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● Traditional Padding
In every Mori Budo-gu’s hand sewn bogu, silk floss and mosen felt are used as its padding.
This makes bogu strong enough to endure the hard attacks of shinai, and supple and flexible at the same time.
It is a beautiful work of inherited, and developed in Japan.
Regrettably, the hand-sewn kendo-gu on the market now often use the woolen felt similar to the material for the machine-stitch bogu.
The reason is that the hand-sewing of silk floss and mosen padding is three times as painstaking as woolen-felt sewing.
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Silk floss saves a lot of air in it to make good cushioning like the packing material "bubble wrap".
The soft and protecting nature of silk floss and mosen have contributed to the comfortable usability of our hand-sewn bogu.
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● Elaborate Sewing Method
We do not use naga-sashi method (long-thread, or usual stitch) which leaves the thread seen on the back of futon.
If the back-face stitching thread is long, thread gets loose on the inside at the head, and on the shoulder where the menbuton is bent outward, the back thread also hampers the bending.
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In our method, tsume-sashi (nail stitch), every stitching point is pressured by two finger nails and sewn tight, leaving only fine weave spots on the backside of futon.
Try feel our menbuton at right angle to the stitching direction.
The threads are sunk and won't touch even when the cloth touches your skin.
This method makes the sewing thread free from abrasion.
So the thread endures a long period of use, and plays its proper role to make a good protector.
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● Safety Standard
In 1999, the kendo-gu industries set the standards under the supervision of All Japan Kendo Federation.
We observe the standards using our originally developed testing machine, and continue the study of bogu for further improvement.
"Lightweight Kendo-gu", which is often too light, is made of thin futon and less amount of padding material.
No matter how easy it is to handle, if kendo-gu cannot protect one's body from strong attacks of shinai, bringing on the pain or injuries, it cannot be called "Bogu (protector)".
Kendo-gu demands contradictory elements of protection and free movement.
To deliberate day and night to add ingenuity on the traditional technique, is what Mori Budo-gu considers real “craftsmanship”.
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In our highest grade hand-sewn bogu "Ouzan", real mosen (antique scarlet carpet) is used as its padding.
The antique scarlet mosen is a special material picked up from the tangle of coarse fibers whose cellulose of goat or sheep hair with the resin component vanished in the usage in several decades.
This mosen is wrapped in silk floss and sewn into "Ouzan".
Because of its characteristic uneven thickness, this work is far more difficult than the hand sewing of newly produced, felt-type scarlet mosen.
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Our well-selected mosen is mainly the material from the Meiji era (1868-1912).
Also we stick to the quality of buckskin (deerskin).
We use fumigated brown buckskin, or fumigated indigo-dyed buckskin from chibi-kogara (tiny adult deer).
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● Mosen
Mosen is a luxurious carpet of fabric originated in China in the distant past, which is made from the hair of animal such as sheep, goat, camel, etc., woven with the moisture, proper temperature, compression and friction.
Most of them are dyed deep red and called "scarlet mosen", but there are also indigo-dyed and flower-print mosen.
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Antique scarlet mosen,
lit from the back.
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The mix of old mosen with silk floss has long been used to make bogu light and supple.
Its shock-absorption, pleasant feel and durability are unrivaled.
However it is becoming more and more difficult to obtain the mosen of antiquity.
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● Deerskin
Deerskin is without compare regarding the fineness of the texture in all animal-skin material.
The fine texture runs in every direction, and makes extraordinary condition to keep moisture and hygroscopicity, to be free from that slimy feels of artificial leather.
Deerskin called "Kogara" from a small-sized adult deer is an ideal material having beautiful and fine texture.
We use even smaller and finer "Chibi Kogara" which is hard to handle, and is ceased to be imported now but still in our stock.
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Our deerskins are not chemically dyed.
The brown deerskin is fumigated white deerskin.
By the smoke of burning straws, the oil of the straws permeates the skin, makes it durable against the sweat and sebum, adding the elegant tint on it.
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"Ibushi-kon-gawa" is the indigo-dyed fumigated deerskin.
The natural plant indigo is alkaline, to which the deerskin is vulnerable, so the acidification of fumigation works well to keep its strength.
This method has been less and less pracitced, but we still keep it for "Ouzan" brand hand-sewn kendo-gu.
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Comfortable and secure gripping of shinai |
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Dense stuffing of deer fur will protect your hands from strong attacks of shinai.
It is easy to make kote just flexible; by reducing the amount of padding. But that kind of kote will make your hands hurt and cannot be called a protector.
A hand works in a very complex movement, using its various bones.
Our pursuit for the kote with sufficient padding for a hand protection, without hampering its movement, has resulted in "Rakuken".
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● Deer Fur Padding
Mori Budo-gu uses deer fur in all of our kote heads, although synthetic fill is commonly used these days.
Deer fur has straw-like structure which contains air inside and that makes good cushioning against the attacks of shinai, fitting easily to the hand as well.
So this is the optimum material for kote padding.
The usage of deer fur is the wisdom of our forerunners and Japanese tradition.
However this material costs and requires proficient skill to work on it.
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Shinai, bamboo swords, are made mostly of Taiwanese bamboo called Keichiku, and Japanese bamboo.
Keichiku is used for all levels of swords.
The material is stout and flexible, but the fiber is rough and tends to get crack, so you might as well examine the Keichiku shinai expecially before exercise.
Japanese bamboo called Madake has fine fiber and has enough flexibility, however due to the reduced production, it is quite expensive.
Most swords now are machine made, but several craftsmen are still making the swords by shaving the bamboo with traditional hand-plane, with the heat of burnt charcoal to bend the material.
This traditional work may be extinct in the near future, and we are worried about that.
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● Shinai Maker, Yoshiaki Yamaguchi
Yoshiaki Yamaguchi is the artisan who makes shinai from the material from Tamba, Kyoto, with a traditional plaining tool.
The bamboo from Tamba is an ideal material with its fine and dense fiber, to make the shinai specially flexible and stout.
He can shave the bamboo without cutting its fiber, so his products "Hiei" and "Ouzan" are well reputed of its stoutness.
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● "Ouzan" , "Hiei" , "Yoshihisa" ― Original shinai that Mori Budo-gu is proud of ―
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"Ouzan"
Old sword type without do-bari.
Ultimate good balance beyond comparison.
"Hiei"
Dobari type, popular among experts.
We have considered the total balance and the
finish of the design, to add it our originality.
"Yoshihisa"
Made by a craftsman in Kyusyu of Japan,
who uses madake-bamboo grown in Kyusu.
This is relatively slender shinai with do-bari,
but it has flexible strength and it looks thick
when accessories are set.
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