I'm a n00b to such things, so I apologise for any 'duh!'-ness in advance. Okay, so I got a bokken today, with tsuba and rubber ring. Question is, is there some kind of trick to getting the ring & tsuba on? The tsuba slides down to the hilt area nicely, and I presume the ring goes between the inside of the tsuba and the bokken itself to protect the wood and keep the tsuba in place, but the ring doesn't even go halfway down the bokken before basically getting stuck. Am I totally off base or something?
The bokken I have... there is a notch in the wood where the tsuba sits against (hilt side), while the ring slides from the point down (blade side) to rest firmly against its underside. A side note, I and most people I know who train took the ring and tsuba off our bokkens a long time ago. Looks a lot nicer I think *lol*... sanded it down, restained it, burnt some kanji into it. I havn't seen someone keep the tsuba on their bokken in a very long time. Ah well....
Rarely honestly... but keep in mind that Aikido isn't mush like say Iiado or Kendo. We do some sword work but not hard on weapons training with it. We don' come on to each other full strength with it. Atleast not at the level I'm at. If it gets to a point where we do, I'll probably put it back on... but until then. So then I guess in rethinking my post... depending on what training you are doing with it the tsuba may be a good idea *lol*...
Got the tsuba & ring on now. Just needed a little perseverance (appropriate, I suppose, as I'm a Ninjutsu practictioner ). I'm guessing the tsuba will be useful, as my class will be covering iai techniques as part of a day session on sword techniques & muto dori. I can imagine it'd be difficult to do sword-drawing if one's bokken fell out of one's belt.
Yes, it is. Take it from someone who lost the tsuba before an iaido session once or twice. Rather entertaining for those around you though!
Actually, I believe that the tsuba is more there to keep your fingers from touching the sharp blade while using the sword. It can stop swords but I'm pretty sure that's not it's main purpose. Having it on a bokken is only useful if you can't keep it in your belt.
To answer your question.... Yes it does go all the way down. I reccomend using the corner of a door jam or table top to GENTLY and GRADUALLY work the rubber ring down the blade until it touches the tsuba.
Not between Tsuba and bokken Sorry this is such a late reply to a post... Just got a picture of what you mean by suggesting the rubber ring goes between. Your bokken is designed to takes bangs and knocks (mine do all the time, usually against my shoulder or mis-judged wall). The tsuba goes on the bokken over the point and should slide down until it hits a ridge. Then the rubber ring goes down over the tip, with the flatter edge first. It will take a bit of persuassion to get the ring down the sword but you will finally do it. During training, the ring often slips up a little, this frustrates me because it took so long to get onto the blade... thought I'd share that last bit with you. Hope this helps
Thought to add that if your having trouble in the future with fitting the ring, boil it first or at least expose it to hot water. This of course will expand the ring enough to easily fit it onto the bokken. When it cools, it will fit nice and tight.
I've never any trouble putting a tsuba on my bokken or that little rubber thingy it slideds down real nice. And a tsuba was more to keep ur hands from sliding into the sharp blade.
Tsuba, tsuba, tsuba. Funny to bring that up. Last night, during class, we were practicing with bokken without a tsuba. The one class mate (who just got back from training in Japan) suddenly asked if anyone had a bokken with a tsuba. Seems the techniques she wanted to share make use of the tsuba as a pivot point and to rake down the hand/wrist, crush fingers, apply pressure. Personally, I have 2 bokken right now, one with and one without. Going to get more and keep it that way. Some techniques it's not requires, but some it is. Little trick to keep your rubber retainer in place. A little rubber cement. Put on the tsuba, a little band of rubber cement above it and slide on the rubber ring. Rubber cement will come off by rubbing and rolling it, but it will act as a friction washer until you want it off.
