I'm interested in purchasing a longer bokken, something approaching the length of a daito (A horse sword, generally longer than a katana). Additionally, does anyone know of any sword styles that place and emphasis on daito styles?

dont know if there's any style's that teach it but the bokken i use is 54 inch's long 12 inch handle 42 inch blade.

The term daito commonly refers to the katana, not something longer than that. The wakizashi would be a koto or kodachi, and daito and kodachi together are reffered to as daisho.

Depending on the length and period, there are many names that could be used to refer to longer than usual swords. O-dachi would be one, so would choken.

One style that uses such long swords would be the Kage Ryu. However, finding instruction in such a style in the US is probably near impossible. These things are learned in Japan, pretty much no way around it.

Need a little help....

Are you looking to purchase the bok-ken or are you looking to train in the art? I only know of two arts, both from southern Japan which focus on the larger No-Tachi or O-Dachi weapon. I think one is called JIKI-RYU and the other is (Shin)KAGE-RYU. I would bet both of them are probably represented in the States if thats where you are looking. Don't be surprised if you find the practitioners to be a bit---er-- "discerning" if you go to ask questions. People who follow a traditional Ryu are pretty protective of their material since they are always being approached by folks who are more curious than serious.

Now if you are interested in just buying an out-sized bok-ken to investigate what swinging such a large weapon may be like there are a few places that offer such items but you will need to do some digging. SWORD FORUM INTERNATIONAL has a search option that you can check their archives for threads about these items. Also, check under "MIAO DAO" which in some case would approximate the Chinese version. If you are interested in buying an inexpensive replica of the metal item I purchased a rather nice piece from MILITARY REPLICAS for about $200US. Its certainly not some incredible reproduction but then I only use it in my research into the MYTBTJ form (SSANG SOO DAO BO) so it is sufficient for my purposes. I have no idea how it would be in mock battle or for cutting practice. FWIW.

Best Wishes,

Bruce

Is this shinkage Ryu the same as Yagu Shinkage ryu? If so, I believe I have found a supplier for such a weapon.

Try tozando who you can find at www.bokkenshop.com.