please, suggestion for beginners with bogu

[LadyGinevra73]

i'm going to receive my first bogu, so i'm very excited :D and i'm looking for every kind of suggestion to help me .
What things i don't have to do and so on....
Thaks to all

[berghaan]

dont pull your tare too tight..

Oh and have someone explain how to wear your tenuki real good.

Practice putting on your men when you are home so you can learn to do it quickly and so that it will be on your head comfortable.

[Jerry Wellbrock]

Relax and enjoy being hit, hey it is not going to kill you so just let it happen. Most beginners I know are very nervous about being hit especially with men uchi. Just relax and let it happen!

[Winter_Wolf]

Hello,
You should avoid jealous people like me still waiting for bogu...
lol, just kiddin, good luck w/ your kendo in armor! Tell me what it's like!
Thanks,
W.W.

[LadyGinevra73]

:cool2: thanks to all, then i'll write my experience :D

[Neil Gendzwill]

Originally posted by berghaan

Oh and have someone explain how to wear your tenuki real good.


That's "tenugui". The best advice for tieing tenugui is to cheat - lightly dampen it with water before class. It will stay on your head better when you put on the men.

I second the advice for practicing at home. It is bad manners to be slower than sensei when putting on the bogu. Bear in mind that they are deliberately going slow to give you the chance to be polite, if you understand me. So if you're even slower than that, time to log some practice at home.

[M.K. Kawai]

BEWARE OF THE FISHBOWL EFFECT :eek:

When you first put your Men on it will be a totally different world. Your hearing will be affected, your vision restricted and you may have a hard time breathing because you have to breathe through a metal grill and it gets hot.

DON'T WORRY! It is a natural process that everyone goes through when they first put on their bogu. I went through it and survived... and so can you. :D

Once your body gets used to it you'll look back on that day with a big :D

One other thing, as odd as this may sound, many beginners that I've come across who put their bogu on for the first time forget that the bogu is there to protect their body. In other words, the person standing opposite of you can now HIT BACK! Once you get that through your head that you can "hit and be hit" then you'll be well on your way to really learning Kendo :D

Best of luck to you...

MKK

[LadyGinevra73]

FINALLY I'M Armoured Up! :D
WOWOWOWOWOWO After a lots of problems with shipping from korea and italian expeditioner i have finally wear my bogu...

Yesterday evening, (with a very hot climate condition :confused2 ), i made my 1st jigeiko and it was very exciting, but ehm...:cry: i think i did'nt a good jigeiko in particular with my Sensei because he made me MEN MEN MEN MEN MEN KOTE KOTE DOOOO while i was slow in movements and very tired...humpf!!!!!!!:dead:

[Hongsermeier]

One idea. When you get your men home and set it out to dry. Have someone in your dojo show you how to tie it up so it has a more round shape to fit your head. Basically you tie it like your wearing it. When you do it you will be able to see the back of the men roll like it's around your head. You also have to tie up the "flaps". That's the hard part to explain. :cross_eye

[LadyGinevra73]

Thanks Hongsermeier :D i think i've know what you told me, because the "flaps" are very hard because bogu is new...

[Hongsermeier]

Yes they are. Makes it hard to lift your arms up.
:cross_eye

[Marine_Boy]

LadyGinevra73 it was also my first session in armour a few days ago. I didn't have the same mobility problems as you did since my bogu the dojo's hired set so it was already worn in. But jez, does the top of my head hurt like hell now!

I'm just hoping that it doesn't make go bald!:D

I alson found that practicing in bogu helped me to become more focused.

Stan

[LadyGinevra73]

I'm just hoping that it doesn't make go bald!
;) ...eheheheh

This evening i've my 2nd lesson...yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah:alien:

[Hongsermeier]

Just shave your head. Beat mothernature to the punch.

:cross_eye

[LadyGinevra73]

Do i shave my head :( ? Oh my GOD :eek: !!! Like Sinead o' Connor...eheheheh :D

[Hongsermeier]

Hair or no hair shes a beautiful girl. Some women can pull it off. :cross_eye

[LadyGinevra73]

i agree with you, shes really pretty !

[Marine_Boy]

She's also a qualified roman catholic priest too!

Stan

[kendomushi]

putting on bogu is like going back to square one. Everything feels different thatn it did. Time will make you more comfortable.

Just remember, don't tie your flaps up too much or too tightly for too long, they will start to look like a nun's hat if you do. The flaps should be made flexible, but lay more in front of the shoulders when worn, as opposed to looking like wings in flight.

[Marine_Boy]

But I have this fetish about hitting nuns though...

Erm what have I said and done...

Stan

[Hongsermeier]

The best way I have found to avoid the Flying nun look is, to give a little pull on each flap after you have your men tied on. This opens up the back slightly. Also feels like it lets in some air. :cross_eye

[Neil Gendzwill]

Originally posted by Marine_Boy
She's also a qualified roman catholic priest too!

I doubt that the first women ever ordained by the RCs would be one famous for tearing a picture of the pope in half on stage.

She's a priest in some oddball sect unrelated to the RCs.

[kendomushi]

The question of a woman RC priest is moot at least until JPII passes. A pope never steps down no matter his health, a few have been helped into the pearly gates though...

Stan, hitting nuns? Did you go to catholic grade school and still want revenge on the penguins?

[Marine_Boy]

Nuns just freek me out because they are always in those horror movies.

Stan:D

[KhawMengLee]

hmmnnn...looks like I'll have to get one of the girls to put on a nun's habit on saturday eh?

[roar]

Practise putting on the tenougi at home, every day.

[kendomushi]

My mother was raised largely in a convent. I understand why horror movies often have nuns I'm afraid to say. lol