Shopping Kendo Equipment on the net

[Simon Chien]

Hi everyone,

I am not sure if it's good thing to discuss the experience of shopping the Kendo Equipment on the internet ? But I'd like to ask if it's safe to T/T or CreditCardPayment a lot of money before
you receive anything ( such as Bougu ) !?

I visited http://www.sehyun-kumdo.co.kr/ a few days ago and I am considering buy bougu from them. Any one who has experience buying things from sehyun please send a private message to me to share the experience.

Thank you very much for your help !

[alexpollijr]

Simon,

I've had experiences buying expensive stuff from internet shops, such as Korea's KENDOSHOP, California's E-Bogu and Kyoto's Tozando. All of them were very honest and the whole transaction was very safe.

In my spare time (when I'm not practicing Kendo ) I work at a local Univeristy as Network Security Analyst, so most of the time I can tell unsafe systems from safe ones.

I never bought from the company you mentioned, though. I've seen korean bougu around and It's quite good stuff at the top level (2mm, 2,5 mm, 3mm). Below that it's ok but don't expect it to last longer or to be nice looking. Mosto Japanese bogu, i've heard, is made in Korea or Taiwan anyway. japanese companies only put their stamp on it.

From the online shops i've mentioned, i can really recommend Kendoshop (who's a supporting company for the next WC). The quality of the products are really good for the price, and they're very honest about what they're selling.

Good practice

Alex Polli

[JSchmidt]

I and several other members from my dojo have bought bogu's from Sehyun and are very happy with the quality and service.

Cheers,

Jakob

[Simon Chien]

Hi Alex & Jakob,
Thanks for your reply. I've visited KENDOSHOP , E-bougu & Tozando already. They are all great site. Now I have wider range for choice when I need something about Kendo.

One more thing for Jakob,
Did you and your member firends pay 100 % ( by T/T ) to Sehyun 2 months before your receive your bogu ? Thanks for your help !

[JSchmidt]

Erhh none of us bought handmade bogu, so the wait wasn't very long. (2-4 weeks?)...but yes, we did pay it all in advance. (And yes, I had my doubts about it too!)

Jakob

[qpuppy]

To Alex

"I never bought from the company you mentioned, though. I've seen korean bougu around and It's quite good stuff at the top level (2mm, 2,5 mm, 3mm). Below that it's ok but don't expect it to last longer or to be nice looking. Mosto Japanese bogu, i've heard, is made in Korea or Taiwan anyway. japanese companies only put their stamp on it. "

Hi there... yes I agree with you in the sence that anything below 3mm, you shouldn't expect to get a good looking or long lasting one. I am a supplier myself and I purchase the suppliers myself directly from the makers. This is where I have to disagree with Alex here...... Most Japanese Bogu is NOT made in Korea, but I do agree there is a great amount of it made by Koreans.... Most manufacturer in Japan make their own and supplier to other small bogu shops. It the small stores which buys from all areas, eg korea... This is due to that it's cheaper. But generally most manufacturer will have their own retail stores.... or even better and for a better price... you can try contacting the manufacturers and order from them....(but is slightly hard becasue of language barrier and they prefer customers to go through their agents within their country)

Al.....

[qpuppy]

To Alex
In reply yo my previous post......
Sorry if I was being rude in anyway....
reading back.. it seem a bit defensive....

Gome ne!!!....
Al

[KhawMengLee]

hmmnnn...check out http://www.moribudo.co.jp/ and contact them for a catologue. I'm getting a friend to get me a set sent over when he goes over in about a week.


Most important if you buy a bogu is to get a good quality kote. The rest can be sub standard and still last but the kote, if its bad, will tear at the leather ingrip and so forth.

[Keith Hong]

I have this hand-me-down set of bogu that I got from my brother.

I've been using it for not quite a year, but it's falling apart.

Guess I'll finally have to cough up and get a new set for myself.

My brother tells me that a lot of items sold are not what they claim to be. Low quality materials, stuff claiming to have been made in Japan but actually imported from Korea or China(stuff claiming to have been made in Korea but actually manufactured in China), assembled in Japan from parts made elsewhere...

As I don't know enough about bogu to discern quality, make, material and such, I would be grateful if any of you could recommend a trustworthy, reliable store(craftsman, manufacturer?) that I could order from.

From what I've heard, a quality bogu set could be expected to last for 10, 20 years. For that reason, I think I should get a good set from the start even if it costs more.

The specs I have been considering are 1.5 or 1.2 bu hand-stitched with titanium men and 60 slat bamboo do. It is important that it be made in Japan by Japanese craftsmen from made-in-Japan parts. I've read that a certain method of sewing(nagazashi?) using a round needle is good.

Is mail or internet order reliable? Or do I have to visit the store in person for correct measurements?

As you can see, a little knowledge can be dangerous(confusing, at least).

Help!!!

[KhawMengLee]

hmmnnn...at the moment I am in the process of getting a set from http://www.moribudo.co.jp/

I am getting a 4mm bogu (machine stiched). If its good I'll let you know.

But a hand stitched bogu, 1.5 or 1.2 mm plus 60 piece bamboo set would set you back a fair way.

A 2.5mm machine bogu with 60 bamboo Do costs about yen355,000 about 3,437,893.86 KRW.

So you can imagine what a hand stiched set would cost.

Anyway...good hunting

[Antonin]

i have heard that the web site www.bogu-ya.com is goog, but I have never used it myself. it has been recomanded to me by some senior brithish kenshi.
BTW, the unit of stiching for hand stiched bogu is "bu", not mm. so 1bu is about 3mm, but the stiching is much better... I'mm not sure what a "bu" is, though...