Please critique Kendo training dummy / uchikomi dai

[GRIdesignworks]

Hi, All,-
We are developing a kendo training dummy and some other related products and I have been asking people all over the world to give their input as to how we can make the product better. So far we have received alot of great advice and we have adapted the new dummies to relfect the needs of the advisors. Sometimes we produce a very specialized item very specific to a certain request i.e.-Naginata / sune strike etc. but we would really appreciate input from all over.
If you have a chance please look at it under: GRIdesignworks kendo training dummy on youtube. I'm not trying to sell a mass produced item here in this forum, we make one at a time and they're usually very different each time depending on the requests,..I'm just trying to get input from many sources and I appreciate as always when someone points out my weaknesses.

Thanks,

[Brian Owens]

Could you post a specific link?

Simply searching on GRIdesignworks results in many You Tube hits, none of which that I found had anything to do with your product.

[GRIdesignworks]

Could you post a specific link?

Simply searching on GRIdesignworks results in many You Tube hits, none of which that I found had anything to do with your product.

Hi,-

I'm sorry about being hard to find on youtube. I'll try and type this out correctly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v30jHywwMSHI

hopefully that works. I had pretty good luck finding it looking up GRIdesignworks kendo practice dummy but it might be because I posted it and it made an easier path. If you Google search GRIdesignworks (one word) it usually comes up,..but that has to be google.

[GRIdesignworks]

Hi,-

I'm sorry about being hard to find on youtube. I'll try and type this out correctly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v30jHywwMSHI

hopefully that works. I had pretty good luck finding it looking up GRIdesignworks kendo practice dummy but it might be because I posted it and it made an easier path. If you Google search GRIdesignworks (one word) it usually comes up,..but that has to be google.

I just tried to click on the link and it gave me a general page. If you type in "GRIdesignworks" on the youtube search then about 12 videos will come up.

-Thanks.

[GRIdesignworks]

Sorry to vote on my own practice dummy,..I just needed a way to get more information out there. We are not trying to generate sales at this point, rather to perfect our present training dummy with the help of kendoka from everywhere we can. Please feel free to give your critiques and or suggestions for changes after you take a look at our videos on youtube under GRIdesignworks (one word) kendo training dummy. Use either the channel page or this forum to send your opinions.

-Thanks !

[George Kohler]

Here is a better link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30jHYwwMshI

This probably needs to be moved to the Nomi no ichi forum, but will keep it here for now.

[GRIdesignworks]

Hi,-

I really appreciate you posting the correct link on here ! - If you see anything you would like to have added , changed, deleted,..etc from the dummy , let me know, I'm constantly trying to make it better. I just added a pivot at the bottom to compliment the tsuki motions / response of the head,..it was a great idea suggested by a customer in SanDiego.

[BigJon]

Hi there, I didn't look through all your videos, but showing someone training on the dummy might be nice. To show what it can/cant do with action would help...

Just an opinion.

[GRIdesignworks]

Hi Jon,-

Thanks for your response ! I'll get some better pictures of the dummys pivot and side to side movements, maybe better to make a short movie,..I'm a better welder than cinematographer so bear with me but I'll put something together. A customer in San Diego had a fantastic idea,..he had me add a pivot at the base to compliment the tsuki strike already built into the head,...I am alot more successful since I became a student,..I learn alot more from people. He had a great idea that I think alot of people will benefit from. Thanks again,..

[BigJon]

Hi there, what I meant was someone actually "wacking" the dummy, maybe someone practicing multiple strikes on the dummy itself to show what it can take.:cool:

[GRIdesignworks]

Hi Jon,-

I'm sorry,..I understood what you were asking,..I just got off on a tangent. I'll put together some footage of the dummy being hit. The first dummy I made, I asked the class to just try and beat the crap out of it to find it's weaknesses,..since they're chro-moly welded,..they stand up really well. I'll get a video together so you can see how the dummy finds its center and responds after being hit.

Thanks,

Ron

[Bruce Mitchell]

Dummy looks great. The question that I have looking at it is, is it hard on equipment? It looks like it could be a shinai killer.

[GRIdesignworks]

Hi,-

I don't put anything sharp or inflexible on a strike point....that's a great question. I use steel bars much like the aluminum or titanium on an actual men, but I put a thick pad on the frame and clear rubber hose over the first 3 bars. The arm structure is covered with foam padding. The do is foam paddingover the steel structure, covered with a plastic shell, then a thick carpet like padding over the plastic. I like to try and compensate for the dummy not being able to move or dodge, so it has to be strong yet flexible enough to avoid breaking a shinai. I want to make a video showing how to make a practice dummy out of stuff from Home Depot or like store and things from around the house,..If someone has access to a welder,..even better,..some steel tubing ( i like chromoly because it's light and strong) some high impact plastic, some pipe insulation foam, and some creativity and you're set !- If you want, I can send you pics of a dummy in various stages of completion with dimensions of arms, head, neck pivot etc. So you can see how to build one yourself. I sell enough of them,..I make them by hand, alot on an anvil, It's hard to keep up like that, but I don't want them to be mass produced,..besides each one so far has requested something different be changed / modified. Let me know if you need any other help or if you need dimensions that seem to be popular.

-Ron Grace

[GRIdesignworks]

Hi ,-

I remembered I added a padded pole from the base for a customer who practiced Naginata,..I'm sorry,..I know very little about the art but I know the request was to allow a certain strike low.

[Bruce Mitchell]

Thank you for the reply. I have put together dummies using old equipment and found that the mengane wears out bamboo really quickly and so have tried using waxed twine and leather wraps around the upper bars, your solution sounds even better. It was not apparent from the photos, maybe some close-ups. It looks like a greta product. Good luck.

[GRIdesignworks]

Hi,- yeah,..just buy a couple of feet of clear hose at a hardware store for a couple bucks and split the tube down the middle with some scissors,..it will snap right over the bars ,..a good $ 2 investment. My favorite dummy is one I made from both steel and wood. Wood for the skeleton for pivoting, and wood to bulk it up ,..then wrap it at strike points with 1/2 braided old rope,..I left the steel raw so it looks like something out of an old samurai movie,..pretty cool. Might give you some other ideas.

-Ron

[GRIdesignworks]

10621 hopefully this works to see the tubing on the bars

[GRIdesignworks]

Here are a couple of pics of the dummy with the pivot at the base, and a new one that will have an extra pivot at the base for tsuki, as well as the head movement.