Type of Bogu

[stakenaka]

Similar to the last poll, but I thought that this is a better standard for comparison.
Personally, I have a 3mm set.

[stakenaka]

Forgot to add:
If you have a machine made or handsewn set whose stitching length is not listed, round up/down, which ever is closer.
If you have a mixed set (eg, 4mm & 2 mm), take an average and round up/down, whichever reflects the price more accurately.

[Tato]

I've a 2 mm machine made.

In fact I don't have it, just sent the order, I hope to get it by the end of august.

By the way, do you have some adivces about how a new bougu? prep before first use? especial care? etc...

Thanks
Ciao!

[olaf]

Tato: the men "flaps" require a bit of prep work. To begin with, they are very stiff, as you might have noticed, and raising your arms becomes very difficult. To "break-in" the men flaps, pull them outward and loosen them up a bit, and rest the men on the floor, with the flaps facing down and mengane up. Place your kote on top of the flaps as "weights" to help stretch out the flaps and keep them in that position. Do this every time you set your bogu out to dry after practice.

[olaf]

Likewise, the flaps on the tare also need some loosening up. "Curl" them up a bit; otherwise you'll look really silly and everyone can tell that you're in a new suit of bogu!

Is prep-work required on the kote? I would reckon so but I'm not exactly sure how...

[Kuri]

If you get a hand stitched (possibly even for machined made) use a cloth to get rid of the excess indigo (natural) die. Just gently run it along the material surfaces, especially the himo (cords).

For the men, one of the kendo shop owners told be the best way is to have the flaps bent at 45 degrees. To get them into the approximate shape, bend them around to the mengane (face grill) so that the top of the flaps are horizontal. Then use the men himo to hold them in place by wrapping them around the men. If you're good with knots and have the time, you can rig up something much better to hold the flaps in place. With time, they will hold that position.

If the flaps bend perpendicular to the stitching, chances are that they will restrict your shoulder movement, and start rubbing against your neck/shoulder, causing a lot of unnecessary irritation.

Hope this helps.

[KhawMengLee]

Tato:

Best thing to do is ask your Sensei or Seniors how to set it up. What everyone says is right but you might misread so better someone actually "shows" you how to do it.

Its not gonna be embarrasing to ask:)

"Tou wa ichiji no haji, towanu wa matsudai no haji.
To ask may be a moment's shame, but not to ask and remain ignorant is a lifelong shame."
Junzo Sasamori


Peace
Meng

[stakenaka]

Note about men flaps:
Bend, but do not CREASE the flaps!

[Confound]

I may come off as sounding superstitious, or revealing the oddness of my bogu, but you WANT that indigo dye. I don't swear my many things, and none of them are things that I haven't witnessed myself, bear that in mind before reading what i'm about to write...

Traditionally, it is said that the plants used for making the indigo dye in hand-made bogu help to heal bruises and cuts. I naturally assumed it was another nice fable, one of those folk tales and granny remedies that work more by belief than scientific evidence. However, I received a horribly nasty bruise on my hip, from dou kirikaeshi with a student who has problems hitting dou. My dougi was new at the time, and my hips were covered in indigo dye everyday after practice. (Yes, this reveals that I wear high cut underwear, but if you care about my underwear that much, don't talk to me.)

This bruise was a real shiner, we're talking deep purple and that sickly green colour around the edges. It healed in record time, despite being struck repeatedly in the following days. I've never seen a bruise that deep and large heal so fast. Maybe there is some truth to that old story after all.

The moral is: Maybe you want that indigo dye after all. Just don't wear any light coloured shirts after practice. I have 3 or 4 light shirts that are permanently marked on the back (right where the dou himo cross) from indigo dye that rubbed off my dougi, onto my back then back onto my clothes.

that's my kendou miracle story of the week.

c

[KhawMengLee]

The moral is: Maybe you want that indigo dye after all. Just don't wear any light coloured shirts after practice. I have 3 or 4 light shirts that are permanently marked on the back (right where the dou himo cross) from indigo dye that rubbed off my dougi, onto my back then back onto my clothes.


Hmmnnn...a typical Kendo working hazard. I got blue marks on my walls( especially from where the men wings touch), long scratches and blue marks on the ceiling, and tanukis and teneguis all over my room.

Heh
Meng

[KhawMengLee]

PS. confound have you seen Nausica? Or Spirited Away? Princess Mononoki(i think)?

Anyway the guy who wrotes these Manga did one about tanuki's trtying to defend their forest...pretty cute. I forget the name though.

Meng

[Confound]

Maybe you should just paint the whole apartment blue, Meng.

c

[Confound]

That's miyazaki, and his studio is Studio Ghibli. I like his work a great deal. Isn't that 'Rascal Racoon"? I've never seen the Japanese title, not that i'd be able to read it anyway, my kanji are so weak.

c

[KhawMengLee]

yups...when I was a kid I think I cried watching Nausica...erm.

Spirited Away was pretty good as well. He's got some pretty wierd characters...look at Totoro...the wierd giant cat who is a bus...

Nice work though...

Meng

[olaf]

Meng: you were thinking about "Pom Poco" - that's the about the cute tanuki tribe.

Interesting you bring it up - although "Spirited Away" was fairly entertaining, few people realize that it is a cheap "rip-off" of a big Chinese animation production about 5 years back, in which a Chinese animation studio teamed up with some hi-tech animation group in Japan. The storyline was identical - a young boy (instead of a girl) gets somehow taken into an ethereal world of Chinese mythological ghosts and spirits, and so on...

What has this got to do with bogu?

[Confound]

Originally posted by olaf
Meng: you were thinking about "Pom Poco" - that's the about the cute tanuki tribe.


What has this got to do with bogu?


Thanks for supplying the right anime and title, olaf. i'm going to go look for it soon.

as for bogu... meng kenshin and i dragged qyite a few threads wildly off topic last night. sorry.

c

[olaf]

Meng & Confound: http://www.nausicaa.net/

[dr_evil]

hey back to the topic,

I bet you guys have seen some bogu that are shaped really nicely (the men and tare). I really can't describe it but the men flaps are not exactly strecthed horizontally. it's kind of bent towards a bit. and the tare is alos bent a bit towards on each side. Anybody have any tips on how to shape your men and tare so that they will look nice when you wear it. I'm dying for some answers. By the way my bogu is a lousy 4mm but i'm currently saving my paycheck to get a reasonable 3mm machine stitched.

woooooohooooooo...................

[alexpollijr]

In a 4mm one it'll be easy.
Just tie your men after every practice with the wings in front of the mengane and leave it. Eventually it'll get in shape.

For the tare you have to shape it by hand like an 'S', where the botton is bent forward.

In 2mm ones it's harder and takes more time.

[Confound]

it sounds silly, but the best way to shape your mem is to tie it up properly after a lesson. i don't know how bogu is stored in your club, but if you tie up your mem after a lesson, with the flaps securely pressed against the mem, you'll find itis far more comfortable to wear. as for the bend over the shoulders, mine just does it. i can't explain it.

c

[olaf]

Well, someone was originally asking how to "break-in" his new men. To tie it up after practice wouldn't really help in this regard. You really have to actively bend and stretch out those flaps in order to get them loose and flexible, so they don't impair your shoulder movement so much.

I'm not even sure whether tying it up and stowing it away along with everything else is the best practice for after-practice bogu. You would want to air-out your equipment, no? Stretch out the palms of the kote, etc.

[deathbykendo]

I've got some good tips for breaking in your kote.

1/ Put a kote on your hand, and roll your finders and knuckles around on the floor. This starts moulding the inside of the kote to your hand.

2/ Then take it off and hold the kote in one hand just below where your wrist would be. Using your other hand hold the kote at the top of the gloves and rotate it around and around, until the kote no longer feel stiff.

I hope this is a good enough explanation

[olaf]

Method (2) works great, especially before practice, when your kote have dried out, hardened and become coarse. I'm not sure whether you can "break-in" kote this way though...the only real way to "break-in" kote is to use them! Holding them by the wrist are and just shaking them also helps...

[cklin]

Kill two birds with one stone, I say:

Break in your brand spanking new kote by putting them on the kitchen countertop and hit it with your shinai. Lightly, so as to develop tenouchi...

[Keith Hong]

Just give it time.
I was getting a bit frustrated with my new bogu until recently, because it was so difficult to break in(I have the dubious honor of having the bogu with the thickest futon in my dojo). I couldn't raise my arm over my head and couldn't grasp my shnai correctly. A do hit usually turned into a fiasco.
I mostly used to tie it up like some seniors told me I should, but I left it spread out on the dojo floor a couple of times to dry out. All this did little good until recently, however.
We had some really hot and humid weather the last couple of weeks. I sweat like a pig. The 1.5 hours, 4+ day a week of practice with me sweating inside the bogu finally won out.
My bogu's gotten to be pretty soft now. Thank God.:cool:

[akihiro]

Somebody had recently told me that the shape of your tare dates you. The old style is to curl the tip outwards on the outside flaps, like many have describled, while the new look is to keep it straight. Personally, I like the old style and my bougu will always sport that curl.

The men flaps should be shaped at an angle as others have described, with the flaps falling in front of you. If it looks like an "omega" when someone faces you, then you should consider reshaping your men if possible.

As for the kote, tenderize the head and neck with a bokuto (this may also work with chicken, but I have never tried) and then massage as described by others.