Sanding the jo and chalking your hands.

[shonuff]

Does anyone powder their hands with chalk (or talcum( and sand their jo?

Just wondering.

[gmlc123]

No to the powder or talc... never seen anyone ever do that in Jodo.

Re: Sanding. It's good every now and then to give your jo a little light sanding with 1200+ wet 'n dry or my favourite steel wool. But don't over do it, esp if you got a 25.4 mm jo

[Mekugi]

I sand mine with a very, very fine grit paper to avoid splinters whenever it becomes riddled with dents. It improves the "tactile" sense for me and makes it easier to handle as well (IMHO). Like above, don't take off too much and make sure to sand it evenly: even pressure, even surface coverage.

Aftarwards, I treat the wood with a mixture of two parts boiled linseed oil and one part turpetine. This makes the jo stink for a couple days, but it does preserves the wood well from the black scuffmarks that occur naturally in training and keeps it semi-protected from splintering.

I would never talc my hands, it seems that is a mess and no one appreciates white powder all over their uwagi. :mad:

If you want that silky smoothness, a few hours before training use mink oil on your paws. It makes them nice and smooth! People that I know with Pompholyx(dyshidrotic eczema on the hands)have tried that trick and it seems to work well. Sometimes these folks turn out to be allergic to mink oil, so finding something more suitable or "hypo-allergenic" is important if this is the case.

Anyway, MOISTURIZE! Silly point, but it can make a world of difference if you have hand problems and are doing jo, IMHO.