Ponytail, bun, plait... the choices!!

[Lone Kitten]

Hi girls

first off, it's lovely that we now have a place to discuss things like this. Nice one to GreenArrow for getting stuck in and setting it all up. Have always thought we needed something like this.

I have VERY long hair.It's also frizzy! For kendo i tend to plait it, I find that if i just ponytail it it somehow manages to work its way down the back of my gi. Even if i plait it, sometimes after a hard keiko it still does that. I've tried putting it in a bun, but then it gets in the way of my men himo. I suppose plaiting is the best bet, but has anyone come up with any other ideas that work? (definitely a women's issue!)

just wondered what everyone thinks!:rambo:

[Genya]

I´m not a girl, but a boy with long hair. I usually put my hair on a ponytail and tuck it under my tenugi. I don´t know how that works with VERY long hair, but for me it works well.

It´s awfull when hair gets messed up with men himo knot.

[Paburo]

I´m not a girl, but a boy with long hair. I usually put my hair on a ponytail and tuck it under my tenugi. I don´t know how that works with VERY long hair, but for me it works well.

It´s awfull when hair gets messed up with men himo knot.

top. knot. :D

[GreenArrow]

In my long hair days, when I was on site I had to put my hair back so I could (a) get my hard-hat on and (b) so it wouldn't tangle in the fall-arrest harness.

I used a ponytail, band tight so it didn't slip but loose in that it was at the nape of my neck/top of my shoulders. If needed I plaited it from there.

The alternative was the high ponytail stuck out the back of the hard-hat harness- but it got tangled and also gave me a headache after a while with the wieght of hair.

I don't have that problem now- these days, when my hair is more than an inch long, it's time for a trim:D

[rottunpunk]

the best one i found was to put my hair into thin braids then put it into a ponytail.
otherwise a plait with the bobble below the himo line
have you tried just leaving it down?
:p

[Bailee]

I've found a low ponytail works well. Keeps it out of the way of the men himo most of the time.

I've tried to high ones, but then I have trouble with my tenugui.

[Commander]

For me its a ponytail, i have very long black hair.
I have also left it down once and it gets tangled when you tie the himo; not good :(

[Naginatagirl]

My hair gets tangled ridiculously easily, so putting it in any sort of pony tail or braid didn't help much since it would still get caught in my men himo. Now I do as Genya and shove it in my tenegui. Holds it secure and out of the way. No worries.

[KendoKT]

what i did was first put my hair in a low pony tail, then i would braid it. i found this worked the best when i had very long hair, it kept it from geting tangled in the himo.

[Solinde]

I agree with the rest, low ponytail or braided is the best. My hair is not all that long though so I prefer to make it...a special kind of braid that I have no idea what it might be called in English. Anyway, it's the kind of braid that starts on your head and not at the neckline, if you know what I mean. Like in this picture although at the back of the head: http://dorba.webblogg.se/images/fl_ta.jpg

[tantadi]

Low ponytail, I wear the tenugui low and the himo over the tenugui. This way I avoid the hairy men himo knot.

[Alison2805]

My hair is just under shoulder length at the back - too short to put in a ponytail, so it gets tangled in the himo constantly. Once it was so bad, I was still trying to get my men off and everyone had finished, bowed, and was packing up. Any ideas from anyone as to how to stop shorter hair getting caught in the himo?

Has anyone tried tying a ponytail at the side of thier head just below thier ear and tucking the poytail into their gi? Would that work for you?

[tantadi]

As I said, wear the himo over the tenugui. Might be difficult if you tie your himo at the base of the neck though.

[Alison2805]

My tenugui never comes down far enough at the back.

[Solinde]

Get a bigger tenugui. ;) Actually, at a taikai last year I was surprised to see that all the other girls wore their ponytails high so that it stood out as a bump at the back of the head, under the tenugui. Then they tied the himo under the bump, so that it helped keep the himo in place. Seemed reasonable enough, but I've found it to be way to difficult.

My idea for shortish hair (not short enough to leave be, not long enough for a low ponytail) is still the kind of braids that I talked about earlier. Since they start on your head and not at the neck they work well with shorter hair.

[Solinde]

...a special kind of braid that I have no idea what it might be called in English
I managed to work it out with the blessed help of Google: it's called a French braid, and I also found a better picture:

http://www.hairboutique.com/images/Frenchbraid5.jpg (http://www.hairboutique.com/images/Frenchbraid5.jpg)

If you make one that is really tight it is the perfect way of keeping your hair from the himo, even if your tenugui slips up.

[GreenArrow]

Solinde, if you can do a braid like that yourself, I'm really impressed.:cool:

In all my days of long hair, I never managed to put one in my own hair, although I could do it for others...

[Lone Kitten]

i agree... i need a permanent live in hairdresser i think!

Maybe i'l try training my fella... at the moment he can't even plait!!

[Solinde]

Actually, if you know how to do it in theory, it's pretty easy to learn to make one on yourself, although it is totally different from making one for someone else. I've done it a few times, so I'm still not any good at it, and my arms tend to get stiff after a while, but, hey, it doesn't have to look good since most of it will be covered by the tenugui.

(I will admit though, that I also thought that they would be impossible to do on myself. That was until I realized that all my (girl)friends made these on themselves. Then I realized that I had to learn as well. ;) )

[runsyi]

When my hair was longer I used to do two french braids. It's not as hard as doing one straight down the back and your hair doesn't need to be as long in order to do it. Now that my hair is shorter I usually just leave it down. I don't have a problem with it tangling unless I put it in a ponytail and tie my men himo too close. Another thing I've done that works alright on medium length hair is to tie a half ponytail then gather the remaining hair into another ponytail at the nape. Looks dorky on me but keeps my hair out of my face.

[Lone Kitten]

i have to admit, i've never tried pigtails... that could be the answer!

[Toaster]

For kendo I always wear my hair in a ponytail, but then bind it with multiple bobbles all the way down and wear a really chunky hairband (or buff- I love those things!). It doesn't frizz, stays in one place and still looks respectable after keiko- what more could I ask for? ;) You see, any one with a fringe will know this, but keeping it back during practice is a nightmare, and once you put your tenugui on it's almost impossible to see, so hiding it under a chunky hairband is most definitly the answer. Oh, and lots of hair spray.

Woweeeee, womens forum! I've been away for so long and now this! YAAAAY!

[Lone Kitten]

Hmm... interesting!

i couldn't wear a hairband under my tenugi, don't know why!

[runsyi]

About hairbands... never ever wear one of those plastic tooth stretchy ones under your men. It hurts like the dickens. I hate to take off my men once I've started practice but it gave me such a headache I had to.

[Morvran]

I fellow student has very long hair (maie), but he is able to get it up in his tenugi easily, and it always stays put. Basically, from what I've observed, after he brings the two corners around to the front, he puts both of them in the corners of his mouth and holds them there. Then he tucks in his pony tail (the back is now taut b/c he's holding the corners tightly in his mouth). Then he continues with the regular motions.

[Lone Kitten]

I fellow student has very long hair (maie), but he is able to get it up in his tenugi easily, and it always stays put. Basically, from what I've observed, after he brings the two corners around to the front, he puts both of them in the corners of his mouth and holds them there. Then he tucks in his pony tail (the back is now taut b/c he's holding the corners tightly in his mouth). Then he continues with the regular motions.

yeuch... then you'd get a horrid soggy tenugui (I know that's the point of it, but my hair absorbs the sweat... the tenugui is to keep my hair ut of my way :cross_eye )

[Alison2805]

hahaha, I have one of those toothy stretchy ones!!! I did consider wearing it, Im glad I didnt now.

[David]

Geh. Sometimes I think that I should just go and get a hair cut, but I'm too scared of barbers to ever really go and do it. My problem really isn't the back of my hair, but so much the front. Some times, during jigeiko, some of my hair will get loose from under my tenugui and get all in my face. It's really annoying. Is their anything that I can do? Am I just not putting on the tenugui right or something? I'd rather not have to resort to hairclips.

[Solinde]

Well...that's a little tricky. Do you put your tenugui on wet or dry? If dry, try wettening (there's got to be a better word?) it before practice, so that it's a little damp when you put it on. It stays on much better that way.

[Fukushu]

I used to do the two braids down the side and they hung in the front....started to get a bit annoying though. Went back to the basic low ponytail. Seems to be the easiest. Someday....I'll cut my hair all off and it won't be a problem :)
Megan
http://www.geocities.com/mbomcglennen/MegBrandon2005.jpg

[Kitsune]

Low ponytail, I wear the tenugui low and the himo over the tenugui. This way I avoid the hairy men himo knot.

Same option here, low pony tail and the knot covered with the tenugi

[TheChessQueen]

See I disagree. I prefer high ponytail that the base gets covered with the men towel. This stops the hair from being caught in the himos (usually). it also keeps my hair off my neck (I have long hair and I hate that when my neck is sweaty and then my hair gets mixed in). Also a high ponytail provides some damage protection from a shinai bending over the men to "tap" the back of your head.

[Dragon Ninja]

It's all about how you tie your tenugui. There were times when I forgot to bring a scrunchie to kendo(and i have LONG hair like Sailor Mars long haha) and I was able to get through class. My naginata sensei taught me a way to tie your tenogui so that your hair is stuffed under your men and so you don't get any himo knots. That's what I do. You basically do the same procedure as how you normally do, except you bite the tenugui THEN stuff your hair in it.

It may sound confusing but if you have any questions about it just send me a messege

[Kitsune]

Yeah it's about the tenougi... Never got any problems with my hair and himos.

[Myy]

Braid is the best.

1. Hair should not hang out loose. Even one or two ponytails leave hair fall too free. It does not look neat and hair gets tangled with men himo easily.
2. Stuffing the hair into the negui, will make a bump on the back of the head. this is not neat and it spoils the form of one's posture. Also one easily ends up tying the men himo on an uncorrect hight because of the extra bump.

I keep my long hair on one braid on the back. The braid may hang out as long as it it netly done.

Myy

[Kirinhale]

I do a high ponytail, it sortof works, though when my hair gets too long, it tangles easily. But my tenugui doesn't cover 'the base' of my ponytail. :)

[Toaster]

my hairs pretty short.... different from last time I posted! so..... wadda you girls do who have really short hair- so short you can't tie it back? I have a feeling it's going to frizz up as soon as I put men on (oh dear...... XD)

[Alison2805]

short hair sucks. Mine is just long enough to get pulled into the himo knots. I just put up with it. No amount of different tenugui positions will fix it for me. I cant tie the himo high because it just feels uncomfortable. Im getting used to tying himo, pulling hair out of the knot, then tightening the himo again.

Bah, I should shave my head.

[Henry Jones Jnr]

Whooo I must say that I am rather late about all this. For those that wear their pony tails high up above their hemo, take heart. Your pony tail saves you from getting a nasty bash in the back of the head when you accidentially get pushed over. It had happened to me three times in the last fourteen years!. Ok it was my fault, I can in too fast but I must say that my ponytail took ninty percent of the impact. Yes I got a fright but I picked myself up and kept on fighting. Mind you now that I have got my problem of falling over licked, I now wear my hair in a bob.

[Habibi]

Any advice for somebody with an afro?

[Alison2805]

hehehe, one of the guys in another club here has a huge afro and beard - he kinda looks like a wookie that was left in the dryer too long. Ive always wondered how the hell he got his men on over it all.

Dont tell him I said that, hes bigger and faster than me....

[Inner_Silence]

Low ponytail, I wear the tenugui low and the himo over the tenugui. This way I avoid the hairy men himo knot.

I do the same thing... ok im a guy but with long hair... bride is just TOO MUCH TROUBLE i just wanna get down there and start training... a hairstyle just take too long time (this is said by someone who used those big black rayban style sunglases under the men)

anyway there are a couple of things to take care
and ive realized, (luckely not on me) that when you tie the himo touching your hair, even if you did not get hair in the knot, the movement with the himo ant the friction plus sweating n stuff WILL DAMAGE YOUR HAIR and with time it would break it or make it look bad, so ALWAYS use the tenugi over the hair so the himo wont be in contact with it.

anyway, its important to make it look neat... one thing abuut this stuff is that there was a guy in my dojo (he doesent practice now but anyway) that had REALLY and he used ir "rasta" style libe bob marley but longer, "dread" style, (i dunno wow u call it) and this guy was really tall also, so with he men on and the hair n stuff he looked like predator (yes, that old movie inspired in that comic of an extraterrestrial who liked to kill people for sport, and is a great movie!, im a guy to me is a great movie) and he got thqat nickname becouse of it. predator! yet, it was a little scary... anyway thats the story

[Shogun]

Girls i must say from a male point of view i think a low pony tail LOOKS best.Now who wants to snuggle?

[Inner_Silence]

for sure I agree.

looks come first :cool2:

[Shogun]

That they do.I cant hit a girl who is to cute.I just spend the whole match defending lol

[Inner_Silence]

That they do.I cant hit a girl who is to cute.I just spend the whole match defending lol
thats kind of sexist...

anyway u r right, in my case it depends, when is a "coach keiko" as i like tho call them, when u dont really fight, instead u do it so the other can hit you and learn stuff and you go telling "do this, hit stronger.." n stuff, and a real keiko when you really fight, in that case i kind of forget of the person who im dealing with, if is men or woman or if he is someone who i know or just john doe, it just changes to give evetryting to get the ippon fast or to at least give a good fight if the oponent is good at keiko (wich happens every time)

i remember once i was on a visit of another dojo, friend of us, in another city, and when u go visit u got to give it all so u give a good impression (we could be frends but we are still meeteng each other in a tournament) anyway it came the keiko part and in like my fifth keiko, it happend that i had to fight a little girl, she was kind of 13 or 14 years old and she was the cutest thing on earth anyway she was kind of tall girl..., but in that moment i didnt notice it, and when she start moving to attack me (men or whatever) my body just instantly reacted for it self, a conditioned reaction to attack kote and it was a really hard hit, but after this ive noticed it by her face, and man! for real the kote that she got really hurted ME more on the inside that it did to her on the outside, of course i kind of putted my "gomenasai" face and she put the "dont worry" face and we keept practicin.
but of course i wasnt gonna apologise cos that is kind of unrespecfull, is like sayng "im sorry of hitting you, please be stronger nex time" she could be young but of course got my respect as she would be and old sensei... anyway it is another of like thousand of my real life kendo tales... but that is off-topic

[katori dojo]

Girls i must say from a male point of view i think a low pony tail LOOKS best.Now who wants to snuggle?
thet is korect

[katori dojo]

Any advice for somebody with an afro?
change the heirkat

[h2o]

change the heirkat
There is probably some smart way to keep the afro.
My hair slowly evolves to something that tries to look like an afro, but is not, and I always find it much harder to tie the tenugi. Therefore I cut my hair before that happens ;)

[Habibi]

Thanks anyway, but I ended up getting a shorter haircut. I've got no problems putting on the tenugui now.