Last week I had my first practice in my new bogu so it's time for a review.

I ordered the S22 men and kote from Koei as well as the cheapest yamato doh that they have and a cheaper tare. Upon opening the box I was so pleased with the quality of all the parts. This is the first bogu that I have bought and up until now I had been using two borrowed sets. I'm as happy as the preverbial pig.

The men is really tough and stiff and as yet I haven't been dealt a blow that made me wince. The senseis at my club helped me put the straps on and showed me how to shape the men flaps. They all seemed impressed with the quality.

The kote are incredibly comfortable although will take some while to break in, like the men. The kote also offer great protection. Only the strongest hits hurt but nowhere near as much as the previous ones I was using.

The doh, for the cheapest one that they have seems great and the tare, well I don't really know how to rate how good it is except that it looks nice. I thought that Koei had sent me the S22 tare by mistake so I emailed them　a picture of it. They emailed me back saying that it does look like the S22 but keep it anyway!

I've only had 3 practices in it so far so how it will last I don't know. One of the reasons I bought it was because of peoples reviews of it on this forum. I wasn't let down by the reviews so thanks to those who have posted advice. I'm so pleased with the overall quality of the bogu, the materials, the construction and the finish. I know it's only my first bogu but I did a real lot of shopping around and went to a few bogu shops to compare and I'm sure I've made the right choice.

The only criticism I have of Koei was after receiving an email saying that it was ready to post, it still took them nearly 2 weeks to get it to me, and I live in Japan. Apart from that, Terada-San was incredibly helpful, answered my numerous questions and sent me a bogu that I'm as chuffed as nuts with. He also sent a booklet in English explaining how to look after it.

Despite the fact that the old set I was using often left me seeing stars and having bruised wrists, I kind of miss it. It would have been like when I was a kid and I got a new bike. I felt guilty about leaving my other trusty steed in the garage before selling it. Then I remebered it being too small, no gears and too heavy.

I hope the review is useful.

Cheers