Shinai selection

[litige]

After browsing the internet in search of a good store that has a LOT of shiniai selection, I didn't find any.
now anyone got a shop wich sells a lot of shinai types?

[Hotei]

Both e-bogu and e-mudo have well over a dozen choices, each, and they do not cross over. Both offer a wide range of prices and quality. And there's been an ad on the k-world site for a while now about a new shop opening up.

If you need more choices than that, start growing some bamboo. :beard:

[Neil Gendzwill]

bogubag has a good selection, but not all of the choices are listed on the website. I suspect many of the suppliers may be similar. email Stroud-sensei if you want a more complete list. I count 17 different flavours in the Koei catalog.

[Shazzanzzz]

E-guchi shinais are my personal favorites. Even the practice shinais are pretty good. Anyways, there's no way you can know what kind of shinai you would like until you try them all.

[itachi]

e-guchi is my favourite.

[Sithlord]

AKATSUKI handmade shinai from ebogu my fav

[ben]

You could also asks the seniors at your dojo if they have any Japanese contacts for shinai that you could order from. No reason why you should be limited to internet-based suppliers.

b

[Hotei]

I was a little disturbed (? More like perturbed) to find out that a good number of e-bogu's shinai are produced in Mexico, of all places. Now, I have no problem with Mexican workmanship (good enough for Mercedes, good enough for me), but the bamboo in hotter climes is simply not suitable for the type of workout that our shinai get.

I found this out from my Sensei after he called the company in regards to breaking 3 shinai in as many weeks. What a waste.

I'm going to have to go with the majority on this one. e-Guchi is the way to go.

[DCPan]

I was a little disturbed (? More like perturbed) to find out that a good number of e-bogu's shinai are produced in Mexico, of all places.

Which shinai line are you talking about?

Their "Madake" shinai should be of Japanese bamboo, right?

Thanks!

David

P.S. Please e-mail me at dcpan2000@yahoo.com if you want to respond privately.

[Hotei]

To be honest, I'm not sure. I'll find out tonight.

In answer to your second question, I can't imagine that a shinai company would find it that much more economical to export bamboo to another country simply to have it assembled there.

And, while it's possible that they are using a Japanese variety of bamboo, It would still need the cold, snowy climate to develop to the optimum level of flexibility and strength. I suppose they could be importing from China to Mexico, or maybe even further into South America. Hmm. . . That might be a possibility.

[kenshin13]

bogubag has a good selection, but not all of the choices are listed on the website. I suspect many of the suppliers may be similar. email Stroud-sensei if you want a more complete list. I count 17 different flavours in the Koei catalog.Stroud-sensei? Are you serious? Where do you guys live? He teaches my Kendo classes!

[Deco]

I say you can't go wrong with bogubag shinais!!

And cheers to Stroud-sensei

deco

[Neil Gendzwill]

Stroud-sensei? Are you serious? Where do you guys live? He teaches my Kendo classes!
Robert's got a side business called bogubag (www.bogubag.com) where he supplies mostly Koei brand equipment. I live in Canada, but I've met Robert in person at the annual Steveston Taikai and had email/usenet/web contact with him for years.

Enjoy your classes at Obukan.

[Hotei]

I've not spoken with Abe Sensei since my last post, but I'll see him this evening to ask which shinai are Mexican masterpieces.

I suppose I'm a little partial to e-guchi just because they're the only ones (of those we've tried) that we can't break with any regularity. That, or I just like telling everyone that my Kendo gear is "guchi". :cool:

[slidercrank]

Can Mexican climate support bamboo?

I find it hard to believe that anyone would involve Mexican labor in shinai production. Vast majority of shinais in the market now use Chinese bamboo, regardless of the country or company. And Chinese labor is still cheaper than Mexican. Thus I can't imagine why anyone would ship bamboos to Mexico and do any work there.

I've bought an e-bogu practice shinai at a tournament for $20 ($25 on the website). The leather on all parts was thin, and the bamboo was not particulary durable. I've just ordered the $25 practice shinai from eguchi. I'll be interested to see the differences, if any, between the 2.

[DCPan]

Hi all,

I've been using the e-bogu Musha Madake Dobari shinai because the price is good if you pick them at taikai...no shipping plus free leather kit....

They seem to last fine for me, but I oil, sand, burnish, and rotate them, so....

I do agree that the entry level e-bogu shinai don't seem to last too well...they also have a weird tendency to want to flex clock or counter clock wise...makes piecing different shinais together very difficult.

I haven't tried Eguchi lately for simple lazyness issue...I haven't bought a shinai except at various taikais in the last few years....

:D

P.S. Some of the older sensei actually like thin leather, because it gives better feedback. However, the synthetic leather handles are pretty bad....

[slidercrank]

I oil, sand, burnish, and rotate them, so....


Burnish? The edges? How do you burnish them?

[DCPan]

Burnish? The edges? How do you burnish them?

Well, ideally, it'd be kirkkaeshi and uchikomi! :smoker:

But really, I just find a piece of hard wood the size of a sanding block and push it against the sides of the stave.

An alternative is to find a piece of wood long enough to step on, set it on a low table surface, step on it with your foot, and "drag" the edge of the individual staves against it. You'd look and feel somewhat like a sword-polisher :wink:

Of course, the shinai has to be disassembled for this.

[DCPan]

Oh yeah,

Another pet peeve of mine is I prefer to pick the staves so that the knots match...that way, I can recycle and combine better. My current shinai is assembled from 3 different Musha Shinai...but it doesn't look it.

You don't get the option of handling it first if you mail-order.... :smiley:

[LNGUYEN]

DC Pan, you have a flashy bogu, and you use Musha shinai; You are definately a RICH BOY SHOW-OFF. I am going to report this to Hai Hai.

Sorry for hijacking the thread, please go on.

[Hai_hai]

I already have seen his bogu... flashy show-off bogu that is. It doesn't surprise me that he's blowing a huge load on expensive shinai. Seriously, flashy bogu requires one to pull out a high-end shinai from one's flashy shinai bag. I am assuming DCPan has a flashy shinai bag.

[DCPan]

DC Pan, you have a flashy bogu, and you use Musha shinai; You are definately a RICH BOY SHOW-OFF. I am going to report this to Hai Hai.

Sorry for hijacking the thread, please go on.

Ha ha, too late...Hai Hai has already made up his mind about me. :rolleyes:

I already have seen his bogu... flashy show-off bogu that is. It doesn't surprise me that he's blowing a huge load on expensive shinai. Seriously, flashy bogu requires one to pull out a high-end shinai from one's flashy shinai bag. I am assuming DCPan has a flashy shinai bag.

If my shinai last two to three times as long as yours, who is REALLY paying more? Think long term, folks :smoker: What good are $20 shinais if you break them in two weeks? My Musha shinais have lasted me more than a year now before I have to piece-meal them....

As for bags, I was using simple canvas for a long time until it ripped.

Now I use fake-leather Boston bag with a fake-leather matching shinai bag.

Now, considering I'm getting everything at WHOLE-SALE prices, I doubt I've actually spent more on those bags than you folks anyway.

There's a different between using nice things and paying a premium for them.

Besides, I'm hardly a newbie on the ski slopes...let's see what kind of stuff you guys use when you get some mileage....

Probably not Hai Hai though...he won't be able to get good bogu selling donuts! :ogre:

:confused2

[DCPan]

Now, considering I'm getting everything at WHOLE-SALE prices, I doubt I've actually spent more on those bags than you folks anyway.

Probably not Hai Hai though...he won't be able to get good bogu selling donuts! :ogre:

:confused2

BTW:

1. No offence to the donut shops.

2. I don't get EVERYTHING at wholesale price...but I do my best! :smiley:

[Hotei]

Actually, Mexico and Australia have had terrible outbreaks of non-indigenous bamboo in the past 5 years. Folks plant bamboo thinking it's this great insta-privacy-fence without thinking about the damage that it will do.

The Australian government has actually listed it as an "epidemic" while Mexico really doesn't have the funds to do much about it, so ignores it. I've seen videos of bulldozers with chains strung between them a hundred feet long just cruising through the outback trying to tear down the new bamboo growth.

Yes, bamboo grows well in hot climes, but high temps produce a very weak, almost brittle bamboo. Thus the rash of snapping shinai in my dojo.

I've continually forgotten to ask my Sensei which style he was using, but I'll email him right now and get back with you.

[Hotei]

I suppose I should have quoted the message that the previous post was in reference to, but I like the idea of everyone reading it with a quizical little look on their face. Mmmmm, the power, the power. . .

[Sithlord]

I use the handmade Akatsuki shinai...e-bogu sells them...they are individually made to many needs. A bit expensive but top quality.

[slidercrank]

I suppose I should have quoted the message that the previous post was in reference to, but I like the idea of everyone reading it with a quizical little look on their face. Mmmmm, the power, the power. . .
I believe you were replying to my message where I had asked:


Can Mexican climate support bamboo?

I find it hard to believe that anyone would involve Mexican labor in shinai production. Vast majority of shinais in the market now use Chinese bamboo, regardless of the country or company. And Chinese labor is still cheaper than Mexican. Thus I can't imagine why anyone would ship bamboos to Mexico and do any work there.

Please let us know which shinai was made from Mexican bamboo. Thanks.

[Hotei]

Again, I DO NOT know where the bamboo was grown, only that when my Sensei called Taro Ariga (e-bogu CEO) to complain about the poor quality of the shinai we have been getting, Arigo-san informed him that many of their shinai "come from Mexico." I didn't get the full gist of the conversation, but the only reason I can think of to tell someone that would be if you were oppologizing for a business mistake.

Essentially, a portion (an unspecified amount) of all of their shinai aside from SHO and AKATSUKI come from Mexico. Kind of like not knowing if your Toyota was made in Kentucky or Missouri. Your shinai might be from China, Korea or Mexico.

So, I guess the best answer to your question would be that a portion of all MUSHA, HYOEI, OBARU, RANKO, SHURA, and PRACTICE shinai that come from e-bogu are Mexican-made.

I still don't know what country of origin the bamboo in these shinai is, but I can only assume that it's China.

Well, as easily as they are breaking (I broke my SHURA today. . .) there's no way to tell. I'm a pretty big guy, but I'm not used to breaking a piece of equipment that's only 4 weeks old. I use it 3 times a week for about 3 hours. . . It's seen about 36 hours of use, and that includes sitting there while I warm up and put on bogu.

I'm an unhappy little Kenshi right now. I'm out a new(ish) shinai, and I don't have the money replace it. I think I'll be giving e-bogu a call, myself. This isn't right.

Anyway, I hope that answers your question.