trying to find the difference between many Korean (or chinese) Shinai types

[Filipp]

Hello all

im looking to buy another shinai in the near future, and it seems like buying shinais from the internet is often very unpredictable as you never know how its going to be, i tried to contact some sellers but most time they don't give enough information

i have 2 shinais, one that the dojo gave me (i belive its an mushin shinai), very thin, thin grip, weak bamboo.

and i own a mushin II (39 AA) shinai that i bought from e-kendo, its dobari style, nice shinai however i think the grip is a little to thick, so neither one of my shinais are perfect for me...



im trying to find out the information about other models such, ilkum, kenshin, kyoken, beesang, blue cloud.

so far looking at the internet and from the little information i got from the sellers, here is what i found:

ikum = usual dobari shinai, seems like a good shinai, i saw some people use

kenshin = not much info, somebody said it feels like a koto due to bad balance on it,

kyoken = "Over shaped handgrip. Comfortalbe to hold." is what i got from the seller, no info about style or balance

Blue Cloud = seems to be a ikum with larger grip??

beesang = no info at all

they all have similar price ranges

so any information or input about them would be helpful, im thinking about a ikum

[JuJitsuGiraffe]

kyoken = "Over shaped handgrip. Comfortalbe to hold." is what i got from the seller, no info about style or balance


Are you sure they didn't say "Oval Shaped" grip? That would make a bit more sense.

I have zero experience with any of the shinai you mentioned, but after practicing 2 years with Dobari shinai I made the switch to Koto and couldn't be happier.

[Filipp]

Are you sure they didn't say "Oval Shaped" grip? That would make a bit more sense.

I have zero experience with any of the shinai you mentioned, but after practicing 2 years with Dobari shinai I made the switch to Koto and couldn't be happier.

maybe they made a spelling mistake, but its exactly what they wrote in the spreedsheet they send me

[Jiyoui]

You're looking at kendoshop.com aren't you? Yea, they have special names...

[b8amack]

ikum would be ido, ie nito. ilkum: (一劍) I think you mean. Example (http://www.kendoshop.com/Kor/index.php?channel=view&cate=101100000&number=1024) They're dobari, and not lightweight. Pretty popular ground-level shinai around here, but there are all sorts of factories producing "ilkum" so you don't know what you're going to get. I find them a little too solid, personally. I have one, but it's in relatively pristine condition, not having been used in a couple of years. They used to be better made than they are now, imo.

Kenshin would be Kumshim (劍心). Never owned one personally. Says it's a tournament shinai for beginners, made "according to Japanese standards of quality," whatever that means. 530gr, 31.8mm thick at the sakigawa. Mushim is their koto line, I believe, and ilkum is the basic dobari. It says this is the middle ground between those two lines. So that probably explains your friend's "bad balance" comment.


The "kyokum" 交劍 is an oval grip.

The "bisang" 飛上 is also a koto, going off their "feels heavier at the tip than an ilkum" comment.

Personally, of the shinai kendoshop stock, I use the budongshim (fudoshin). Reference (https://www.kendoshop.com/Eng/index.php?channel=view&cate=102102000&number=1002#). A dobari like the ilkum, but the bamboo is not nearly so solid.

Hope that helps, if only a little.

[jd111]

actually i have a beesang from kendoshop, its a large grip and large dobari shinai, it has a very thick dobari

[b8amack]

actually i have a beesang from kendoshop, its a large grip and large dobari shinai, it has a very thick dobari

I should have said "I guess" to my statement. Truth is, there's just not a lot of info there. The only ones I've used are Mushim (but possibly from a different source, there are a lot of "mushim" out there, and the one I have was a gift) Budongshim and ilkum.