Spyderco Forums

I'm looking for a high quality bokken, and most places I'm finding just seem kind of mall ninja/cheesy. A friend of mine has a bokken that I offered to refurbish for him (sanded the black paint off, put on a cord wrap, treated the wood with some oil, etc.) it looks nice and has really gotten me interested in bokkens.
I've always been interested, but now I want one :D ...

any suggestions on woods or makers or anything?
thanks in advance.

http://kingfisherwoodworks.com/

I'm retarded. This website is very informative as well as having awesome bokkens.

The polymer ones from cold steel work quite well.
http://www.coldsteel.com/bokkens.html

When I spar with my buddies we're going full speed (and one of them is going full force :rolleyes :) . So contact is hard and heavy, and often. Even against my rattan sticks the polymer holds up well.

bends a bit, but one guy has had the same 2 since they came out, after we broke a few wooden ones (never my sticks though :p )

I got a very good one for a friend's daughter from e-bogu.com about two years ago.

I'm afraid I can't help you with a supplier or maker, but I do want to encourage you to find a high quality boken; it's worth it. I received a Japanese boken and it's miles beyond the budget version I got at the sporting goods store. The high quality ones feel alive in the hand and can stand up to heavy blocking without splintering. In my experience (hi-quality) sword dealers often also supply (hi-quality) bokens for Iaido training.

Wouter

we broke a few of the cheap wooden ones early on before moving to polymer.

oh man -- the cold steel videos crack me up every time!

and, paradoxically, they're very successful in temporarily tricking me into thinking i need exotic weapons... :D

I wonder if i can make one of these. I have a bunch of teak laying around somewhere. Anyone know where i can find plans or a support site for bokken builders? I have a simple machine shop and the load of dremmels im just aching to use this weekend. LOL. But seriously. ....

I have heard very good things about these:

http://www.aikiwood.com/weapons.htm

Personally, I don't do much with Japanese style sword work anymore and have not worked with the aikiwood weaponry, but I do still have an old, oak bokken that has seen over twenty years of use (and is battered enough to look it, so it is in honorable semi-retirement).

Donovan, I am unaware of any patterns out there on the web (but there could be some). I would purchase a cheap one from Century Martial Arts or a similar vendor, play with it, see where you could improve the balance, etc., and use the "crap bokken" as a gross pattern to do your teak masterpiece. If you have a "wood workin'" jones going, I might be interested in a set of 28 inch long teak escrima sticks (bastons) or the flattened garrote "blade simulator" versions :D .

When I was studying Kendo I ordered most of my supplies from Tozando in Japan. It has been a while since I purchased from them, but I remember it being a great experience. All their bokken are made in Japan and they offer varying levels of durability and wood choices. Very high-quality, authentic gear.

Check them out here

I've heard Raven Studios http://www.little-raven.com/RS/MA/index.html makes really nice training weapons. They do not have a bokken on their site but they do custom work. They make a pretty interesting variety of weapons.