Men padding

[David J]

How many of you out there have adopted additional padding or other modifications to your Men?

I'm pretty new to wearing bogu, and suffer from ringing ears quite frequently after receiving a men cut. I'm also very concerned about a stray men cut taking out an eardrum - to be honest I'd rather quit Kendo than affect my hearing.

Any ideas / recommendations? Pschologically this is really holding me back right now, so all thoughts welcome.

<rei>

Dave

[JSchmidt]

I wouldn't worry about getting hit on the ear...as long as you keep your head straight.
New mens are always pretty stiff and in time it will absorb the impact better...or talk to Matt..he bought one of those sorbothane pads from Eurobogu.

Jakob

[alexpollijr]

As far as I know, there's no protector for the ears. Most men pads only cover the top of the head, just like mine does.

To tell you the truth, it only makes a difference in those strikes that miss the correct target and land on the top of the skull (the stingin' ones). A pad works wonders on these. But against the usual strikes and Conan-esque mengane-hitting strikes it helps very little.

[Simon Chien]

Hi Dave,

Try to get some rubber sheet which is around 4mm thick. Cut it to the right size and fixed it to the inner of men by glue. I am using it to protect the ears and head of my kids. However , if you are using a club bougu , you should get the permission in advance.

Since the hit of kid is more weak than adult , I think that will help aborbing the shock and providing necessary protection. But I wonder if it's still work with the powerful hit from adult. Some protection is better than nothing though.

[Ares2907]

If you fold the wings of your men right, this will never be a problem. At about eye level, fold the wings forward so that they sit out from the ear whilst you wear it. You might also try tying your himo at eye level rather than lower down.

[Will]

People who usually have pads make nice popping sounds when i hit the men...I dunno why, so in tournaments, i might take it off.

[Antonin]

Alternativelly, an old mousepad cut to fit in your men works quite well too...
Most problems from begginers with the men are due to the head not being straight at the moment of impact. It is not a major problem in your particular case (I know your kendo to be reasonably straight), but it is something to keep in mind....
Antonin

[Steve]

If you are getting ringing in your ears, it could be due to the men being too tight over your ears.

Your himo should lay above and below your ear. after putting on your men, put your finger inside the men and pull the side away from your ear. Your finger should be between the two himo.

If the men lays flat on your ear, it will make a sort of drum. A small hit will make the trapped air vibrate and put pressure on your eardrum causing the ringing.

Also, be sure your men is tied on securely! get one of your classmates to grab you by the tsuki and give your men a good shake...up, down, left, and right. If the men slips or moves, its not on properly and needs to be re-tied.

[Phlebas]

I don't even own bogu yet, but I had to chime in here because I haven't seen anyone else suggest it. I ride bicycles and motorcycles, and as the helmet padding flattens (or you start losing your hair) the helmet sometimes becomes a little looser than when you bought it. Some bicycle shops or motorcycle stores sell sets of pads in varying sizes and thicknesses to re-size helmets. It occurred to me that this might be a good source for extra padding for the Men.

Peace,

-Phlebas

[Steve]

A method i was taught to add extra padding is cheap and quite effective.

You'll need to wear your tenegui via the "smurf hat" method for this.

Simply fold another tenegui or a face-cloth into a square and put this on top of your head. Put your tenegui on over this and voila!

The great part about this is that you can adjust the shape, thickness, and position of your new padding to suit your needs.