Can you tell madake from other bamboo?

[ben]

And if so, how? Yes I know it's stamped on the handle :P But I was wondering what's to stop an unscrupulous manufacturer just stamping "madake" (or "hand made" for that matter) on their shinai handles? Is there a relatively simple, fool-proof way of discerning madake from other bamboos?

b

[stuartwilson]

Good question. All I can offer is that the wood is free of the black dots that you see all over practice grade shinai.

[JSchmidt]

It's not a fool-proof method, but look at the tip and bottom of the shinai. The denser the amount of fibers are, the better quality the bamboo is.

Jakob

[DCPan]

It's not a fool-proof method, but look at the tip and bottom of the shinai. The denser the amount of fibers are, the better quality the bamboo is.

Jakob

Also, supposedly, one could tell the machine-dried bamboo from naturally-dried bamboo by looking at the tip and bottom as well.