kansai vs kanto

How to tie the men?

We have 2 options, kansai or kanto.
Whats the difference?


Kansai style:

The men himo (8 shaku long) are attached by one single piece of leather at the top of the mengane.

Kanto style:

The men himo (7 shaku long) are attached by two leather pieces at the "cheeks" of the mengane.

All Japan Pitch nemesis kote - review

These are the most paradox kote ever, wow...

Nemesis, a name that screams business.
The Nemesis gear is (better said was) the 100% shiai dedicated bogu line from AJB.

When there is bogu with added padding and so on for intense Keiko to minimize shinai impact,
then you have the complete opposite with the nemesis bogu.

The idea is to remove everything unneeded and preserve only the bare necessities.
So, you´ll end up with a high performance, ultralight weight and flexible shiai beast of a bogu.


Now the kote:

-full, genuine orizashi reinforced cotton construction
-5mm cross-pitch-stitching
-AllJapan Shin leather (artificial) micro punch palms
-proudly made in Japan

AJB bamboo doh - review

I fulfilled myself a long time dream by buying a beautiful bamboo do.

Yes, take do. The pinnacle of kendo gear dreams (affordable dreams, don't even think about same do...).

What do we got:

-60 slate bamboo do-dai

-kiji do-dai covered with a thin layer of ki-urushi lacquer.

-almost plain mune with a thin stripe of same (yes, a little bit of fanciness had to be obtained)

All Japan Pitch guardian kote - review

Let's start with a keen statement:

They are simply the best pair of kote I've ever owned.

Yes they are.

Guardian, a name that promises protection.

A promise you won't be disappointed from.

The guardian series are advertised as having extra protection compared to standard kote.

They are in first place designed for those  who often act as motodachi or are mainly on the receiving side.

What do we have:

-full shoaizome orizashi construction

-10mm All Japan Pitch Stitching 

-genuine smoked deer skin tenouchi 

why take doh is better....(yes, it is)

Alright,

Don't we all truly fancy for a genuine bamboo do?

I allways did and due to the holy and glory times of modern interwebs, the prices for take do dropped from tremendous expensive to at least "affordable".

Except for same do, those thingies still want to be paid with 2000€ and more, wow....

Anyway, after scraping up some leftover cash for a year, I made the order.

What I got really pleased me.

I went for a kiji do (raw hide) with a thin coating of brownish ki-urushi laquer.

The mune is sort of plain with a thin stripe of shark skin (don't blame me, it just looked too nice to me.... And still does).

Here's a picture: