Kendo equipment consists of a  uniform, protective armor and practice swords. The uniform (bogu)  consists of heavy cotton top (keikogi) and pleated skirt-like-trousers (hakama). The armor (bogu) consists of four pieces: the helmet (men), the  chest protector (do), the gloves (kote), and the hip and groin  protector (tare). Two types of practice swords are used: the shinai and boken. The shinai is made of bamboo stavesbound by leather. The shinai is used for basics and sparring practice. The bokken is a solid wood sword.  The bokken is used for basics and forms (kata) practice.