How to tie a tenugui

[Sanjuro]

Can anyone tell me how to tie a tenugui?

I've been practicing for half a year, more or less. I passed an examination and have just worn bogu for the first time last week. The problem is, I forgot how to tie the tenugui a few days after the practice. Yep...i know...pretty forgetful. -_- I hope I can practice tying it a few times before i go off on my next practice.

[alexpollijr]

http://www6.big.or.jp/~budogu/manu/manu37.htm

[olaf]

Speaking of tenegui, fellas: tenegui isn't inherently a piece of kendo paraphernalia, right? I have seen souvenir "hankerchiefs" of all sorts in Japan that are just like tenegui. And are tenegui supposed to come in a "standardized" size? I have come across some that are just far too small to be wrapped around one's head...

[Sanjuro]

...i wouldnt know...i'm not japanese ^_^;

thanks for the informative diagram alexpollijr...*goes practice*

[alexpollijr]

Sanjuro:

You're welcome.


Olaf :

In another thread Confound pointed out that tenugui is just like japanese dish towels.

[olaf]

Weren't tenegui also used as undergarments at some point in time, or am I confusing tenegui with something else...?

[mingshi]

Olaf,

Are you referring to "Fundoshi"? A piece of 6-feet long cloth. Go see the pictures at the link below:

http://homepage1.nifty.com/koshifumi/fdc-02.html

Freedom Kendo yeah? :p

[olaf]

How on earth do you manage to find stuff like this on the internet? Oh my.

And for the record, I voted "no" for freedom kendo. Sorry.

[Confound]

Other than the 'around the head and tucked behdin the ears', there is another way to fold tenegui.

Warning, this may not make sense. If chewbacca lives on endor.. etc...

spread your tenegui out on the floor. Fold it in half widthwise. (The fold should be parallel to the LONG length of the tenegui.) You should now have a long, narrower strip of cloth. Next, fold your tenegui into thirds, this time lengthwise, only instead of folding the cloth over itself, pull it diagonally down. You should have roughly a triangular shape now.

Now fold one of the ends under to make a hat. (That was quite vague, but if you're doing this, and you've made a paper hat in the past, you'll know what I mean. it's the simplest way to explain it.)

Voila! A kendou hat! You'll probablt need to change the folding a little to reflect the size of your head, someone with a smaller head will have tofold in more than a third on eiother end, whereas someone with a larger head will need to fold in less.

This is the way I was taught to fold my tenegui in the beginning, when I wasn't adept enough with the 'behind the head' method. To be honest, I find this folding method far more comfortable.

c

[stakenaka]

There is a link on the website that demonstrates the three most common tenegui techniques:
http://www6.big.or.jp/~budogu/manu/topm.htm
Download or view the pdf file. It is on pages 36-38.
One warning about the hat method: it tends to slip off your head when placing on the men. I prefer the other two methods since they are much more secure. Also, (something not mentioned on page 37) make sure you tuck in the tip of the flap (the one covering your face while tying the tenegui). Otherwise you will have "chicken tail feathers" sticking out from the top of your men. :)

[Hyaku]

Its not called a Tenegui much nowadays. If you say this word Japanese wont know what you are talking about.

Its called a Men towel

Hyaku

[olaf]

"Men towel" ... what's the Japanese term?

But all the budo shops still advertise it as "tenegui", no?

[Confound]

I admit, in my primitive backwater we still call it a tenegui. However, we still harvest rice by hand up here too. (It's actually really neat to watch, but you can't help but feel bad for the people doing it. looks tiresome.)

c

[Hyaku]

Originally posted by olaf
"Men towel" ... what's the Japanese term?

"Men taweru"
...........

But all the budo shops still advertise it as "tenegui", no?

Yes tenegui is used but as I said men towel is more common. If you speak Japanese and say tenegui you get a few strange looks. The lady that runs the Budogu shop some 50 metres from this comp says men toweru.

They only order them from the flag shop. If I want some I go there direct to order.

Things are changing. For example the folding method that Confound mentions is perhaps the most common method used now. But this was hardly ever seen twenty years ago.

Hyaku

[Jklak]

Originally posted by Confound
Other than the 'around the head and tucked behdin the ears', there is another way to fold tenegui.

spread your tenegui out on the floor. Fold it in half widthwise.....
....etc etc.....Voila! A kendou hat!

I have always folded my tenugui that same way. One of my sempai criticizes me for that. He says that way to fold tenugui is children’s way or habit! I don't know about that but this method feels best for me.

[Sanjuro]

Seems like I've found the right forum...everyone here is so knowledgable heh...

The method that Confound mentioned works nicely ^_^

[alexpollijr]

The 'McDonald's Cap'
If I were you, I'd try the 2nd method. It's tight, it' easy, it's quick and people won't make fun of you occasionally.

[olaf]

I thought I was the only one who used the term "McDonalds Cap". But yes, I would advise staying away from pre-tied tenegui as it was only meant for young children. It'll look plain silly on anyone else.

[David J]

Originally posted by stakenaka
There is a link on the website that demonstrates the three most common tenegui techniques:
http://www6.big.or.jp/~budogu/manu/topm.htm
Download or view the pdf file. It is on pages 36-38.
One warning about the hat method: it tends to slip off your head when placing on the men. I prefer the other two methods since they are much more secure. Also, (something not mentioned on page 37) make sure you tuck in the tip of the flap (the one covering your face while tying the tenegui). Otherwise you will have "chicken tail feathers" sticking out from the top of your men. :)

Cant get this to work "font missing or corrupted"...? Any ideas?

<rei>

Dave

[Sanjuro]

That's because it's encoded in Japanese...if you have Windows XP (it has multi-language support, at least on XP Pro) and are using Explorer go to View-->Encode-->Other, you might see Japanese as a language option

I had the same problem with viewing japanese pages in general before using that feature...hope that helps...

[kumakage]

hello,
If there are a couple different names for the tenugui. Like tenugui and men towel, etc... What is the diference between those and the hachimaki?
Manny

[cklin]

They all mean the same thing...