A bokken is a sword shaped training weapon carved from a single piece of hardwood, used across several Japanese sword arts, including kendo, aikido and iaido. Unlike a bamboo shinai, a bokken closely mimics the size, weight and balance of a real sword, which makes it well suited to practising cuts, stances and paired forms where realistic weight matters.
Because a bokken is solid wood with no flexibility, training with one calls for careful control and, in paired practice, close supervision, since even a light strike can cause injury. Bokken are used heavily in kata based training and in some styles for two person prearranged forms, where the fixed pattern and known distance keep the risk manageable compared with free sparring. Different woods, most commonly Japanese white oak or red oak, are used depending on desired weight and durability.
Our weapons training guide covers choosing a bokken by length and wood, and the entry on tsuba explains the hand guard some bokken include.
