Tall Person

[Charlie]

Hi, all! A guy in my club is ready to get his first bogu, but he is very tall. One retailer said an extra large doh will fit him, another says it's a few centimeters too small and that the opening (I presume around the middle) will be too narrow. Any tall persons out there had experience with this?

There's also question of materials. To quote my friend's e-mail:

1. What the hell is the difference between the yamato doh and fiber
doh.

No one seems to have a good answer.

2. Is there any advantage to having a bamboo doh versus a fiber or
yamato?

Anybody help? What the heck is yamato? Do the materials affect the height issue at all (such as inflexibility).

Thanks!

Charlie

(charliekondek@yahoo.com if you want to e-mail me)

[Neil Gendzwill]

A yamato doh is a fibre doh that has had the inside shaped to look like a bamboo doh. Because of the structure added, it is stiffer than a normal fibre doh and provides better protection. A bamboo doh offers better protection yet, and for people of unusual size is normally available in a wider variety of sizes. For many people yamato doh is good enough, and if budget is a concern fibre works fine too. Money is better spent on kote or men. Those who have bamboo doh like them a lot though, there is definitely a difference when you take a good smack.

Just how tall is this guy? We have a fellow in our dojo who is around 6'4" or 6'5" and Koei was able to fit him with a fibre doh. We just asked for the tallest doh-dai and it looks good. Is he also large the other way? That can be more problematic. If you need more than 45 cm or so across the back then the solution is to either stretch the largest fibre doh (you end up with it being kind of flat and the protection on the sides is reduced) or to get a 60 or 64 piece bamboo doh which can be made to the correct width (expensive).

[Charlie]

He's tall and lanky but not a bit chubby (in fact, I do not particularly enjoy to receiving his men-strokes, haha!). If it's worked out for your friend, sounds like off-the-rack is the way to go. I don't think he's worried about material or what it looks like or anything like that at all. Just wants to get the most bang for his buck: as a father of two, working student, he can't afford to buy it and then have to buy a different one down the road!

We have a resident "equipment expert" at our club but haven't had a chance to talk to him yet (he's been on working holiday to Japan). Thought I'd cast my net a little wider. Thanks for the help!

[KendoShiai]

Yo Charlie, one of my students just got his first Bogu, from E-Bogu. Humberto is very tall, at least for me he is. He is 6'3" and very broad. He just called them and they took his mesurments over the phone and made a recomendation. They had to have his Do special ordered though and took a couple of extra weeks. I don't know what size it is but its a perfect fit. And the price was not bad either. He actually bought 2 sets. One for his wife. She actually got hers in a couple of weeks cause they had it all in stock. Point is find out who your going to order from and make sure their size is the same as your size.


Eddie Miller
Orlando Kendo Kai

[slidercrank]

A yamato doh is a fibre doh that has had the inside shaped to look like a bamboo doh. Because of the structure added, it is stiffer than a normal fibre doh and provides better protection.
My doh is a yamato doh. I know this for sure because on the inside surface, the words "ヤマト胴" (yamato doh in katagana and kaji) are molded into the plastic. On my doh, the inside and outside surfaces are identical: black, smooth and shiney plastic. The inside is not made or shaped to look like a bamboo doh. Some yamato doh's do look like bamboo doh's on the inside, but that look is not the distinguishing characteristic between yamato and fiber doh's.

My friend has a fiber doh. On hers, the outside looks just like mine: black plastic. On the inside, it's a pressed paper fiber finish painted in orange/red color. That finish has a pebble grain look to it. On my friend's fiber doh, the inside even has a pressed inscription saying "Respectfully made by XXX Paper Company" in Japanese.

Other dojo mates have fiber doh's from different companies, and those also have that pebble grain red/orange color finish on the inside.

On the weight scale, from the heaviest to the lightest, they rank: bamboo, yamato, and then fiber. The order is the same for the cost from the priciest to the cheapest. It is also the same for the level of protection and shock absorption going from the best to the worst.

[Nanbanjin]

Yo Charlie, one of my students just got his first Bogu, from E-Bogu. Humberto is very tall, at least for me he is. He is 6'3" and very broad. He just called them and they took his mesurments over the phone and made a recomendation. They had to have his Do special ordered though and took a couple of extra weeks. I don't know what size it is but its a perfect fit. And the price was not bad either. He actually bought 2 sets. One for his wife. She actually got hers in a couple of weeks cause they had it all in stock. Point is find out who your going to order from and make sure their size is the same as your size.


Eddie Miller
Orlando Kendo Kai
A guy we train with down here is over 210cm tall. He just wears a standard set of armour. Looks tiny on him, but who needs extra target area?
Just wish he would kneel down so I could hit men.

[Old Warrior]

I have a fiber Do. I have been wacked about as hard as one can imagine. I have never felt any pain on a strike that hit the armor. Is the issue of "protection" real or is it just one's imagination. I can't imagine a "protection" issue as long as the substance of the Do is not fractured.

[Charlie]

Yeah, the doh material thing seems to be a separate issue. It probably only came up because of the idea of custom-ordering a doh. Well, e-bogu was the retailer that recommended an off-the-rack doh for this guy, another retailer said it would have to be specially ordered. I think I'm going to recommend Perry (my tall friend) go with the e-bogu set. Of course we'll also get our "equipment specialist's" opinion. Thanks, you guys.

[Sir Percy]

I'm 6'3", 200 lbs, waist size 36 and got a custom doh from e-bogu. They had to order a 64 bamboo doh (I wanted and could afford it) and the tallest mune. It fits me great.

[Neil Gendzwill]

At your size, a large stock doh would have fit fine. But I understand wanting take-doh just, you know, cause.

[Charlie]

How is the doh measured? By the number of centimeters it takes for the himo to come around your shoulder?

[Neil Gendzwill]

The doh is measured by the distance straight across the back ie from one back edge to another, on the inside. If you have a doh that fits someone the way they like, measure the doh itself - that's the best way. If not, just measure the width of their body at the waist (not the waist circumference) and add a couple of centimetres (more if you like a loose fit, or for ladies where the hips come into play).

[Charlie]

So just take a tape measure and go from one hip to the other across the belly and add a couple of centimeters? Got it. Perry tried on another tall person's doh and it was like a lil' teeny-bopper half-shirt on him leaving his navel exposed if he wore it high, his upper chest if low. Would you happen to know how one measures for that, for the height of the item?

Sheesh, makes me glad for once that I'm 5'9"!

[Neil Gendzwill]

Don't go directly across the belly, as that will get you a half-circumference. If someone can hold a pair of rulers parallel and at the hips, then measure across them.