I'm in Bogu!!!!

[Winter_Wolf]

Hello...
Whew Yeah!!!!!! Feel my joy, I have become a true kendoka!!!!!! Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I declare today a global holiday!!! Everyone off your butts and dance w/ me!!!!!!!!!! Woo hoo !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! **wheeze**
Did I mention i'm in armor?.....
Woo Hoo
If your still reading, go out and by yourself a refreshing beverage!!
Dance w/ me smilies!!!:
;) :D :) :rolleyes: :silly: :laugh: :cheerful:
**errm**
Thanks to all the kendoka who've helped me reach this point, i'm gonna go pass out now, but yall keep partyin' !!(The KWF is out of excalamation points...)
Thanks,
W.W.

[LNGUYEN]

Dammn! You lucky bas...d. You made my blood spoil and jealous because I am still not in bogu. You are now promoted to Samurai status.

[Nishi]

I know what it feels like to achieve something you have been working towards.... if you have stuck around this long without bogu, wait till' you see how good its gonna get now...... :D

[KhawMengLee]

Heh...now the journey begins all over again...be careful not to crack yourself in the head swinging up the shinai...the men adds a few more inches to the head height you are used to.

But in about 3 months of bogu use you'll kicking butt...good o luck!

[Karaken]

Did I mention i'm in armor?.....
W.W.

Congratulations WW, it's a significant step towards being a kendoka.
Please do everyone a favor, please let us know how you're doing with your new bogu. Whether Men is trying to be off when you try men or Kote hurts when you get hit etc.. Then describe what you bought ( type, company, $$ paid etc.. ) Most of us own just one set of bogu so it's hard to compare with other bogu. How long does it take to break in Men is also a big question to me.

Good Luck!

[AlexM]

You're happy about getting bogu?!?!?

You poor bastard, do you have any idea what you're in for?

The pain, the headaches, the dislocated jaws, the bruising, the hits to the balls: And that's just the stuff you're going to have to apologize for doing to others. Wait 'till they visit it back on you.

You'll now have the priviledge of losing in tournaments, of turning as blue as a smurf and trying desperately to put a tenugui on your head before your match is called (toughest part of the equipment to put on).

Congratulations aren't in order, condolences are...

(The worst part is that you think I'm kidding...)

[Winter_Wolf]

Hello,
AlexM- Forget our happy pills again did we? I actualy have more trouble w/ my Men then my tenegui! (didn't sound right did it?) Were an unofficial dojo btw, so no tournaments for me to worry bout there Alex, and also how do you break someones jaw when they have a titanium Men on their head? No really, I wanna know how, it sounds like that might be a useful technique!
Thanks,
WW

[LNGUYEN]

That is easy. First, knock them down to the ground, then take their Men off, then disclose or rip the jaw off and take it home for souvenir. Then to show your Samurai spirit (mercy for the falling), just throw in some tampons so they can stop their bleeding. Otherwise, just walk away with the fresh blood drifting jaw in your left hand. Of course, the shinai is still in your right hand though.

[Goomba]

Congrats man!

Just remember tie your men on tight, and don't worry your ears are supposed to hurt for the first few months.

Oh and you will look like a bobble-head statue for a while from recieving men cuts. But it's all good. :)

[AlexM]

Hello,
AlexM- Forget our happy pills again did we? I actualy have more trouble w/ my Men then my tenegui! (didn't sound right did it?) Were an unofficial dojo btw, so no tournaments for me to worry bout there Alex, and also how do you break someones jaw when they have a titanium Men on their head? No really, I wanna know how, it sounds like that might be a useful technique!
Thanks,
WW

My lack of happy pills have nothing to do with my foaming at the mouth at the moment. That's due to a completely unrelated case of rabbies that I contracted when I bit a stray dog that had been eyeing the bone I had found in the garbage.

You dislocate someone's jaw in kendo when you land a nice fat tsuki on them with all the force of an atomic blast. Trust me, you'll feel it (if you're receiving). Try to lock your jaw and stay forward.. don't flinch or you'll really get hurt (but then you already knew this).

Do you really need to have an "official" dojo to participate in a tournament? Can't you show up as an individual? Maybe you're unofficial club should think about becoming official, no?

Go to tournaments! :D Very important for developping good kendo I find (although many disagree with this... note I didn't say WINNING tournaments is important). You have to see what else is out there, meet people. If you stay stuck in your dojo you'll have lousy kendo after a while. I started an entire thread about this a while back... see the "importance of tournaments".

[Winter_Wolf]

Hello,
AlexM- Could you do something similar to shi-dachi in kata 2 (i.e.: move to the left at 45 degrees and hit their kote)?

Goomba- Heh, yeah thats what everyone kept telling me the first time I got a good hit in the Men, I laughed and quickly started writing down names...

LNGUYEN- I think your way is easier
THanks,
W.W.

[AlexM]

Hello,
AlexM- Could you do something similar to shi-dachi in kata 2 (i.e.: move to the left at 45 degrees and hit their kote)?


I'm confused (a normal state of affairs for me), what are you talking about? :confused:

I'm pretty sure you could do something similar to kata no.2 in shiai although I don't know if that's what you're asking... I doubt it could dislocated a jaw though.

As for dislocating your jaw it happens to me occasionally when serving as motodachi during tsuki practice. Just stand, open (your guard) and receive. If it hits on the tsuki-dare (the thing that guards your throat) you might feel your lower jaw get pushed back). It's not completely dislocated but it can hurt for a few days to have your jaw bone even temporarily "loosened" by a strike.

[Winter_Wolf]

Hello,
AlexM- yeah, sorry 'bout that, I have trouble explaining kendo moves in writing. What I meant was the dodge step that Shi-dachi does to avoid uchi-dachi's strike, but now that I think about it, if the opponent is using that much force it probably wouldn't work anyway so never mind on that...
Thanks,
W.W.

[Jklak]

Congratulations W.W, but did you know that you must sleep one night in your Bogu. After that you are really a true kendo novice. ;)

[fitzj]

Congratulations! I promise I'll have a dance later

How does it feel. I can't wait until I get mine (September apparantly) but I don't think I should be too keen to be hit back

[nodachi]

Getting hit back is not the problem with being in bogu. What is really tough is that the practices being physically harder. Now you aren't just hitting a target and they let you go through. Now you have to hit, hit, and continue to hit as they do the same to you. Just being hit isn't a big deal, but they can put you through harder practices once you have bogu.

Enjoy, it feels great, but it's so much harder than a nonbogu practice.

[Winter_Wolf]

Hello all,
This bogu thing is only slightly harder than I thought (and by that I mean I have to take my glasses off and I become the blind swordsman!), but i'm still enjoying it immensley(sp?). Last night I had my second night in armour and my first try at free sparring [first time I only got to work on Kaeri Kaeshi(sp?)]. I think I did pretty good, but then again I could tell the guy was holding back since it was my first time. For all of you not yet in bogu, put a fish bowl on your head, then spray paint all but a small oval in front of your face black, then attempt to hit a target w/ some type of accuracy...it's fun! That sounded kinda bad but it's hard for me to put into words all of the things being in armor brings (happines, nervousness, adrenaline through the roof...)

Karaken- Unfortunately, all I have for now is smelly dojo rental armor, so i'm not sure where it's from or anything, but the men does seem to want to hop off my head every time I go for a men strike. It's like the shoulder things (sorry, don't know the word for those if there is one) want to protect the opponent from my strikes! Anybody know a remedy for that?

Thanks to all who replied,
W.W.