tsukagawa tricks?

[JSchmidt]

Ok, I got my fancy new shinais from Koei and with them a couple of fancy tsukagawas too...only problem is that I'm having a heck of a time, fitting them. The tsuka's are fairly thick and while the tsukagawas are also the 'big' size, it's still an extremly tight fit.
My 'normal' trick is either to use a little babypowder (or corn-flour) on the tsuka, which normally makes it very easy, but I still can't get these more than halfway on.
I'm pretty sure that they will stretch that far, but it's very hard work!.
Anyone got any good tips on this?

Jakob

[KhawMengLee]

soak the tsukagawa in water, my sensei taught me this, and then place it over the tsuka and start to pull down(at the same time you should be able to wring the water out). The tsukagawa should slide in and when the water dries the tsukagawa shrinks so it fits tight.

[supernils]

I got a rubber (latex?) grip mat when I was in japan.
It's a piece of rubber about 3mm thick and 30*15 cm big. It gives you a great grip on the Gawa.
Im not sure that this would work together with water though.

[nollaig]

I also bought from Keoi and found the same problem

my advantage is I have very strong hands from work rock climbing and judo

but the best trick is to get a couple
lads from the club to give you a hand as well

get one of them to hold the tip of the shaini on the ground
get the next to hold the bamboo togeatherand then you twist that
leather bad boy onto the shaini!!!

my €0.2

[nodachi]

When I got one of my shinai and they assembled at the store, the person put the kensen to the floor, got as much of the tsukagawa on as they could, and then they kinda kneeled and lifted up their body, like using the shinai as a cane, using all their body weight to help them pull the tsukagawa on the rest of the way.

Hope this makes sense, I did it once after taking my shinai apart. It does help to put it back together real easy, but be careful how much weight you put on the shinai for how long. I did it in short little pushes cause I didn't want to snap the shinai from putting too much weight on it.

[Neil Gendzwill]

When I got one of my shinai and they assembled at the store, the person put the kensen to the floor, got as much of the tsukagawa on as they could, and then they kinda kneeled and lifted up their body, like using the shinai as a cane, using all their body weight to help them pull the tsukagawa on the rest of the way.

Hope this makes sense, I did it once after taking my shinai apart. It does help to put it back together real easy, but be careful how much weight you put on the shinai for how long. I did it in short little pushes cause I didn't want to snap the shinai from putting too much weight on it.

When you're doing it this way, it helps to brace the shinai from the sides so it doesn't bow out. It will take a lot of force so long as you don't let it bend. Support it between your knees or if you're really reefing on it use some clamps or furniture or something.

I find a sliding grip works better than a hard grip. When you're gripping hard you're pushing the leather into the bamboo and generating even more friction. If you let your hands slip down the leather from top to bottom, you can generate almost as much downward force without pushing in. Gloves can help prevent blisters here.

Word to the wise - the sliding grip style can look, um, unseemly. Try not to get your shinai too excited.

[justforkendo]

Koei sell a shinai repair kit, inside is one of the rubber mat's. I think they sell them separately to. In the catalogue you will see a round piece of white rubber this is used to on the tsukagawa.

A tip though, if you are useing a lot of force and you dont have three guys from the dojo to hold your shinai. Use plastic tie's, those things often used to bind wires together. you know the plastic strip's, one end has a hole to place the other end through and then pull. just use 2-3 of these and cut them off when finished.