practice dummy

[Hongsermeier]

I have been all over the web in search of a striking dummy or pic's of one, to give me some ideas about buying or building one. If anyone has any idea where I might find one it would be greatly appreciated.

[ben]

If you order a hard copy catalogue from any of the Japanese sites (Mori Budo, Koei/Eguchi, Nakanishi, etc), they usually have pics in them.

:)

b

[eddiez]

There is an interesting striking dummy in the shape of a man's head and Torso called BOB. You can find it at KarateDepot.com. It's a bit pricy at around $300, and it doesn't have arms (e.g., no kote strikes), but you can certainly do alot of other things. I'm giving some thought to getting one.:)

[olaf]

Though I should warn you - those metal-framed hitty dummies (uchikomidai) - are pretty expensive. Most that I've seen in catalogs or in stores go for several hundred dollars, well over what it costs for a dirt cheap set of bogu.

I just got the 2002 Moribudo catalog in the mail last week, and they have this neat uchikomidai which has not one, but two variable height positions to hold the shinai, and is designed for people practicing nidan-waza. Very pricey.

I'd say - either try making your own (it's not that hard - a friend of mine tried), or get a real human opponent as a dummy. :)

[olaf]

eddiez: "BOB" sounds like some contraption you can replicate by putting your men and do on a chair and hitting them....hardly worth the $300...

[eddiez]

Olaf: You're probably right. I did try something similar to the chair thing...but it kept falling off and stuff. I figured I'd just offer the suggestion seeing that $300 smackers means different things to different people.

[Hongsermeier]

Thanks for the inputs. I got a price from one supply place of $900. US. I'm going to try to make my own. If it come's out ok, I might post some pics for others to see.

[Ian Russell]

There is an old thread over @ e-budo in which the discussion of uchikomidai comes up: Developing striking skills (http://www.e-budo.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=345) ...Are there not a couple images of kids striking an uchikomidai in Ozawa's kendo book? (I can't remember and do not have access to the book at the moment).

[lewis]

Take a look at

http://arizona-shinkendo.com/dotangiri.html

It's a do it yourself stand for developing strength for overhead cuts in tamishigiri. The design sounds bombproof, especially when you consider that the guys says you should use a subrito because bokken are too light!

If you make it, let me know what you think, because I am thinking about doing it myself (if I can figure out where to put so the wife doesn't freak out).

[alexpollijr]

Hi there

Friends from a Dojo not so far from outs have a home made uchikomi dai; they made the frame of sturdy but cheap wood, got some really really worn out set of bogu on it and voila. It's very good I think. much better than going off for 400 bucks or so.

The wooden structure is basically a 4-piece base, a pole about the size of a japanese guy (i.e 1,65m), a prong which is the right arm and a rectangular piece on the 'head'.

[ben]

The trick is, I think, to design a base that's sturdy enough without having to use too many spreading supports, so you can cut and follow through (a little).

The tameshigiri stand that Lewis mentions above is meant for practising strikes with both feet firmly planted. Not really suitable for cuts with fumikomi.

b

[Steve]

if you go to Kendoshop.com you can order a hitting dummy for about $450 US + shipping/taxes etc..

Thats a lot of money! We here at our club have built our own dummy for about $200 Cdn. At the moment the only targets are Men, Tsuki, and Do...but hey it works, and we love it!

If anyone is interested, e-mail me (Quinlan@mathstat.dal.ca) and i'll assemble some details for you on how we built it. We've been meaning to put a section about it on our website. Anybody interested in that?

Steve.

[stakenaka]

The cheapest way is to strap your younger brother in bogu and wack at him! Ahh... my elementary school days, good times... :)

On a more serious note, one method is to use PVC piping. It is fairly strong, easy to cut, and has many joints so you can MacGyver a system up in no time at all.

[kendo_chick]

Our club actually just made a hitting dummy with 6' wooden post, anchored in a cement patio block, which is attached to a flat platform that has wheels on the bottom. The men is a tire, the do (our instructor's old do) is attached to wooden 'shoulders' with a tire underneath so that it doesn't move around too much. We also have a tsuki made out of foam pucks that are bound with duct tape. It looks pretty cool and works very well.

[Confound]

kendo_chick:

I would be quite interested in hearing more about this striking dummy. It sounds like a neat-o idea.

Actually, i'm interested in finding out if anyone else has made similar forays into the world of kendou construction.

c

[KENSHIN]

Originally posted by kendo_chick
Our club actually just made a hitting dummy with 6' wooden post, anchored in a cement patio block, which is attached to a flat platform that has wheels on the bottom. The men is a tire, the do (our instructor's old do) is attached to wooden 'shoulders' with a tire underneath so that it doesn't move around too much. We also have a tsuki made out of foam pucks that are bound with duct tape. It looks pretty cool and works very well.

Do you have a blue print of how to make this? If so it would be nice to share this infromation to everyone, possibly through a link where we could download it from?

[Will]

I need a place to strike Do, just Do is all i care about, any suggestions....

ps, i don't want to jack up my shinais

[Hongsermeier]

Will,
If you have a post with a tire on it to strike, try puting some carpet or other material on it to protect the shinai. I will try to have some pic's of the dummy I made avaliable by this coming weekend.

[kendo_chick]

I'll see if I can find a picture of our hitting dummy. It works rather well. Works even better if you have an old do to attach.

[Will]

ugh...now i have to find another tire...and i just got some new ones from cosco...man, i knew i shouldn't have given those old ones to them....

saving the enviroment, BAH!

[Hongsermeier]

E-Bogu has a hitting dummy. Go to E-Bogu web page. Type "hit" in search area. There is a nice pic. It does cost $900.00 us

[ben]

Tyres are definitely the go I reckon (thanks for tip about the carpet Hongsmeier). I worked out two ways of using them.

1) Just hang the bastard up from a high cross beam in the garage or somewhere spacious. You can then adjust the height for men, do or tsuki. The slow swinging of the tyre adds a dynamic/timing element.

or

2) If you just want a static target to practice sho-men like Mr Uchida in the 8-dan doco, get two tomato stakes each about 2 metres long (really cheap from garden supplies), tie the blunt ends together with rope or thick cord. Spead the bottoms of the stakes out to form a shape like this: /\ . Go to the nearest high fence and jam the bottoms into the ground where the fence meets the ground. Tie the top to the fence but let it lean out about 15 degrees. Pop the tyre on top. Voila! you've got a stand that you wont run into the base of.

:)
b

[kendo_chick]

Hey all,

As promised, here is a picture of my club's hitting dummy that a few of our members fashioned.

[stinkyKote]

Has anyone seen the diagram of the hitting dummy in 'Complete Kendo' (by Hiroshi Ozawa if I'm not mistaken?) it's got a lineart picture of a hitting dummy on a stand, it's shaped like an upside down L so that you can run right through, and the striking target is moutned on some sort of pulley system, so that when you strike it, the target drops down, and then flips back up-- apparently the idea being that you hit it, and then go through, and if you're too fast, you get smacked in the face, and if you're too slow going through, it will wrap you on the head as you pass by, sounds pretty cool... anyone ever seen oen of these in real life?

[reicheru]

Stinky -- We use something in my dojo that sounds a little like this. It's not a pulley system, just a sort of lever on a pole weighted to swing back up after you've run through. The target is an old kote attached to a broken shinai, which can be moved up and down the pole to different heights (so you can practice men and kote, but not really do, allthough one high school kid uses it to practice tsuki sometimes). If you're interested, I'll take a picture and try to upload it some time in the next week or so.

Rachel

[stinkyKote]

that would be great- I've been really curious as to what one of these things actually looks like in real life-

[Ginsbork]

e-bogu sells two types: http://www.e-bogu.com/2lesihidu.html and http://www.e-bogu.com/hushhidu.html.

I bought the Human Shape Hitting Dummy for myself, not a bad piece of steel, just strapped the bogu to it and then strike it until your hands are numb.


Surrender to Kendo and let no steal your dreams.

[Chopstix]

$600!!!

*faints*

[miojine yahiko]

its pretty easy just make a scarecrow i took an old fleace and sweat pants sewed them together stuffed it and nailed it to a tree in py backyard

[Ben F.]

I have been all over the web in search of a striking dummy or pic's of one, to give me some ideas about buying or building one. If anyone has any idea where I might find one it would be greatly appreciated.

My teacher has one that he made that works pretty well. He got a old tire still mounted on the rim and filled it with concrete. Then using some heavy duty L-brackets he bolted the rim to a 6" x 6" post, attached a cross piece for arms and fitted go cart tires for all the targets. The head is a little tricky but it has lasted a long time and isn't too hard on the shinais.

[GRIdesignworks]

You might take a look at my Kendo practice dummy on YOUTUBE,..just look up GRIdesignworks 2010 kendo practice dummy. Contact me for more information @ GRIdesignworks@gmail.com.

[GRIdesignworks]

Go to YOUTUBE and look up GRIdesignworks kendo training dummy. You might find it useful. If it seems too expensive (I usually have about 40 hrs in them), then maybe I can give you some ideas on building one yourself, maybe without all of the welding and motions.

[Dustycij36]

Hi Folks,
Have a look at Best Kendo they have two kinds that you can make yourself or buy. The plans are pretty good. You get Both Do, Kote and Do practice.
http://www.bestkendo.com/HowtoDummy.html

[GRIdesignworks]

Hi,-

I'll try and figure out how to post a pic on here or a link, We make a kendo practice dummy that has 4 strike points and movements on YOUTUBE under GRIdesignworks kendo practice dummy. -- That may not be for everyone,..my first dummy was a dead apple tree in the orchard with a cut up motorcycle tire for a do and men. -- I love designing them and building them,..but still the important thing is to practice. I will try and post some more simple ideas once I figure out how to attach them here.