Equipment Reviews

Maruyama Hefty

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 17:04:59 -0800

As you should know, I’m a real big advocate of the koto style shinai. I prefer it for its balance and handling. You should also know that I usually prefer a slightly heavier shinai (530 – 550 grams) for greater control. Lately though, I’ve been playing around with lighter, dobari style shinais as they’ve been cheaply available to me.

With this in mind, I was looking over Jeff Chen’s table at a recent taikai, not really looking to buy, when he suggested I test drive a new shinai for him. Out of the box came a dobari shinai with a good, stout tsuka. He put it in my hand, and I nearly dropped it… 700 grams he told me. How could I refuse trying out this monster?

My initial impression was that this is a really heavy shinai… I had to pay attention to what I was doing to avoid injury. Once I got used to it, I was very pleasantly surprised with the level of control I had with it. I think this is a really good shinai for training. It wore me out fast and I really felt my muscles working while using it. For those of you with thick strong arms, this is a good all around shinai. For the rest of us, I would use this for training, but not necessarily for taikai, as fully committing to a strike with this shinai could create strain in your muscles and joints… avoiding this strain could create hesitation. Really though, this concern is mainly for jodan players. The weight of this shinai makes it a great cross over for chudan.

Mu-Shin - Maruyama Kendo Supply

Sun, 9 Nov 2008 07:42:54 -0800

As I may have stated in other articles, I like my shinai a little on the heavy side. I’ve always felt that light weight weapons fly around a bit on me and I have a tough time controlling them. I also like koto style shinai for the same reason. The weight is a little more out on the blade, more evenly distributed, and gives me a more stable feeling, especially with jodan no kamae. Overall, 530 to 540 grams seems the ideal weight for me.

When Jeff Chen of Maruyama Kendo Supply handed me his newest shinai “Mu-Shin” I wasn’t going to buy it because I have a few shinai I haven’t used yet, so I wasn’t really in the market for more. That changed when he told me the specs of this new shinai… 595 grams! As is usually the case with a passionate businessman like Jeff, he convinced me to give it a try.

Holy Crap! This is one fantastic shinai! I was expecting it to be slow. I was expecting it to hit hard. I was expecting to be sore the next day. None of these predictions came true.

Since I don’t tend to use arcing strikes from jodan and move the shinai laterally along its axis, the weight and balance had little effect on the speed of my strikes. In fact, coupled with the cross training I’ve been doing, these strikes seem to be faster than usual. The extra weight out on the blade seems to provide greater stability in those katate men strikes.

I talked to everyone that I fought at practice and asked about the amount of power I was hitting with. Everyone said it was fine, in fact, some said that my shots were not as robust as they had been in the past (I’ve been working on hitting faster without increasing impact).

The next day I could feel a little fatigue in my left shoulder and fore arm, but not the pain and soreness I was expecting. Certainly this is a shinai to be treated with respect, but not one to be feared.

The only caution I would make, is don’t try to overpower Mu-Shin. If you treat it as you would your other shinai, you’ll be treated with great results, especially if you like lateral movement in your shinai. But try to overpower big moves like tobi kobi men or kaeshi do, and you can really find this shinai fighting back against you. During practice I tried to lay a nuki-do in very quickly on someone with more power than usual. It almost felt like the shinai was stuck in the air and I could feel my arms straining against it. I tried the same waza again at normal speed and was happy to find that there were no problems.

Also, I would suggest easing into complex waza like katate kote. This shinai will require a little more fortitude in your wrists, so work at it slowly at first.

I am very happy to have this shinai, and I will likely bring it out at the next taikai. I gladly recommend Mu-Shin from Maruyama Kendo Supply. For the future, Jeff tells me he’s working on an even heavier shinai… 670 grams! I can’t wait!

Ieshige from Aoi Budogu

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 23:02:40 -0700

At a recent taikai I picked up Aoi Budogu’s Ieshige model shinai. This shinai is pretty much as described on their website. It has a fairly thick tsuka which I am liking more and more. This puts much of the shinai’s weight in your hands, making for a very fast balance. The bamboo has a very nice feel to it, especially when striking. The best way I can describe it is that it has the feeling of writing with chalk on a wet black board… kind of a firm, slightly sticky feeling.
One issue I had with this shinai is that on its second use it produced a fairly large splinter. This turned out to only be surface damage and was easily repaired. I wouldn’t hold this against the shinai specifically, as I have been having more wear and tear on my shinai than usual. This is due to the amount of contact I am having with other kenshi’s tsuba while fighting in jodan.
I’m normally not partial to dobari style shinai, preferring the chokuto style, but this is an interesting shinai that I happily recommend and would purchase again.

Bizen from E-Bogu

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 11:09:47 -0700

Found in the “Top Grade Medake Shinai” section of E-Bogu’s website, this is a truly interesting shinai. I was lucky enough to pick one up at the Steveston (BC) Taikai and actually swing it before I bought it. The extra thick tsuka is thicker than any of the new shinai I have seen recently. I have fairly big hands, but it’s difficult for me to wrap my hand around it completely.
The shinai itself weighs in fairly heavy (I haven’t put it on a scale yet, but it’s well over regulation weight), but having so much of the bamboo in the tsuka creates a balance that makes it feel as light as a feather! This does not make it flimsy in the tip, however. The bamboo is pretty well distributed in the blade portion, making for a fairly robust shinai all around.
For the jodan enthusiast, this shinai is great for striking men. Having the majority of the mass in your hands allows you to pull the bulk of the shinai down quickly with the left hand and generate a great deal of forward momentum in the tip. The thickness of the bamboo throughout also allows for power techniques such as uchi-otoshi, do, and kote (two hands). For more subtle techniques that require a lot of left hand maneuvering, such as katate kote, the tsuka may be a little too big, unless you have massive hands.
I laughed when I first picked this up because I thought the tsuka was ridiculous. I kept laughing as I started swinging it. I giggled as I paid for it, and I kept giggling throughout my first practice with it. If nothing else, it’s fun! If you decide to purchase one, be sure to ask for the special, larger size tsuba that comes with it.

Tournament Shinai

Sat, 8 Mar 2008 14:26:39 -0800

I keep a bunch of high grade shinai around specifically for tournaments and special events. I spend extra on these shinai, so I take special care of them. I’m always experimenting with new shinai from my favorite suppliers, but I always seem to come back to hand made madake shinai as a preference. Currently my quiver of shinai reserved for special occasions include…
“Ieayasu” from Budo-Aoi.
This shinai is narrow, evenly weighted, and fast. It has a nice crisp feel that really gives me that “sword” feeling. I have two of these and absolutely love them.
“Akatsuki” from E-Bogu.
I’ve purchased three of these from e-bogu and they’ve lasted a long time. They’re hand made, so have little imperfections in them here and there. They have the feeling of being alive, and if you’re in tune with your ki, you can really feel it flowing through these shinai. If they crack, though, you can tell right away as that feeling goes away quick.
“Koto” and “Koban” from Maruyama.
I have one of each of these shinai. I had thought to purchase two of the “Koban” oval grip shinai as I was very fond of the thickness in the tsuka and the thick dobari style made for a great deal of speed in the tip of the shinai (great for kote from jodan). But Jeff Chen talked me into trying his new “Koto” model with it’s very thick tsuka and heavy but evenly distributed weight. He was right. I found both of these shinai to be very pleasant to work with and the heavy “Koto” model hid its weight well in the balance. If I could ask for one thing to be different, it would be longer tsukagawa. Jeff’s leather grips seem to be a little on the short side for me, adding a little to the speed of the snap, but losing leverage in the trade.