Hello:

Precisely what do members do with regard to examining our respective weapons (ie safety/damage check)? Then if, if you find something what do you do about "it"? I found a very minor dent/chip towards the end of a bo I really like the feel and weight of.... I assume I could sand the small chip out... keep things relatively smoothish...

Do YOU leave the chips in your wooden weapons and wait for the ~real damage~ to occur at some future point watching them closely? Assuming you do not go that waiting route, what "fixes" do you specifically use for your particular weaponry??? When do you bury yours...

Thoughts,
J

Sometimes you can steam out a dent in wood. I'd try that before sanding away more material. Or steam it and then lightly sand it. For steaming all you need is a tea kettle on the stove. A neat technique, rather than sanding, that I've used is described on a couple of websites as scraping with the sharp of a knife. Supposed to be more "authentic".

For bo's, though, I try not to do contact with my hardwood bo. It just seems too hard to collect one that has a good straight grain.

For contact work we always use the striped or plain rattan "kumi" bo's. Their problem, though, is shredding at the contact areas, especially if there is much bo-sai play (probably bo-kama play too though we haven't pursued that). I am still experimenting with that, but my current research is in smearing elmer's glue thick and sloppy, all around the the shredded section, and then tightly wrap a narrow strip of worn out bedsheet around it, diagonaly like a barber pole - gluing it in well. I might get a few more miles out of it that way, or it becomes escrima sticks.

The rest of the wood items (tonfa, boken, nunchaku) can be repaired same as the bo, but these ONLY touch other wood.

Sai I just run my hand over now and then to make sure there are no nasty snags and file them down if there are.

Hello Joss:

(A "forum specific" .gif... I love it)

<<you can steam out a dent in wood.>

Help me out here... I what...simply take my boiling water in the tea pot and place the offending dent against the spout????

Sounds incredible... I definately must look this up further...

<<It just seems too hard to collect one that has a good straight grain.

But don't you want to feel that extra... solidity, the extra "weight" during practice, meaning with contact in whatever relative form...? I understand wanting to preserve ones preferred waepon, but unsure how do achieve both the protective AND the necessary contact practice simultainously?

<<smearing elmer's glue thick and sloppy, all around the the shredded section, and then tightly wrap a narrow strip of worn out bedsheet around it, diagonaly like a barber pole - gluing it in well.

Hummmmmngh.... interesting. Kobudo is definately not my area of experience unfortunately. Given the nature of that repair, how do you I don't slide your hands for example? The glue and barber cloth makes things "great grip" but challenging other things???

Am I being too romantic with my "idealized" kobudo practice?
I might get a few more miles out of it that way, or it becomes escrima sticks.

The rest of the wood items (tonfa, boken, nunchaku) can be repaired same as the bo, but these ONLY touch other wood.

Sai I just run my hand over now and then to make sure there are no nasty snags and file them down if there are.

---

"Help me out here... I what...simply take my boiling water in the tea pot and place the offending dent against the spout????"

That's pretty much it. Sometimes it works... or not.

"But don't you want to feel that extra... solidity, the extra "weight" during practice, meaning with contact in whatever relative form...? I understand wanting to preserve ones preferred waepon, but unsure how do achieve both the protective AND the necessary contact practice simultainously?"

Yep... the eternal compromise. We use hardwood bos for kata for the weight. Not for kumite though. The rattan bos are much easier on the participants, as well as perserving the hardwood ones. If I had a nice true grained hardwood bo, maybe I'd use it more. But once you start contact work, you sort of begin to look at bos as short lived.

An interesting counterpoint is: If your practice is most commonly with the rattan bos, should they BE your "real" bo?

You are correct about the glue and wrap being a distraction as well. Bos in this condition are at their final stage and used mostly for sai targets in kumite.

Hello:

Wanted to rekindle this one, see if I could borrow some of the experiences of those who practice a specific or particular ryu of kobudo. Chips, dents, dings... what are problems you need to check for in weapons which might not be immediately obvious, unless you know what to look/feel for???

Whats the basic "safety-usage check" with the classical kobudo weapons which you utilize & study?

J