bogu brand

[aru-ma]

Has anyone here have heard of a 'Nozomi' branded bogu? a friend of mine told is looking for it, I tried looking for some information on it and couldnt find any.
On a somewhat related note, I told her to go for either e-bogu, koei budogu or maybe even tozando, which one do you think is better?

[ben]

Masaharu!! (sorry Alvin!)

[Phlebas]

I have been very pleased with the service of e-Bogu, but I haven't seen their bogu with my own eyes -- I'm told it's quite good, and judging from the website the prices aren't too bad either. Excellent communication and fast shipping; when I had questions they were only a toll-free number away and they were always very polite and helpful. When I do buy new bogu I will definately consider them.

[AlexM]

I recommend Sehyun. Good prices, good service, good stuff..... No, I'm not a company rep.

[Inouye02]

E bogu is has very good service also , i had my kote's repaired , they said a month , i got them back in like a week and a half , plus i can go there on weekends and buy something if i need it ,

Eguchi USA in also good , they make weekly dojo calls so you can always pick up something , even if ur practicing at another dojo you see eguchi come by..

[Inouye02]

thats the SCKF dojo's ...sorry

[Paburo]

Originally posted by ben
Masaharu!! (sorry Alvin!)

how good is masaharu, ben? i ask cause i got one for like... 100€. how long should i expect it to last? :D :D

[KhawMengLee]

Koei budogo: S-22 bogu is excellent.

Moribudo is pretty good too but I have to say thaty Koei is a bit wiser on delivery and customs handling.

Very good service and delivery times.

[stevemcgee99]

I have seen the black laquer on e-bogu men flake within 3 months on beginner's (not motodachi) bogu. A $750 Eguchi men 3 yrs. old had lauer intact, and this guy gets men cuts a lot as motodachi. I think japanese workmanship is high quality, coming from obsessive/compulsive culture ; )

[highelf]

Just purchased 2mm with Titanium Men, machine stitched from E-Bogu. It took two days to reach Hawaii. Excellent quality and service. They included bogu bag, tenugui, and himo strings at no extra cost. It cost $799. Fellow members and sensei's were shocked at the quality and strength of bogu for the price. They thought it was a hand stitch bogu. It took some time to prove that it was machine. Very stiff, but I feel very well protected. Even with extreme hits it's hardly noticable. I was so impressed with the quality and service I bought another set for my daughter. I know these sets will last. Anyway that's my experience with E-Bogu. I'm fully satisfied. Oh! By the way compare prices, E-Bogu is pretty reasonable. Thanks!

[qpuppy]

HAHAHAH.... it's okay ben... I agree that Masaharu is a much better brand... but yes.. they are very expensive... I would like to get a bogu from them.. but cant afford it... :(

[qpuppy]

ARUMA.... SEND HER TO ME!!!!..... TO ME!!! TO ME!!!!..... :D

Australian Rep for Koei here!!!..:D:D:D

[Neil Gendzwill]

Originally posted by highelf
Fellow members and sensei's were shocked at the quality and strength of bogu for the price. They thought it was a hand stitch bogu. It took some time to prove that it was machine.
Oh, c'mon! You look at the stitching, if it's rows it's machine, if it's little squares it's hand-stitched.

I just received my hand-stitched from Koei (S27). It's actually not as stiff as their high-end machine-stitched stuff, but somehow better protection. The futon is surprisingly thin and light. Yet I don't feel anything when people hit men or doh. The men was comfortable right away, no pain in the ears or anything. The kote will take a while to break in, the padding over the fingers is pretty stiff yet and the palm leather needs to stretch out. I'm very pleased.

[PhilMcLaughlin]

Less obvious but wonderful quality is mr Kawato at
www.bogu-ya.com who makes the armour he sells

I got a 1.2 bu hand made a few years ago and its top quality

the club bought some 5mm machine stitch and the inetructors 3mm machine stitch - I can vouch for the qulity of this as well

Highly reccomended

regards

[kendo_chick]

I really like my bogu that I bought through kendoshop. I bought 2.5 mm machine stitched and there is no real sign of wear (except men himo, which is normal).

[sminki]

inouye2,

how much did e-bogu charge you to repair kote and for what kind of work?

[Pichit]

I use e-kendo 2mm machine stitch deluxe which the quality is good except for some strange smell on the bogu. Their service is very good, I ask them the question via email for about 10 times and they answer me back within 1 day.

Also they tend to put more decoration on bogu than Japanese made machine stitch bogu ( but not as much as Sehyun 2mm machine stitch deluxe bogu).

[Tako-kun]

Pichit,

Could you answer a couple of questions about your bogu? Is it the 2mm machine stitch set that's shown on their website (BH-200, about US$500), or is it something else? Also, do you know if e-kendo's do come in different lengths (I'm fairly tall). Thanks for your help.

[Inouye02]

110.00 to to replace both palms with the washable , nice smokey smell to them now ...

[Pichit]

Tako kun

The one that I use is not BH200, it is 2mm machine stitch deluxe which different from BH-200 that it has Titanium mengan and deer leather instead of dulalumin mengan and cow leather, the cost of my bogu is around $990 ( I also add 60 piece real bamboo doh otherwise it should cost about $700).

See the comment about BH200 bogu
http://pub31.ezboard.com/fwestsidekendofrm8.showMessage?topicID=2.topic

http://www.e-kendo.com/eng/companys.htm

For Doh, I'm not sure it is better to ask e-kendo by email bogu@e-kendo.com

Hope this will help you

Pichit

[qpuppy]

Originally posted by Tako-kun
Pichit,

Could you answer a couple of questions about your bogu? Is it the 2mm machine stitch set that's shown on their website (BH-200, about US$500), or is it something else? Also, do you know if e-kendo's do come in different lengths (I'm fairly tall). Thanks for your help.

Hey Tako-kun...

That bogu is not bad for that price.... and also.. all company should have sizes for any height of size. If you just give them you height details, head size, and hand size... they should give you the bogu that will fit you best.

cheers...

[Pichit]

The cost for BH-200 is $480, but can you believe that when they put themself into internet initially, they made special price for BH-200 for only $280!!!!!!!! so cheap, if I'm looking for bogu during that time, I'm certainly sure that I will buy. But there is no more of that chance again T_T

[Tako-kun]

Pichit and qpuppy: thank you for your help!

I'm not really interested in the BH-200 set; I'll probably end up getting higher end Korean machine stitched, and I was wondering why e-kendo's website only offered hand stitched and bargain-basement machine stitch without anything in between. Do you remember seeing your bogu on the website, or did you find out about it from the sales staff or printed catalogue?

Qpuppy, you're a Koei rep. aren't you? You're just the person to ask about this kind of stuff :D So all companies make different sizes of do: not just different widths but heights as well? The reason I ask is because some companies, like Koei, ask for a whole mess of different measurements on their order form: height, weight, waist, chest, as well as the two head and two hand measurements. Others just ask for the men and kote measurements, and some posts I read seemed to say that certain company's do only came in a "standard size". I’m just curious, I probably won't be buying for at least six months. Just being otaku :D Oh and I do lust after the Koei S-22, I might try to swing that one when it's time to buy ;)

[Neil Gendzwill]

Koei's standard doh for adults come in 3 different heights.

[S. Takamori]

Friend,

Koei is not only a seller but also a maker. So with all the different measures, they can adjust the ordered bogu to the personal sizes of their client. For example, tall guys can have a 2 cm longer tare which makes the total esthetic aspect better too. For those who are "large"; they can add longer himo etc etc... Maybe all these small details makes the difference between a "normal" shop and good service, né...

[Pichit]

Tako Kun

E-kendo they mention their High end (deluxe) machine stitch on their company information web page only, then I send the email to ask for the information about bogu itself and its price.

If you want high end korean machine made I think that high end 2mm machine stitch bogu from korea should be the best and there are 5 Korean bogu shop on the web and the price vary from $700 to $1100 dependon where you buy

[alexpollijr]

The only bad thing I have to say about high-end machine stich bogu from Korea (which isn't really from korea but from China) is the cow leather palms on the kote.

I owned two sets so far. Low end 'korean' stuff is no good. They don't last, don't fit and don't protect well enough. Higher end (2mm) is the one I have to this day. The 50 pcs artificial Do is fantastic. It's light, it's pretty and absorbs all the shock. The Tare is gorgeous (and last well) and the Men is pretty much ok aside from the duralumin mengane which isn't really great when compared to IBB PRO Titanium. The kote is also pretty good, well done and with two kera on the joint, but since I sweat so much in the hands the palms were gone in one year of practice every other day, so I recently switched them for the S-22 Kote Set from Koei, plus some gloves for absorption.

Botton line to me is : try to get Koei's S-22. If you can't, try G-21. If you still can't get any of these, them get the korean stuff.

[Tako-kun]

Alex

Most of the Korean outlets I've been looking at offer some machine sewn sets made with japanese-made materials, deer leather, titanium mengane, partial hand stitching, etc. What brand/model of kote/bogu were you using before you got the S-22? I'd hate to have the palms of my bogu blow out within a year: I sweat like Patrick Ewing, if that means anything to you :D

[KhawMengLee]

Sweaty hands: Try the hasegawa gloves at the bottom of the page linked: (I use 'em)

http://www.hasegawakagaku.co.jp/sisikote.htm

[KATSUJIN]

I have seen that kote before....Ando sensei, hachidan and head of nippon Kendo kata committee...uses that kote....

[alexpollijr]

Tako,

It was (is) a 2mm Standard from the guys at E-Bogu.com.
Now don't get me wrong, the rest of the set is good. Even the kote-futon and head are good, but the palms were a disaster.

I believe that 'korean' deluxe kote with deerskin palms should be fine, but I've never seen 'em.

Plus, these gloves Meng has talked about are a must anyway for sweaters like us and Patrick Ewing. They just don't have to be from Hasegawa.

Have you checked bogubag.com yet? They have some bargain prices in Koei stuff.

[JSchmidt]

I got deerskin palms with my bogu set (2.5mm) from Seyhun.
Granted, the skin wasnt as thick as I've seen on handmade Japanese ones, but certainly comparable to Koei's machine made kote's.
I'm starting to get holes now, but that's after 2.5 years of 3-4 practices a week, where I often couldnt get them completly dry between sessions.
In any case, I'm going to use it as an excuse to get a set of handmades from Japan :D

Jakob

[Tako-kun]

Alex,

Yeah, if I decide to get Japanese bogu it will probably be one of the two Koei sets you mentioned from bogubag. I've still got months before I need bogu though; I just like talking shop about kendo gear :)

Thanks for your help.

Mike

[alexpollijr]

You're welcome.

Anyway, do anyone around have the Mori Budogu 'Musyobou' gear? Just would like to check out the quality of their stuff, especially the 4mm Musyobou Kote.

Alex Polli

[Karaken]

BTW, my old Japanese bogu I bought thru my sensei has "M.J.K.L" mark on mendare. Does anyone know whose brand this bogu might be?

Should be Center Brand

[aru-ma]

Has anyone here bought or seen anything from sanbu(ŽO•�)? I'm just wondering why their bogu is relatively cheaper than most of the other ones. btw homepage isŽO•� (http://www.kendo-sanbu.com)

[KhawMengLee]

And very beautiful....I want to get one of the sets displayed on the site.....oooo....looks so good....

[titus]

Yeah, that doh on the frontpage looks awesome. I like the all red-purple look.

[KhawMengLee]

Hell Yeahhh!! The set I dream of is here:

http://www.kendo-sanbu.com/works/works1.htm

Bottom right, the blue with gold trimmings...even the ones over the next page will have you (to put it bluntly) creaming in your pants.

sigh...need to win lottery

[Tako-kun]

KhawMengLee:

Otaku! :D

[qpuppy]

Originally posted by titus
Yeah, that doh on the frontpage looks awesome. I like the all red-purple look.

Hmmm.. that do looks like a shark skin do..... VERY VERY EXPENSIVE... WHY?... because it suppose to be very strong... unable to get a scratch no matter how you hit it....
Every kendoka's dream do... a shark skin do!!! :p

[aru-ma]

hey qpuppy you got my magazines right? there should be a sanbu ad in there somewhere and they got a shark skin do for 148000, either that or I'm reading it wrong

[KhawMengLee]

Does anyone know how or who to contact at Sanbu by e-mail? I would love to get a catalogue from them.

[alexpollijr]

They don't send catalgues overseas as long as I know. Of course, Malaysia is just a little closer..

[Ishidoro]

You're welcome.

Anyway, do anyone around have the Mori Budogu 'Musyobou' gear? Just would like to check out the quality of their stuff, especially the 4mm Musyobou Kote.

Alex Polli

Hello Alex,
I have the Mussyubou 4mm Kote and 5 mm Men. I've had them for three months now.
The Kote still only smells like smoked deerskin. The Mussyubou fabric is kind of shiny and slippery. Not sure how long before they will acquire my own 'personal' smell.
By the way, Mr. Mori was nice enough to upgrade my 5 mm Men with an IBB Titanium Mengane for no extra charge (other than the added cost of the Mengane). Total for the men was 21,000 yen, and for the Kote 15,800.