First Bokken, any tips?

[the beast]

Dave Lowery has a book called "Bokken" that is a break down of movement, strikes, and has a few two man exercises in it. It seems authentic and Lowery has a reliable reputation in those areas.

I'd recommend looking into it.

I also recommend this book .

[bushido_man96]

I played with a few different styles. If I went weapon shield, I usually fought mace and shield. It worked nicely for my more aggressive tendencies. It was more common for me to fight witha katana length sword since that was the kind of thing I was interested in. I would occassionally fight two stick, but not that often.

The the two handed sword really was my bread and butter, however. The only thing I didn't put any time into was the polearms.

Now I want to go did my armor out .

I hear ya. The most focused practice we could do was just get together and fight, and try to drill and such. We did't have many actual fight practices, just lots of fighting time.

[baldwin11]

Looks like I'll be getting that Bokken book by Dave Lowry here soon. BTW, the beast, I see your from Pittsburgh. You wouldn't happen to be a Penguins fan would you?

[the beast]

BTW, the beast, I see your from Pittsburgh. You wouldn't happen to be a Penguins fan would you?

You know it ! Been one my whole life.

[baldwin11]

Heck ya, Me TOO! Since I was 4 or 5. Sweet!

Okay, this isn't exactly the specific forum for that, but I was curious.

[KarateEd]

Dave Lowery has a book called "Bokken" that is a break down of movement, strikes, and has a few two man exercises in it. It seems authentic and Lowery has a reliable reputation in those areas.

I know I am a little late on this but I would also recommend Lowery's book.

[rogue2257]

Looks like I'll be getting that Bokken book by Dave Lowry here soon. BTW, the beast, I see your from Pittsburgh. You wouldn't happen to be a Penguins fan would you?

I have a bokken myself, but its been sitting around here that I've never trained much on how to actually use it. Did you end up getting that book? Is it decent? I've been looking for sources for kata and drills but haven't been able to find much.

[ninjasan11]

I would be careful with how you use your bokken. Dont hit anything hard with it, its not a Shinai which can take a beating. And be mindful of how you strike with it, make sure you dont hit the side of it in any way with force. Hitting to hard and at an angle is how I broke my first two bokkens when I was new haha.

[rogue2257]

I would be careful with how you use your bokken. Dont hit anything hard with it, its not a Shinai which can take a beating. And be mindful of how you strike with it, make sure you dont hit the side of it in any way with force. Hitting to hard and at an angle is how I broke my first two bokkens when I was new haha.

Soooooo you're saying that the wooden practice sword shouldn't be used to practice with? I can't imagine how I would practice combat drills without making contact with other weapons...

I don't mean to downplay your experience by any means.... but are you talking about striking other weapons or random objects? I wasn't intending to try to smash cinder blocks with it, if that's what you meant.

[ninjasan11]

No, of course use it to practice with. Im just saying that bokkens arent the sturdiest things on the planet. If you ever used a shinai, you know you clan slam those things against each other in practice and they wont break. The same cannot be said for bokkens, They just arent as strong, and break easier if they are hit a certain way or with a certain amount of force.

but yes make contact, just take it easy on the force used. and i meant weapon to weapon. Haha that would be pretty cool if you could break cinder blocks with it