Quote Originally Posted by Wraith View Post
Our Shinken are made specifically for Iaido practice. They are slimmed down in their profile and they have as much material removed from the groove as possible, to reduce the weight and improve the balance, making them most suitable for long practice sessions and the preferences of most Iaidoka in the modern day market.
As stated, these are intended for iaido practice, and have material taken out of them to reduce weight for long practices, and hence shouldn't be use for tameshigiri. It is a leap of logic to say that because of that, shinken with bohi should not be used for tameshigiri. I'm sure these are fine swords, but quite frankly, they are not shinken in the traditional sense -- proper raw material, folding, tempering, etc. As Rennis noted, he has seen tameshigiri performed regularly in Japan with swords with bohi.

Going back to the original poster's comments, if you want a sword with a live blade for iaido practice, that's cool. But just realize that this is not a shinken in the traditional sense. Also, if you want to do tameshigiri, you don't necessarily need a bona fide shinken. You just have to make sure it's made well enough to withstand tameshigiri. And if you DO get a bona fide shinken for tameshigiri, whether it has a bohi or not is irrelevant.