The equipment is comprised of a bamboo practice sword (Shinai) and an amour. In Kendo the armor is worn to protect the practitioner from injury. The protection is concentrated on the target areas and the groin.

The complete set of bogu (or armor) consists of the following four parts:

• MEN
  The men protects the head. It is made of cotton, with an iron / steel / titanium face grill.
• KOTE
  The hands and wrists are protected by the kote, which are padded over the knuckles and protect the wrist / forearm (the target area) with compressed / quilted cotton wadding.
• DO
  The do protects the chest. It is made of bamboo slats covered in laquer around the belly, with leather fittings.
• TARE
  The tare, an apron again made of compressed / quilted cotton, with five overlapping plates to allow movement