Suburi Shinai

[Akira Kurosawa]

Is getting a Suburi shinai worth it? My dad agreed to get me one, but I'm having second thoughts...
Also, is E-Bogu trustworty? Theres not so many kendo shops wehre i live, and those are a bit more pricey than e-bogu.. So e-bogu would be my first choice in buying a suburi shinai.

[tapioka]

e-bogu's pretty trustworthy. I haven't had any problems with it yet.

[tapioka]

oh, and also, I think putting weights at the tip of your shinai works equally well as a suburi shinai. I don't know if I'd personally want to spend money on purchasing one.

[Akira Kurosawa]

oh, and also, I think putting weights at the tip of your shinai works equally well as a suburi shinai. I don't know if I'd personally want to spend money on purchasing one.yeah i tried putting weights on, but then the weighting of the shinai gets messed up and my hands end up moving different then they would without the weights (is that even somthing to worrry about? @_@)

[Kirin]

Instead of shinai, why not bokken/bokutou?
It should help your tenouchi :)


just my 2 cents,

[kenshin13]

yeah i tried putting weights on, but then the weighting of the shinai gets messed up and my hands end up moving different then they would without the weights (is that even somthing to worrry about? @_@)
So you've tried the weights at bogubag.com? http://www.bogubag.com/Shinai/shinai.html (scroll down, you'll find it :) )

I thought about it...but I just decided to use my bokken that I will be planning to buy. And also, I just learned that kata on friday that you have in your signature Akira! What is that kata called? (sorry my sensei didn't tell me)

[Holmgren-san]

So you've tried the weights at bogubag.com? http://www.bogubag.com/Shinai/shinai.html (scroll down, you'll find it :) )

I thought about it...but I just decided to use my bokken that I will be planning to buy. And also, I just learned that kata on friday that you have in your signature Akira! What is that kata called? (sorry my sensei didn't tell me)
That is the first kata of 10 used in kendo. I'm not really sure what it's called either. Is there a site that has those type of videos/GIFs(I think they're called) of all the kata??

[Haowen]

That is the first kata of 10 used in kendo. I'm not really sure what it's called either. Is there a site that has those type of videos/GIFs(I think they're called) of all the kata??

Ipponme.

By the way uchidachi should end up in gedan, not keeled over like they're bowing.

I wouldn't learn kata from an animated gif. Too much chance of inaccuracies. A book, at best, for reminding you of the steps you learnt in the dojo.

[Lloromannic]

Is getting a Suburi shinai worth it? My dad agreed to get me one, but I'm having second thoughts...
Also, is E-Bogu trustworty? Theres not so many kendo shops wehre i live, and those are a bit more pricey than e-bogu.. So e-bogu would be my first choice in buying a suburi shinai. e-bogu is trustworthy. but I would reccomend that instead of a suburi shinai you got (as kirin said) a suburi bokken (http://www.e-bogu.com/Suburi_Bokken_p/yut-ken-bok-suburi-natural-.htm) (maybe even the super heavy one (http://www.e-bogu.com/Super_Heavy_Bokken_p/yut-ken-bok-spheavy-natural-.htm))





That is the first kata of 10 used in kendo. I'm not really sure what it's called either. Is there a site that has those type of videos/GIFs(I think they're called) of all the kata?? It's called Ipponme. Kendo World has videos of the kata (among many others) with all the names here (http://www.kendo-world.com/downloads/index.php) (scroll down to the middle).

[Paikea]

First e-Bogu has been great for me, Nao Hiwada-san especially so. I bought one of their Suburi Bokken with Groove, and it is doing the job. I was inspired by a Japanese high-school girl who visited our dojo and went through the entire warm up and kata practice with one.

At first I thought the grove was a bit silly (it makes a swooshing sound when you cut fast) but after using it a while, I can tell when I'm slowing down (no sound) and when I'm being consistent (same sound each time).

It does help with building the arms, and with control/tenouchi. When you're done with a few hundred suburi, your shinai will seem light as a feather.

[Paburo]

Great for building your muscles doing Suburi. Approximate weight 1.3 Kg (2.9lb) Red Oak Wood (45").

oh great, and its only like 60 dollar plus shipping and handlling...

my advise is you make your own suburi shinai. i did that, or buy a suburi bokuto for 20 euros at the local store? seems a bit pricey this ebogu shop... stay away from my money ebogu dudes.

btw, i think i have the world record suburi shinai made out of 14 slats hohoho, beat that baby :D :D :D

[Pan-Chan]

Is getting a Suburi shinai worth it? My dad agreed to get me one, but I'm having second thoughts...
Also, is E-Bogu trustworty? Theres not so many kendo shops wehre i live, and those are a bit more pricey than e-bogu.. So e-bogu would be my first choice in buying a suburi shinai.
Well I guess it's the matter of why you want the suburi. And E-bogu is indeed trust worthy, in my opinion.

[tapioka]

my advise is you make your own suburi shinai.
hey Paburo, how do you make a suburi shinai? I'm kinda interested.

[Paburo]

tapioka-san, its not THAT HARD to make a suburi shinai. you just have to take a regular shinai and overweight it. whether you add additional slats(my friend pepe made one of 6 slats) or, just adding weight somehow. QUITE important though, is to keep the overall balance of the sword. thats why shinai weights suck. they completely ruin the balance of shinai, thus screwing your suburi motion. this is a no no for me.

the bamboo shinai i use for regular practice is also a bit overweighted, since it has doubled tsukagawa(barely 580gr).

now if youre really interested in my world record SUBURIATOR 4000® shinai, made out of 14(saddly-for-my-pocket-broken) slats, take a look at this post in my journal/blog :D :D :D

http://www.livejournal.com/users/paburo/20672.html

[tapioka]

heyy, very cool! arigato, paburo-san. (^^)

[kenshin13]

Im scared now... ^^;

Suburatior meets kendo noob (me) : (xXx)

[Akira Kurosawa]

tapioka-san, its not THAT HARD to make a suburi shinai. you just have to take a regular shinai and overweight it. whether you add additional slats(my friend pepe made one of 6 slats) or, just adding weight somehow. QUITE important though, is to keep the overall balance of the sword. thats why shinai weights suck. they completely ruin the balance of shinai, thus screwing your suburi motion. this is a no no for me.Thats why i was wondering if i should buy a suburi shinai that is balanced like a regular one, instead of waiting my shinai ( i have five pound training weights..)

anyways, how do you fit the leather on if you have 6(-14) slats..

[Lloromannic]

tapioka-san, its not THAT HARD to make a suburi shinai. you just have to take a regular shinai and overweight it. whether you add additional slats(my friend pepe made one of 6 slats) or, just adding weight somehow. QUITE important though, is to keep the overall balance of the sword. thats why shinai weights suck. they completely ruin the balance of shinai, thus screwing your suburi motion. this is a no no for me.

the bamboo shinai i use for regular practice is also a bit overweighted, since it has doubled tsukagawa(barely 580gr).

now if youre really interested in my world record SUBURIATOR 4000® shinai, made out of 14(saddly-for-my-pocket-broken) slats, take a look at this post in my journal/blog :D :D :D
But for those who can manage going through a year with one or two shinai it would take a long time to get that many broken slats.
Anyway I have seen people with DIY suburi bokken. It was basically a vey thick piece of wood with a carved handle.

[Haowen]

Anyway I have seen people with DIY suburi bokken. It was basically a vey thick piece of wood with a carved handle.

Carved from an oar on the way to the shiai, no doubt. :D

[Lloromannic]

Carved from an oar on the way to the shiai, no doubt. :D I thought they would all be jaw-droppingly fast from swinging that around (the largest one was 1.70 m and about 10 cms thick) but they all lost easily. Turns out they used cheap US pine and they didn't weigh that much.
Oh and they also had no balance.

[Rularn]

Another easy way to make a suburi shinai would be simply to rubberband together 6-8 broken shinai staves and swing with that. Just keep the smooth round parts to the outside so it doesn't hurt your hand. That was just the way I keep my broken staves neatly in one place when one day I picked all of them up and started swinging with it. It does just as good of a job as if you got a special suburi shinai.

As for the suburito from e-bogu... not to knock e-bogu or anything, but their suburito is a bit overpriced. I got mine from them awhile back for about $50. Shopping around later, I noticed that you can get one for about $20 or so elsewhere. Since it's just a big piece of wood, there is no real difference. And since you don't hit anything with it, there is no worry about damage or quality.