Fancy tsuba/tsubadome

[TcDohl]

One thing I don't understand is why people buy fancy tsuba or tsubadome. You know, those ones made from rawhide, or leather; or whatever. These do nothing to improve the performance of your shinai (only the wielder can improve its performance), and only has an aesthetic quality. Why would one give about $10-20 on a pretty leather tsubadome, and $15-25 on a nice tsuba when the one that your shinai came with (assuming that it did come with one) does the same job.

Please don't kill me! I'm not a troll!

[LarsCW]

I would guess a plastic one could break but a leather one would be more durable.

That's all I can think of sofar.

[Neil Gendzwill]

Only cheap shinai come with tsuba. I only buy the bamboo now, and I transfer all the leather bits from the old broken bamboo to the new one. I have a couple of good tsuba, and I use those with all my shinai. I have a tsuba that is 15 or more years old - a good leather one never breaks. They look nice, too. The good leather tsuba-dome with the rubber ring inside work far better than the cheap rubber ones, and they also last a long time. And look good.

[yohed55]

well, last kendo class my sempai was explaining why he has one "because it looks cool" was his answer. i have to admit, i also think they look cool.

[Andou]

Only cheap shinai come with tsuba. I only buy the bamboo now, and I transfer all the leather bits from the old broken bamboo to the new one. I have a couple of good tsuba, and I use those with all my shinai. I have a tsuba that is 15 or more years old - a good leather one never breaks. They look nice, too. The good leather tsuba-dome with the rubber ring inside work far better than the cheap rubber ones, and they also last a long time. And look good.

I was wondering about this...a tsuba that's almost as old as I am...that's pretty intimidating. Anyway, I find that usually the more experienced kendoka (or RBSO?) use leather tsuba/tsubadome. Anyone with other experience or insight?

[daniel_ung]

I have a tsuba that is 15 or more years old - a good leather one never breaks. They look nice, too. The good leather tsuba-dome with the rubber ring inside work far better than the cheap rubber ones, and they also last a long time. And look good.

I agree with this, the tsubadome which is with a rubber ring gives more flexibility. For example, I could not use a normal tsubadome with the shinai Ishho because it is too thick, but I could use the one with rubber ring, and I don't have to do any alternation on it.

By the way, I have two leather tusbas, and yes, they look cool to me ( or may be others too)and of course they do nothing to my skill, but it is just a presonal perference, why not make yourself happy?

[Mr. Donigan]

I've been playing for 11 years or so now. And like my fellow kenshi I have an old tsuba. Mine is only 11 years. However it's the one that came with my first shinai. I never felt the need to buy a nice leather tsuba. However some one at my dojo got one, and I had to admit I liked it. So I ordered one my self. I think the idea here is that we want to make things "our own". Have some of our personality come across. At least that's what I think. Just keep in mind. You can have the "coolest" uniform. Most expensive bogu. Expensive leather tsuba, but it's how well you play and present yourself that truely matters.

[rainmaker]

Who cares ? If they got money, I am sure they can spend money on $1000 Tsuba if they want. Unless you are living in North Korea, you have a right to buy anything they want... Just like you don't need to be professional driver to buy Porche, some people want to spend money on certain things in their life. It can be expensive snowboard, ski or kendo equipment. I think you are concerning about other people too much...

[Tono]

I think Mr. Donigan hit it on the head, though I noticed that my sensei (and several sempai) have a stack of tsuba in their shinai bags. For what it's worth, sensei always seems to use a rawhide tsuba with one of those black rubber (fudo?) tsubadome. From what I've seen, a better tsubadome seems to be a better buy...the cheaper rubber ones don't snug up against the tsuba too well, causing it to move around a little during keiko.

Personal opinion? Why a "pretty" tsuba? Well...and this is a n00b talking here...why have a beautiful tsuba on a katana? The tsuba is part of the sword, and the sword is itself a work of art and a reflection of its wielder, right?

Shift over to bokuto: has anyone ever put a nice, metal tsuba on their bokuto? Check out this site...

http://www.sunrisetsuba.com/default.htm

I'd be interested in y'all's opinions.

Cheers -

[Hai_hai]

One thing I don't understand is why people buy fancy tsuba or tsubadome. You know, those ones made from rawhide, or leather; or whatever. These do nothing to improve the performance of your shinai (only the wielder can improve its performance), and only has an aesthetic quality. Why would one give about $10-20 on a pretty leather tsubadome, and $15-25 on a nice tsuba when the one that your shinai came with (assuming that it did come with one) does the same job.

Please don't kill me! I'm not a troll!

It just looks nice. No increase in performance.
The better tsubadome is a little bit easier to remove than the donut kind.

[Andou]

Hmm. Sometimes after a practice, when we go into seiza I realize that my tsubadome has moved down and my tsuba can move up and down. Will the "fancy" tsubadome prevent that? Occasionally, I find myself trying to fix the tsuba while in Bogu, and that's kind of difficult.

[Neil Gendzwill]

It just looks nice. No increase in performance.
The better tsubadome is a little bit easier to remove than the donut kind.

Well I'd argue that as I've seen plastic ones break a number of times that the leather ones perform better. The fudo tsubadome are the cat's ass though and work much better than the stock ones. One thing that isn't any better is the traditional tsubadome with the leather ties that go through a hole and tie around the tsuru. Those are a pain in the butt to tie on and then tend to come untied, and sit at an angle because they're tied on one end... the only good thing about them is they look nice.

But overall, yeah, the main thing is the leather ones are just nice. After you've been playing a long time, you just appreciate nice stuff. Good-quality keikogi and hakama, nice tsukagawa and tsuba, hand-made shinai - none of them perform enough better to really justify the price. They work a bit better, and they're nice to handle, use and look at.

[lordrayven]

One of the major benefits I've notices about having a unique tsuba is that during a tournament/seminar/summer camp, when everybody has their shinai's laid out all over the place, it is much easier to figure out which is yours.

[Hai_hai]

...Good-quality keikogi and hakama, nice tsukagawa and tsuba, hand-made shinai - none of them perform enough better to really justify the price. They work a bit better, and they're nice to handle, use and look at.

True, there is no justification for spending a lewd amount of money on kendo uniforms and equipment... except for looking good at a shiai.

[piggy]

Hmm. Sometimes after a practice, when we go into seiza I realize that my tsubadome has moved down and my tsuba can move up and down. Will the "fancy" tsubadome prevent that? Occasionally, I find myself trying to fix the tsuba while in Bogu, and that's kind of difficult.

http://www.e-bogu.com/Fudo_Tsuba_Dom...shi-fudo--.htm

Although i do not have one of these myself, someone that I know has one and they say it really works. The tsuba will not move back. I'd like to get it but its not a priority.

Hope this helps!