About Bokken

[ak404]

Btw: How did you break so many bokken?

Edit to add: ...

Hmm. I've worked with some shinai before, and they seemed solid (nice thwack too) without splintering, but it makes me wonder. I haven't had to maintain swords myself, and the commitment *seems* a bit demandingly hardcore. Is this the case? The possibility of splintering is there, though I haven't seen it myself with careful use of shinai so far.

I broke a lot of cheap bokken, the non-laminated types that're sold in malls and fly-by-night martial arts supply stores. Sometimes I used them as targets for my favorite bokken, sometimes I broke them during training accidents (which really pissed me off), and sometimes, just sometimes, I felt a need to shatter one whenever a rare hydra bow dropped in v1.09. :lol: I'm not all that strong, but I can apply pressure in the right places with a bokken - which is why I so strongly made the suggestion about the baseball bat. The cheapo bokken simply cannot stand up to a lot of pressure in a single place (either striking or being struck), eventually splintering and breaking. Think of a cheap 440 stainless steel katana that shatters or cracks once you try the tameshigiri test: that's what a cheap bokken is like - it's too light, imbalanced, crappy grip, and never meant to be used as anything other than cheap amusement.

As for shinai...okay, Dras, think about this. A bamboo shoot is nothing more than oversized blade of grass: see how that splinters out? Good - oiling your shinai ensures that the blades remain supple and flexible; sometimes you need to sand them down to prevent splintering. If you have no desire to maintain your shinai, I would suggest a carbon-fiber shinai, but those can get very expensive.

If you can find it, you might also want to look into kendo bougu; fencing becomes more enjoyable when you don't have to worry about hurting someone else or getting hurt yourself...after you learn the rules, of course.

Incidentally, I do a great deal of my shopping at Tozando, if only because I've dealt with them ever since I started getting into iaido.

[EDIT] OK, quid pro quo time guys...I think I'm ready to graduate to an edged iaito, or at least a heavier iaito. Does anyone know of other reputable places to purchase an iaito? I believe fully in customer loyalty, but I like to keep my eyes open. [/EDIT]