Heavier Weapon

[distrex]

I haven't started kendo yet, but i was wondering. When i start to train would it be benificial to use something, that resembles a sword, but is alot heavier. If so what would you guys recomend? Do they have anything pre-made that would be really heavy or would i have to improvise? Thanks for your time.

[Pauly]

Hello Distrex,

In my opinion, when you start, just follow the best advice of your sensei and senior club members. Form in of upmost importance. So first get a good idea of how you should be swinging your shinai.

But your question is a good one! I think e-bogu among other on-line stores sell big "suburi" swinging shinai's for strength training. I, and others in my club, sometimes switch to a nice, heavy bokuto (wooden sword, not bamboo) during our warm-up exercises. But to start doing this from the beginning might mislead you. Swinging a bokuto might not help you with shinai form in the beginning. I also have to remind myself how different a heavy bokuto differs from a lighter, longer shinai.

Hope this help. And good luck with kendo!

[distrex]

Thanks alot. Yeah i was just curious to see if there was anything out there that i should start looking into purchasing. Do you guys know if dojos usually provide shinai for new comers or should i also look into buying one of those aswell?

[not-I]

Thanks alot. Yeah i was just curious to see if there was anything out there that i should start looking into purchasing. Do you guys know if dojos usually provide shinai for new comers or should i also look into buying one of those aswell?

They ususually have some spare shinai around for the beginners, but you should get one of your own pretty soon. Either the dojo will have some available for purchase (best option) or you can get one from a shop. It should be your first kendo investment and at around 30 dollars/euro, it's pretty inexpensive.

I'd also recommend first learning the basics at training before you practice suburi on your own with any weapon. It's good to come to kendo as an empty slate so you don't have a chance to develop bad habits before you've even started (don't worry, they come later ).

Suburito are mainly used for building strength, whereas you'll be doing all the striking with a shinai, which can seem heavy at the beginning anyway, so best to make the latter your friend first.