Men Tatami

[Dave Gallagher]

I am hearing conflicting views on the best wat to shape the Men tatami. Some say to get it very wet and tie it into shape and let it dry. Others say do not wet it but just bend it into shape and let it sit.
There may be even other views on this. How does anyone here on the Forum feel about it?

[b8amack]

Umm....

(confused)

[ShinKenshi]

I am hearing conflicting views on the best wat to shape the Men tatami. Some say to get it very wet and tie it into shape and let it dry. Others say do not wet it but just bend it into shape and let it sit.
There may be even other views on this. How does anyone here on the Forum feel about it?I think you mean the men-buton. Tatami are the straw mats used in traditional Japanese rooms and do not refer to the part of the men that drapes over your head and shoulders. But to answer your question (at least I hope this is what you're asking), I've used this method (http://www.halifaxkendo.org/index_files/men.htm) and it's worked out well for me and my dojo-mates. In addition to the aforementioned method, I press down on the top of the buton to make it flat rather than round by pushing down on the edge that sits over the back of the head.

For future reference, you can check here (http://www.kendo-usa.org/reference/bogu.htm) and here (http://www.boston-kendo.com/html/guide-2.htm) for specific terms.

Hope this helps.

[Toecutter]

You mean the flaps of the men, mendare I think is the name. I was taught to not to tie mine up like that, but instead tie it up like normal, sit it on a counter or something flat, push it down until the himo are tight and let it sit like that when you're not using it. But if you do tie them up I've always seen it done where the mendare are at a 45 degree angle, not striaght up, unless you like the flying nun look.

[CH0ZEN]

I agree with Toecutter. A lot of our stuents were tying the mendare tightly against the men, which led to the "flying nun look". It was a somewhat normal look until a lot of visiting Japanese kenshi came and noted that the mendare should be at a 45 degree angle off the shoulders. If you look at the AJKF Championship videos, you'll notice that the mendare are rarely horizontal to the shoulders and almost never go above the shoulders.

[Neil Gendzwill]

Yeah, the photos shown in ShinKenshi's link are going to cause too sharp a break in the mendare. The "flying nun" look was popular a long time ago, these days most people want them down and over the shoulders. Toecutter's suggestion works well.

[Dave Gallagher]

Yes, I mean the mendare. My use of the word tatami must be some sort of Freudian slip. I may not want to know what that means. I see why you don't need to wet the mendare to shape it. Thanks for the posts.