hi all, i've got this friend and he keeps hitting my other friend and i in the fingers when we fight with out bokkens, we have had next to no trainging with them, so i assuime it's an expiriance thing. are there any exsercises to do of anything to stop this problem? it strickes me as odd as my friend and i neither have hit fingers throughout the time we've had our bokkens.any help you can offer?
One piece of advice: Don't swing around weapons without any formal training with them. Or busted fingers are likely to be the least of your concerns. When people spar with weapons, they generally wear gloves. Kendoka, eskrimadors, fencers, even folks like the Dog Brothers. It's common sense. Never mind that the hands are a favoured target for many weapon systems in the first place. This is a fundamentally bad idea. Even shinai aren't a great idea. But bokken? Stuart
A bokken is a weapon in it's own right not simply a "wooden sword" and as such must be treated with respect. Get some instruction and DO NOT play with weapons. regards koyo
thanks all for you handy hints. we acknowledge the danger of bokkens, and i assure you, we deffinately aren't "playing" with these weapons. the gloves are a good idea that we have tried, but we haven't found any that don't obscure the hands or compromise grip. where do we get them from? is it an experiance problem? will it go away if we go off and get formal propper training?
There is a kendo club in Toowoomba that you can get yourself to for some instruction: Taken from this site after a quick Google.
I'm one of those Dog Brothers folk that Ap mentioned Problems with grip can be sorted by cutting the palm out of your gloves, I've done this with several pairs of street hockey gloves. But instruction is definately a must, bokkens are crazy dangerous!
Danger Shmanger! Sounds like my life between the ages of 8-15. I remember the pain of getting whacked in the knuckles. If you didn't laugh you would cry.
Since you plan on getting proper training, I'll chime in. If you don't get proper training, you're likely to get very, very injured. If you don't have protective equipment, STOP NOW. A minimum of a three-weapon fencing mask and motocross gloves will help. One false move can destroy the happiness of a lifetime. You are not immortal, and a bokken can kill just as well as a sword can. If you don't have that stuff, then you're just marking time waiting for something BAD to happen. And a bokken can still kill you through a fencing mask. First things first, a bokken is not a sword. Swords, as a general rule have handguards of some type for a reason... you lose your hand you lose the fight, and hence your life. The simple fact of the matter is that it's hard to protect your hands. Longswords have crossguards, and my hands sill get hit from time to time. I can only imagine trying to fence for real without one. Not a chance in Hel would I do that... the risk is far too great. But anywho, here are some pointers, which may or may not be useful. First of all, you're probably "parrying" wrong. I don't think you should be parrying at all in most circumstances. The katana uses the same type of single time defences as a longsword. If you don't know what "single time" means, then brush up on fencing theory. You'll need it if you want to get good. In fact, if you can at all take up classical fencing, do so. It will help your martial arts training for the rest of your life. It was good enough for Bruce Lee, so it's good enough for you. Secondly, if you are parrying, keep your hands further back and see if that helps. And of course, if you don't want your hands to get hit, don't put your hands where his "blade" is. Pretty easy math, really. Best regards, -Mark
Link: http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73613 It's a great thread. You'll even learn some proper JSA terminology. When you're getting info from Bill you're getting the accumulated experience of more training than any two or three of us put together! Bill, you going to keep that thread going? It'd be a shame to let it die. Don't make me thread necro it. 'Cause I will. Don't make me do it, koyo. Best regards, -Mark