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Ok, big moment…our very first attempt to kick of our Samurai Sword TV Channel. Paul Chen Swords are well know in the sword community so in this video I took Paul Chen’s praying mantis katana and try to show you some details, such as the difference between a shobu zukuri and a shinogi zukuri blade.

I surprised myself by talking that much…

Now we need your feedback here folks since we have more to come in terms of reviews and how to video’s (if i say ‘tsukamaki’ you start to get the point… ). So what do you like to see and how do you like to see it ?

In this video, the lighting and the background sucks big time so we’re going to change that. The guy who is talking to you , he….well unfortunately we can’t replace him, unless you like to come over to take your position in front of the camera we have to stick with him for now.

So help us out here and leave your reply below this post…really appreciate it and only with your help we can make things better !!

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As promised in our last newsletter, I picked up the camera and the Bushido &  Tamahagane Katana so here you go…. The Bushido (one of  Paul Chen Swords)  came back after a ‘trip’ to Poland where it was damaged during the transport (doesn’t happen very often but once in a while ) so we replaced it and does offer it now for 650 euro. The saya has some damage on the toppart and there are some scratches in the blade’s etching.

The second katana is a tamahagane katana that was made by a Chinese forge who doesn’t excist anymore. Too bad because their work wasn’t that bad at all but lot of forges in China these days does feel the bad economical situation and lot of them had to close their doors. Problem here is the counter polished kissaski, some black dots on the kissaski and a seppa that is a little loose.

If you’re interested in one of these 2, leave a reply right under this post here,  send me a mail at dave@samurai-sword-shop.com or call me…don’t say you don’t have any options here

If you don’t receive our newsletter yet, just subscribe on the homepage (right corner of the screen..)

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In this part of the series, Rich Myers, the owner and operator of Rei-Mon Buki will show the different tools he uses to carve the wood.

The first tool that he uses is the plain. And he advises that you use a glove to protect your hand. The main topic in this series is to carve the edges to give the wood an oval shape. Generally, he shaves off the corners of the wood to make an oval shape.

The second tool is the sand block. He uses it to smoothen the surface of the wood. This process will be discussed on the next part of the series.

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In the second part of the series he shows us how to make a design for a Bokken.

In designing a Bokken, we are looking at three points:

• Point 1 - the link of the handle
• Point 2 - the link of the blade
• Point 3 - the curve, how much curve we want

The first step in weapon design is the blade length. Rich uses his ruler to get the length of the blade by relaxing his arms on his side and setting the ruler about 1 inch above the ground while swaying it.

The next step is the handle length. There are two methods in getting the length of the handle: The first method is the three-hand method wherein you measure the handle by overlapping your hands from the edge three times. The other method is the position method. In the position method you place a close fist on your belly button and place the end of the weapon and keep that distance, with the other hand pointing straight about chin high and then rock your hand up and then swing your arm from your shoulder and grab the weapon - that is the size of your handle.

The curve, really serve no purpose or function.

The final part in designing your weapon is getting the right height and width and to get this we use the rule of thumb. You press your thumb at the end of the wood and it has the same size as the wood. The perfect size should be, your right fingers should be touching the hand and should be covering that part of the Bokken, If your fingers are overlapping your hand then it is small and if it shows a space between your hand and the fingers then it is big. On your left hand the grip is basically the same except for the little finger gets a little more grab. The left hand is for holding and the right hand is for guiding the Bokken.

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Rich Myers is the owner and operator of Rei-Mon Buki specializing in weapons, striking, and training, specifically cutting Bokken. In this first part of a four -part series, Rich will show us how to pick a piece of wood for a Bokken.

You can actually make a Bokken out of any piece of hard wood. In the 16 years that Rich is making Bokken, he prefers to use American Hickory because it is resilient, strong and not too heavy but has a nice heft. For Bokken, it has almost everything you need.

Rich classifies the wood into two grades, the A-grade and the B-grade; anything lower than B grade is really not suitable for Bokken, it will just break down easily. What he is trying to make is something that will last long.

A-grade kind of wood has nice clear grain and specifically has a vertical grain line at the end. This kind of wood is very strong because you’re hitting multiple levels of growth rings at a time. Unlike that with a horizontal grain line at the end where you hit one growth ring at a time - it will easily break.

B-grade kind of wood also has a nice clear grain but instead of a vertical line at the end, it has a 45 degree angle. It is not really bad for a Bokken but it doesn’t have the perfect grain as the A-grade.

With the Hickory B-grade wood, you can see the line between the sapwood and the hardwood, while in the A-grade you can find wood that is made-up of all hard wood. It is a little bit denser and a little bit heavier.

In closing Rich says: “No training weapon becomes an old friend like the one you cut yourself.”