Rebuilding rather than discarding, and when it is not worth it. | Short |
| 5.3 | Re-tying | The knot, redone, and why the position is measured rather than judged. | Short |
| 5.4 | Storage | Humidity, hanging and the slow damage of a hot car. | Short |
Words
3 entries| No. | Entry | What it covers | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6.1 | Naming the parts | The vocabulary is Japanese and precise; each term names one component and is glossed here in plain English. | Standard |
| 6.2 | Borrowed words | Terms that arrived in English intact, and the ones that got mangled. | Short |
| 6.3 | Counting | How lengths and weights are specified, and the units used. | Short |