How does this one look?!

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[Jack Robertson]

http://www.budostuff.com/en/produkt.php?produkt_uid=e8a1bcf76d570eabcc2af043b9c96308&cat_uid=f8ad1d32dacde1247767b86f69c82afd

I've been browsing websites of bokkens cheap and expensive. This one converted into dollars is about 32!!!

I think it doesnt look bad at all!!

Anyone ever done business with them?


Thanks :)

[Bronson]

If you want inexpensive I've found it's hard to beat Academy of Karate Martial Arts Supply (http://www.martialartssupermarket.com/). They have a white oak bokken (http://www.martialartssupermarket.com/index.cfm?action=moreinfo&itemid=8378) for $16 (you are of course getting a $16 bokken--there's a reason it's inexpensive)

IMO, if someone is just starting out in MA they should go with the least expensive option, unless there is a lot of contact between weapons then a quality one is needed for durability and safety.

I used a $7 dollar bokken for years until I decided to upgrade to a better one...now I have three better ones but that's another thing altogether ;)

Bronson

[Jack Robertson]

hehe Bronson,

I'm not necassarily looking for the cheapest bokken I can find. I'm looking for the cheapest decent quality bokken that I can find. (By decent quality, I mean being able to be used in stick to stick combat)

The one in the link I gave is made of white oak, which I hear is good. It also looks pretty good: )

[Jack Robertson]

I'm looking at the one in the link you gave me. It looks pretty nice. Would you say that it's usable in stick to stick training?

Thanks

[ian]

I would be careful ordering cheap bokkens off the internet if you do alot of kumitachi (paired exercises). I'd say around 10% of cheap bokkens have very poor grain direction and can break within the first strike. Is there not a local martial arts shop you can go and look at the bokkens? Also I think its nice to get a grip which you feel is comfortable (some bokken handles are far too thin). Saying this, if you return a bokken broken on the 1st strike it is likely to be replaced.

Ian

[Jack Robertson]

Ian, I'm not sure if there are any martial arts shops around here. If there are any, I haven't seen them. I also would have no idea how to begin looking for one.

[Jeff Tibbetts]

Someone in my group ordered a bokken, jo, and carrying case from Budostuff. He has no complaints. He liked doing business with him and his weapons look like solid buys to me. We regularly train kumitachi and it hasn't shown any signs of wear yet. There you have it for what it's worth.

[Bronson]

I would say that for most aikido bokken training a good Japanese white oak bokken would be fine (the one in your link should do to start with). If however you intend to do a lot of hard contact between weapons you might want to move to something like one of the hickory bokken offered by Kingfisher Woodworks (http://www.kingfisherwoodworks.com/). Definitely not on the inexpensive end but well worth the money, IMO, if you are doing a lot "bashing together" :)

You might also try:

The Kiyota Co.

2326 N. Charles Street

Baltimore, Maryland USA 21218

Tel (410) 366-8275 Fax (410) 366-3540

They don't have a web page but they'll send you a catalog with a lot of different choices.

I've never dealt with Kim Taylor at Sei Do Kai (http://sdksupplies.netfirms.com/cat_stdweapons.htm#Bokuto) but I've heard many good things from others. You might want to check out their weapons and/or weapon sets.

Bronson

[Robert Cowham]

For "contact" work, we use straight bokken - similar to http://bokkenshop.com/eng/245.html

Being straight they survive impact much better. Japanese white oak works very well for this.

I have bought in Japan for a similar price to that quoted above.

Robert

[Virgil]

Jack,

I've just got a cheapie, but we don't do much kumitachi yet; when we do I'll go w/hickory. Another outlet for a hickory bokken would be Purpleheart armory (woodenswords.com), although I don't know if it's cheaper than Kingfisher's.

[aikiSteve]

Being straight they survive impact much better.
That's interesting. I've always used a curved bokken. I would have thought curved swords slide off each other better, reducing the hard impact. Although we rarely train at full speed with each other.

Have you seen bokkens break?

Steve Nelson

[Ron Tisdale]

The wierdest time I saw a bokken break was at the first aikiexpo...Ellis Amdur broke his partner's composite bokken during the beginning of their demo of Araki ryu...

You should have seen it...a 6 foot 5 or so Ellis gives out this INTENSE kiai, then they come together, the end of the parnter's bokken goes flying, Ellis calls out 'KODACHI' (Short sword), and mid kata, they switch to a kodachi vs katana kata.

Pretty flippin wild.

Ron

[Janet Rosen]

I've never dealt with Kim Taylor at Sei Do Kai (http://sdksupplies.netfirms.com/cat_stdweapons.htm#Bokuto) but I've heard many good things from others. You might want to check out their weapons and/or weapon sets.

Bronson
I can totally vouch for Kim. He made me a custom hickory bokken and then a jo to go with it at prices not significantly above "off the rack." I've had them for a number of yrs and they do nicely with partner practice--they'll "dent" a little but not splinter or break.

He's also done weapons for friends of mine and is a totally all around good guy.

[Noel]

I can second Janet's endorsement of Kim Taylor. I'd also add that PayPal works well for dealing with him, cause Canada has those funny-looking dollars.

[graham butt]

Why not search the internet on how to make a bokken. Myself and my older brother have both tried this. Turned out quite well. We used Maple wood, It's very light though so I use it for practicing partnered Iaido techniques. We bought one block of wood 30 inches long and managed to get eight bokken and three tantos out of it. Passes my time as well. Give it a try.

[Timothy Tikker]

[QUOTE=Jack Robertson]http://www.budostuff.com/en/produkt.php?produkt_uid=e8a1bcf76d570eabcc2af043b9c96308&cat_uid=f8ad1d32dacde1247767b86f69c82afd

>I've been browsing websites of bokkens cheap and expensive. This one converted into dollars is about 32!!!

>I think it doesn't look bad at all!!<

Yes, I just found that website myself, leading me to look at this forum!

I noticed that their weapons are approaved by Aikikai HQ in Tokyo, which I should think is at least a decent recommendation.

[Keith R Lee]

The wierdest time I saw a bokken break was at the first aikiexpo...Ellis Amdur broke his partner's composite bokken during the beginning of their demo of Araki ryu...

You should have seen it...a 6 foot 5 or so Ellis gives out this INTENSE kiai, then they come together, the end of the parnter's bokken goes flying, Ellis calls out 'KODACHI' (Short sword), and mid kata, they switch to a kodachi vs katana kata.

Pretty flippin wild.

Ron

That sounds like it would have been fun to see.

I've broken two bokkens during paried sets, and had someone crack my purpleheart(!) jo in two with their ironwood jo.

The two bokken I broke were cheap ones though, so I wasn't as mad about that. I was mad about loosing my purpleheart jo, it was expensive and I had had it for years. However, the gentleman who broke it is my sempai (and 5th dan to boot) so I let it go.

As an aside, it was right after he missed a block and I cracked him on the nose. How coincidental.

[Ron Tisdale]

Dude, you have no right to complain....from now on I'm calling you Keith "I'll see your nose and raise you a bokken" Lee... ;)

Best,
Ron (I couldn't think of a comparable name for myself yet...give me time...)

[Joe Bowen]

[QUOTE=Jack Robertson]http://www.budostuff.com/en/produkt.php?produkt_uid=e8a1bcf76d570eabcc2af043b9c96308&cat_uid=f8ad1d32dacde1247767b86f69c82afd

>I've been browsing websites of bokkens cheap and expensive. This one converted into dollars is about 32!!!

>I think it doesn't look bad at all!!<

Yes, I just found that website myself, leading me to look at this forum!

I noticed that their weapons are approaved by Aikikai HQ in Tokyo, which I should think is at least a decent recommendation.

The bokken itself is relatively well priced for a Japanese distributor, but its not the cost of the merchandise that'll get you. It's the postage from Japan. It is ridiculous....