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Paul Steadman
26th November 2000, 13:06
Hi All,

I live in Out-Back, Australia and we have a lack of rice straw and bamboo for tameshi-giri practise! Has anyone got any ideas for alternative target materials.

I've heard of rolled and soaked newspapers as an alternative to wara, any other suggestions? How about thick rope or rolled grass beach-mats or maybe old roll-blinds etc?

Any advice or ideas would be greatly appreciated. All the best.

Regards,

Paul Steadman

Gordon Smith
27th November 2000, 17:49
I've heard of people using those styofoam pool snakes as targets, but I have no idea if that's a good idea or not.

-G-

pgsmith
27th November 2000, 20:03
Hi Paul,
Ideally, you should use tatami-omote which is what they use for tournaments in Japan and the U.S. It can be had from either Mugen-Dachi Co. at http://www.tameshigiri.com/ or from Bugei at http://www.bugei.com/ or from East Coast Martial Arts at http://www.ecmas.com/ . A lot of people also use beach mats which, since it's coming into summer in your part of the world, you may be able to get locally. You can also order beach mats from Bugei, or East Coast Martial Arts . Tatami-omote, when soaked properly, is supposed to closely resemble the cutting consistency of flesh. Comparatively, it takes about 3 beach mats to equal one tatami, and the beach mats will still be easier to cut. For a good challenge, you can try cutting single beach mats because if your form is not very good, you will bend the target over instead of cutting through. That is why some people cut pool noodles, as they bend very easily and so it is easy to tell if your cut is off even a little.
Hope that helped!

Paul Steadman
27th November 2000, 22:33
Thanks Guys,

The above info was of great help. Thanks for your reply.

Regards,

Paul Steadman