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Baio
5th January 2004, 22:42
Whenever you look at jidaigeki or some anime where they're holding competitions people who use spears have a little bag to thing over the end to designate the spear head. This must be used in real life too what's it made of? Is it padded, because being smashed with a bo still hurts.

kabutoki
17th January 2004, 09:07
Hi,
from what I saw in Japan, this tipcover seems to be a bit padded. Something like a bit of addiltional cloth wrapped in the white cloth you can see on the tip.
Thats just a guess though...

Karsten

Phil Farmer
4th August 2010, 19:53
Greetings to anyone who might answer this question. I train in and teach Yoseikan Budo. This last week, our grand master taught naginata v. Bokken in France. Now that I am home, I am having a devil of a time finding a wooden naginata anywhere for sale. I have seen them before in some catalogues and they certainly had them for sale in France. So, why can I not find a wooden training naginata here in the states? Answers appreciated, sugestions too.

Neil Yamamoto
4th August 2010, 20:00
http://www.e-bogu.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=HIR-WEA-NAG-NAGIKIHON-


Kim Taylor - SDK supplies, does them as well to order. Scroll down the page about half way on the link below for details.

http://sdksupplies.netfirms.com/cat_bokuto.htm

Bruce Mitchell
5th August 2010, 07:18
Hi Phil,
You are probably running into some trouble because naginata has a really small following in the US. Atarashi naginata only has a couple hundred people through-out the entire US practicing (and about 1/3 of those are under 18), and wooden kata naginata are not used until after 3-dan (much smaller group still). There are a few koryu naginata groups in the US, but even smaller numbers than atarashi naginata, and they tend to use naginata of a specific shape and size. The majority of folks I know, including myself, usually rely on each other to bring equipment back from Japan, we don't usually buy directly from anyone here in the states. In fact, we often contact the Japanese bogu-ya in advance to place an order when we know someone will be over there, as you can't always count on what you want being in stock.

Most of what you will find from U.S. based bogu-ya are Zen Nihon Naginata kata naginata, I am not aware of anywhere that sells koryu specific models.

I have no idea what your ryu uses for naginata, but you could always get someone to make a paper template of one that is used in the ryu, include all the relevant measurements, and send off to a custom woodworker like Kim Taylor at SDK supplies to have one made.

Hope this helps.

Brian Owens
9th August 2010, 04:39
...I am having a devil of a time finding a wooden naginata anywhere for sale. I have seen them before in some catalogues and they certainly had them for sale in France. So, why can I not find a wooden training naginata here in the states?

You can order from shops in Japan, of course (I have used Bokken Shop), but because of the long shaft shipping will be expensive so it's best to order more than one at a time and sell/gift the one(s) you don't want/need.

I don't know the specifics of design for the naginata used in your school, but Bokken Shop offers Jikishinkage Ryu, Tendo Ryu, and AJNF Kihon Yo styles.

You might also contact the Southern California Naginata Federation (the closest major group to Texas, I think) and see if they can help you. They often have equipment for sale. Their link is: http://www.scnf.org/

HTH.

DDATFUS
9th August 2010, 19:39
In a post on swordforum a few months back, Meik Skoss mentioned a student of his who is making and selling very nice wooden naginata for koryu training. I've heard good things about her work from other sources as well.

kokumo
12th August 2010, 01:22
In a post on swordforum a few months back, Meik Skoss mentioned a student of his who is making and selling very nice wooden naginata for koryu training. I've heard good things about her work from other sources as well.

That would be Beth Johnson, whose website is http://bethsbuki.com/

Beth hand selects all of the wood for her shop, has an uncanny feeling for balance, and an eye for precise morphology that not only exceeds the standard I've encountered from other North American weapons producers, but most Japanese sources. If you can get her a sample of what you want, you'll find that she delivers buki that meet or exceed the performance characteristics of the original.

I'm currently using a Buko Ryu naginata and a TSYR bokken that came out of Beth's workshop, and recommend her work unequivocally, particularly for school-specific or purpose-specific custom work that may not have a large enough market for other makers to justify production runs of the size they need to stay in business.

Best,

FL

Nathan Scott
24th March 2011, 21:35
Yoseikan Budo was founded by Mochizuki Minoru Sensei, who among other things, studied Tenshinsho-den Katori Shinto-ryu. So I would guess the intended model of naginata used would be TSKSR. Their "O-naginata" is one of the largest practice naginata still being used, and is held in the middle when at chudan. Tendo-ryu naginata are also held in the middle, while the ZNNR kata naginata is held a bit closer to the ishizuki side. Both the standardized Tendo-ryu and ZNNR kata naginata are very light, short, and thin. I don't know if such a naginata would be suitable for Yoseikan practice or not.

For Tendo-ryu, a classmate of mine handmade a naginata for me that was adapted to me size and height. I also don't know of any manufacturer that makes larger sized naginata. You will have to either used the standardized small naginata (which are way too short/small for me), or, find someone who makes - or is willing to make them to your specs. The various ryu-ha often have a family or budogu-ya that hand makes their specialized equipment for them.

Also see these related threads:

Making Your Own Training Weapons (http://www.e-budo.com/forum/showthread.php?t=37725)

Budogu-ya = Equipment Suppliers (http://www.e-budo.com/forum/showthread.php?t=40756)

PS. I'm with the SCNF, and unfortunately, the above is basically our suggestion. We don't have any specialized sources either.

Regards,

Bruce Mitchell
25th March 2011, 06:13
Best custom made naginata I have seen to date:
https://www.facebook.com/bethsbuki