Doh

The Doh protects your stomach and chest. There are 2 main pieces, the mune which is the decorative leather top and the doh-dai which is the hard shell. The doh-dai nowadays is commonly made out of plastic but used to be made out of bamboo.

Tare

The Tare protects your legs and groin. It is a thick cloth belt that wraps around your whole waist with three cloth covered flaps in the front. The front flap in the middle usually holds the zekken/nafuda or name tag which has your name and the dojo you are part of.

Kote

The Kote are gloves that protect your hands. The wrist position of each Kote is a target area worth a point in Kendo. The Kote extends out from the glove to protect your wrist with a hard casing wrapping around the top of your wrist and lower arm. It is made out of deer skin, synthetic leather and indigo-dyed cotton.

Shinai

The Shinai is the practice sword used for Kendo. It is made out of bamboo and usually comes with/is used with a tsuba or hand guard. It is made out of four split bamboo slats.

Kendo Uniform

Keikogi

The Keikogi is the top half of the uniform you wear in Kendo. They are commonly dyed in indigo and are made of cotton sashiko fabric.

Hakama

The Hakama is the bottom half of the uniform you wear in Kendo. It is a traditional Japanese trouser secured with four straps and has seven deep pleats that are said to represent the seven virtues of bushido. It is commonly dyed in indigo and is made out of Aizome cotton, non-bleeding dye cotton, Tetron, heavy polyester and polyester-linen cloth.