Tatami omote - new method?

[Ken-Hawaii]

There have been several threads addressing how expensive it is to buy tatami omote mats for tameshigiri for those of us living away from the mainland. Living in Hawaii, I can certainly vouch for that: even slow freight from my friends at http://www.tameshigiri.com cost me over $200.00 for 40 rolls. At five bucks a roll, we sure do our best to get lots of cuts!

My question is whether cutting rolls can be constructed just from the basic omote (called "soft rush" in the U.S.)? It's listed as a common wetlands plant, & we've seen either it or its close cousin growing in vast wetlands clumps out here. Is there some reason why the omote needs to first be woven into rolls, other than ease of spiking it on the stand? In other words, could I grab a couple of large clumps of soft rush, tie it together with my usual twine, soak it, & cut it the same way as I do with tatami omote?

If that will work, there are lots of other places in the U.S. & elsewhere with wetlands that can grow the same plant. Might even be profitable....

[Brian Owens]

...In other words, could I grab a couple of large clumps of soft rush, tie it together with my usual twine, soak it, & cut it the same way as I do with tatami omote?
Using tatami omote gives a somewhat "standardized" target for cuttng, which can be a useful teaching tool.

But that's actually a fairly recent innovation. Not all that long ago (and many people still do it this way), targets were made by bundling and tying long sheaves of rice straw. Sometimes, straw "men" were made to allow for practice at targeting specific weaknesses in armor and so forth.

As long as it is clean and free of grit, I see no reason why you couldn't use locally grown materials to do the same thing.