Kendo

Xzyon Kenneth Abbott is a Young Thuqq he is a rapper massage therapist and a real dude he is mixed he is a mixed martial artist

Its better to simply buy it; bamboo is not readily available here in the U.S. If you know someone who is a carpenter, or has experience working with wood, you can always make your own wooden sword. You need to be careful with the engineering though; although seemingly a wooden stick, the curvature of a bokken is designed to mimic that of a Katana, so the measurements need to be precise. Its the same for a suburito, if you do not give it the right curvature it just won't handle the same. Also, price does determine quality; generally the more expensive bokken and suburito handle better than the cheaper ones.

Another point of shock, is the price tag; people are often shocked to discover that some bokken may run up to $200. Well, all people except those who work with wood; individuals who do carpentry as a hobby know full well some types of wood aren't cheap. Hickory, because its extremely tough, is very hard to work with, hickory wood is so tough that in olden times they used it to make hammer handles. Hickory is quite possibly, the best kind of wood to use to make a wooden sword if you live in America. Almost guaranteed not to break, no matter how vigorous your sword play may be.

Again though when making a bokken or suburito you need to know what you're doing, and it stands to reason that, assuming you've got the money and the patience, that the best kind can only be bought from Japan. I have handled both American made, and Japanese made bokken, and yes there IS a difference, you can feel it.

http://www.all-karate.com/117/how-to-choose-a-gi

There is a system, but this link will let you convert your size to what size of gi you need.

No, you can retemper a blade to help reset a bend but the hamon is a the unique product of a proper clay forging. You can wirebrush yourself one though, not much point to it. Look into the kaze katana. One of the most practical 'legit' hamon katanas on the market.

EDIT:

Actually, the hamon is a result of the tempering and it is possible to create one on a lower quality sword. However, it will only be good for appearances and nothing more. In a true katana, the hamon is formed when the front edge of the blade is cooled more quickly than the back part of the blade, this causes a slightly different temper in the front making it more brittle and better able to hold an edge while the back is softer and more resilient to impacts. The same effect of different tempers making slightly different "shades" of metal can be achieved by retempering, but this tempering process is also what makes a curve in the blade, as the metal that cooled more quickly won't shrink as much as the metal that cools more slowly, causing the blade to bend backwards when the front ends up being larger/longer than the back. This is because the crystaline structure does not have time to "settle" in the front as it does in the back, causing the formation of iron carbide (I might be remembering ths part wrong but I'm pretty sure that's what is formed). Because of this, you can accidentally make the blade have a VERY extreme curve to it that ends up making it look very strange, even with a more "realistic" hamon. The BASIC process of adding a hamon to a blade is by coating the front of the blade with a thinner mixture of water and clay (sometimes other things such as ash or plant matter) while coating the back with a thicker layer of thicker clay/water mix. the blade is then carefully heated to a very precise temperature (traditionally with sight alone) until it is heated to be around 800 *C (1500 *F) or bright red but not quite yellow hot. the blade is then immediately quenched afterwards in warm (100 *F) water for about 3-4 seconds, then removed to prevent stress fractures by leaving some heat in the blade. Even doing this and somehow preventing over-curving the blade, it still will not be anywhere near a real katana blade, and will at best work as a decorative blade (after using a chemical abrasive to "bring out" the hamon) and at worst (and most likely) be a waste of clay, charcoal, steel, and time as it takes a long time to learn how to make a realistic LOOKING hamon, let alone the real hamon you were asking about.

The uniform worn by kendoka is called a "kendogi" (剣道着), "keikogi" (稽古着) or simply "dogi" (道着). The bottom section is called a hakama (袴) and the top is the actual gi.

In Kendo "men" is the name of the helmet part of the armour. Do you mean how do you score a Men in Kendo, or how do you wear a Men in Kendo? To score a Men (with out using any Japanese words) you must hit you opponents helmet on the top between the two straps. Hitting lower or hitting the metal face guard will not be allowed. You can strike whilst moving in any direction but you lead foot must hit the ground at the same time as your bamboo sword hits you opponent. To show "spirit" you must shout the name of the target as well. Only if you manage to hit the target with the correct part of you bamboo sword at the same time as landing your foot and at the same time as making the call, will the point be allowed. Its much harder than it sounds as you also have to do all this before the other gut does it to you! Wearing a men is just a case of practicing how to tie the straps behind your head and getting it as tight as possible.

ti qundo

http://www.amazon.com/Quality-Super-KEIRYO-Machine-Stitched/dp/B000N3XPHO

that's about the best deal your going to find without a service like EBAY. The entire set is about $600.

It doesen't really matter wether it's practised inside or outside (generally it's practised inside), as long as you get the proper floor. The place where you practise kendo is called a dojo (道場); doujou roughly means "place of the way" since modern Japanese martial arts are usually called "do" (道; way), the place wher it's practised is the "place of the way".

I use 50wt. Motor oil. A good "rule of thumb" is: ANYtime you purchase (new) ANYthing metal, SOAK it in oil 3 days to 2 weeks to PERMEATE the material in question. I've been oiling metal items for 35 years now, so I can say, from personal experience, "It works for me".

HOWEVER, if you are wanting to preserve AN ANTIQUE: DON'T DO IT! -Get an opinion from an antique dealer as you may actually depreciate it's value.

Footnote: DO NOT SOAK THE HANDLE.

Kendo uses, I believe, the same belt grading system common throughout Japan. Like in Judo and Karate at the black belt level there are "Dan" grades.

Pretty much the same grading system used in Judo and Karate (10th to 1st kyu and 1st to 10th Dan*), the only real difference is that in kendo usually there's no difference in belt colour or anything like that, there's no way one can tell the difference between a begginer and an experienced kendoka just looking at the clothes.

*Nowadays, 8th Dan is the highest rank possible in kendo, since there are no more 9th or 10th Dan holders alive.

Kendou, having been adopted into English (Kendo), refers to the sport of swordsmanship. However, looking at the kanji individually, it can be translated as "way of the sword."

Kendo roots lie in mediaeval Japanese fencing (called kenjutsu). As the sword was considered the symbol of the samurai class, kenjutsu tradition was a major cultural aspect of Japan. When the Meiji Revolution took place, teaching arts of war became illegal and martial arts had to turn to a more philosophical approach. This transformation changed the martial arts from "jutsu" (術; technique, art) to "do" (道; way) and became official in 1895. Kendo, as known today, is a standardized form of kenjutsu with focus in the phylosophical aspect of swordmanship instead of focusing on defeating enemies.

'Kup' are the ranks for the color belts under the rank of black belt in Korean martial arts. There are generally 10 to 12 kup levels. White is the lowest kup and brown belt is usually 1st kup.

well not in bradford but there is one in brighouse which i attend. just type in do shin ken yu kai in google XD. we practice once a week on friday from 8.30pm to 10.30pm at brighouse high school.

Wales

It depends on where you live, there are also lots of websites that sell both clothing (armor and uniform) and weapons (shinai, bokuto, etc.). Either way, if you're planning on beginning kendo, you should ask your teacher where to buy the kendo gear.

That's not something you can learn with words. If you want to learn how to use your katana you need to look into the fighting styles. Kenjutsu is the one you want because it teaches you what to do in a real life situation. Now the hard part is finding a place that teaches it locally. If you cant find any try looking for kendo, iaijustsu, or battojutsu. Kendo is a competition sport, iaijutsu and battojutsu are both meant to teach you how to draw your katana and attack in a quick motion.

Kumdo and Kendo are virtually the same martial art with some minor differences. Generally, Kumdo is considered a Korean variant of Kendo and Korean martial artists even participate in the Kendo World Cups. It's argued wether Kumdo developed from ancient Korean swordmanship or simply imported from Japanese Kendo, but in general, both are considered one and the same.