When did you put it all on?

[iwatekenshi]

Just curious. As a beginner how long was it before you put your bogu on?

[alexpollijr]

Ive put it on with three to four months of practice.
I was a walking fiasco in the first two months after.:D

[Kuri]

After about 6 weeks, I got to put on the tare and kote. What a shock that was. Then as the confort level came back, a few weeks later, the do was also added. About 3-4 months after starting, the men came into play, and what a difference that made :eek:

[kendokamax]

4 months after starting they gave me bogu,

I wasn't supose to receive bogu at that time because I didn't have the grade required in our dojo. But since we were not many people with bogu everyone from my generation could put it.

Feels like a long time ago...I feel nostalgia

I would like to go back being a beginner in kendo ..it was so fun
knowing nothing about it, being impress by the people in bogu...

[Will]

Wait, kendoka, you need to have a rank before you can get bogu...uh...how does that work? Like, did you have to go to a regional test without bogu and do kihon for them or something?

[reicheru]

For me it was about 3-4 months, which was probably too soon (mostly just because I hadn't been going to practices that often). My first time in (club) bogu was horrible -- I felt totally disoriented wearing the men, unable to see or hear normally, plus the pain in my wrists was so bad (the kote were ancient and already completely worn out) that the whole experience quickly led me to tears (more of frustration and confusion than from the pain, but I'm sure that those of you who hate seeing kendoka dissolved to tears wouldn't have been too sympathetic). I fled the dojo and seriously considered never going back. Fortunately I decided to stick it out a little longer. A sempai agreed to meet me before the next practice so I could get used to kirikaeshi and the sensation of being hit on the head, and someone else lent me an extra wrist band, and it got much better from there...

Rachel

[Matthew Lagden]

Generally in our dojo it is six months to a year before people wear club bogu, but it can be a horrendous experience, and there is no doubt your kendo does drop off a notch or two until you acclimatise.

First time in Bogu for me was truly awful. I was dazed, disoriented, shocked, and like Reicheru i just felt like crying during and after.

The Sensei (in retrospect i think this was a kindness although at the time it compounded my upset) pulled me out of the group and had me take my Men off and move back to the beginners class.

In all i would say it took about four attempts over about 2-3 months to get into wearing Bogu, and i am still not entirely sure i should be, but it has to be done at some point......

If you had a set at home, you could get over the disorientation in private which is half the battle, but i wear a club set, so i only spend 2-4 hours a week in bogu, which makes it a long slow process....

[KhawMengLee]

Heh, when I first put on the men it was bad because I couldn't execute cuts properly. My hands kept getting caught on the mengane, I wasn't lifting high enough. I've gotten used to the bogu now though.

Actually the first thing that killed me was the smell. The old club kote could defeat an opponent if I just threw it at him...heh. I remember leaving the bogu in my car and when I came back an opened the door...Ban Chemical weapons people, is all I can say.

MENG

[Matthew Lagden]

yeah, some of our club Men, you put it on and you want to pass out before you've even moved....

[qpuppy]

hmmm....

I started wearing my kote just after a month....
and about wore my do and tare about a week later....
and finally after a week and a half later I started wearing my men.... so overall....hmmm.. full bogu... just over a month and a half i guess....:P

[Confound]

I hear you on the stinky bogu. I never had to wear club bogu until recently. I bought my own right off the bat. Some of those old kote and men really are stinky.

bringing my post back on topic: I bought my own bogu when my sensei said it was time to put it on, and that was about 3 months after I watched my first practice, or 2 months after I got into a routine of going to practices. it wasn't disorienting to put on bogu, the only problem was the stiffness of my men. it's broken in now, and it doesn't stink!

c

[AlexM]

Put it all on after four months and a grading. Felt awful. Wanted to go back to no bogu.

Our dojo can give a grade up to 2nd kyu (everything above has to be done by the Canadian Kendo Federation). The first grading is kihon and the three first katas without bogu. The second time you grade (four months later, or after another university semester) you generaly have a bogu (furnished by the dojo) and do the same thing. It's actually more difficult than the ist kyu grading.
The reason grading is important is because of limited resources: bogu are handed out by rank (very few people at our dojo own their own).

[wabbit]

Wore Bogu for the first time about 4 months in. Nearly quit Kendo on the spot :( had a couple of weeks out of bogu then had another go.

Got 'Volunteered' for a taikai (needed numbers to make up teams), wandered off that weekend with big bag of club armour. Turned up at event and did my bit :D

After that, wearing bogu didn't seem so bad.

One day, my technique may even improve.

[lewis]

I went into bogu in a few weeks, but I had had four years of iaido study by then.

[kendo_chick]

I started wearing bogu almost immediately after starting because of the fact that I had watched for almost 2 years prior to starting myself and living with a kendo player. My instructor is always amazed at how fast I progressed. I highly recommend watching a class and listening to every single comment by other kendoka and also by the sensei. It can be very helpful.

[saki_wooah]

i first started bogu just after my grading to 4th kyu which was 3 month after i started. I was kind of lost and I couln't hear anything clearly. And I had my glasses... I hate wearing glasses in bogu. I switched bogu a couple of time (borrowing people's bogu and trying to search for the best bogu fitting me, because I am small compared to others) and I ended up qearing a "Frankenstein" bogu (bogu made up by couple of parts found in the back of the equipment room...). It was fitting me perfectly, until they did a big inventory and cleaning of the equipment and switched a couple of parts there and here. I inherit a stinking bogu (x_x it stinks more than the old Frankenstein one... I wonder why... huh alexM...?).

[chidokan]

couldnt wait to try it but forced to wait about 4 months I think...
This is a difficult decision for teachers, as it is VERY easy to put someone off kendo permanently! I try to introduce bogu slowly, starting with kote exercises, then do, then men. After that some very light keiko with me ( not some heavy handed enthusiastic kendoka!) then gradually moving into standard practise with the rest of the club. Some people progress faster than others so this time scale varies between 2 and 7 months at my club.

[inner_cent]

I have to say, I was in a class system style of beginner's course. I was in Beginner's class for 5+ months before we were put into kote, Do, ... and 2 lesson after that, straight into Men... and 2 weeks after that, straight into normal main class......
Fun... so all in all, its about 6 months .....

[Tato]

I put full Club bogu just a couple of months after starting under the sensei instructions, and because I where to go to a national seminar and Kyu examination. It stinks, and the fisrt couple of weeks where a nightmare, but extremly fun.

[CypherSushi]

We got to put on bogu on the first training, just to know what it felt like. After that it took about a motnh or two before we started wearing bogu on almost every practise.

I do agree on the stink part... our club Bogus are quite old too and some of the padding in the men are worn down. I can recomment putting a mousemat in the men if that happens... prevents quite a lot of unneccesary bumps :)

[don_lubo]

9 months after starting they gave me bogu
But firs they give me a tare and do
after 1 month they give me kote
and afte 1 month they give me and men