Customer Reviews

Single 40" Hardwood Datio Bokken Kendo Practice Sword

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

The cord-wrapped handle is a great idea, offering more of a real sword-like look as well as a firmer grip. My hands tend to get sweaty and slip around a bit with long practice, particularly with the sealed lacquered finish on most bokken. This wrap really helps (though it needed a touch of glue to get it to stay in place). The two-piece guard design is a nice enhancement too. Though you really don't need the guard at all for many applications it is nice looking and appears stronger than the original.

It's still a fairly cheap piece of wood, compared to an ironwood version, but at this price (it was $9.99 when I bought it) you really can't go wrong. A nice enhancement over the basic bokken. I do, however, prefer the natural wood version to this one as it looks pretty bad once you start using it and the color scrapes off. Nevertheless, if you want an inexpensive practice sword this one is recommended...

First, this is not a sparring bokken. It's not solid enough for hitting things on a regular basis, the wood isn't treated so yours, like mine, might have some minor surface cracking, and the tsuba is an ill-fitting piece of plastic with a rubber stopper.

However, this really is an excellent goofing-off sword well worth the price. I originally ordered it for home but liked it so much I kept it at the office and ordered another. It's a good stress reliever to swing that thing around my desk during the day. The cording, a nice touch that most wooden swords don't have, is solid and feels great. I epoxied the tsuba permanently on to mine and I highly recommend doing so to yours; it makes ALL the difference on this product. The weight is nice for practicing swings and the length is perfect.

If you're expecting high-quality training equipment for this price you'll be sorely disappointed. But, if you want something fun to play around with you could do a lot worse than this sword.

I purchased this boken a week ago. I received in it 4 day and it seemed like it was in good shape. It came in a slender package and wasn't difficult to pull out. The boken had a well weaved wrap on the handle. The blade seems like it is in good shape. I choose to use the seems. Within the week, the tip of the blade already lost a chunk of wood. I didn't do any strenuous activity with the boken. A little chunk of wood about 2-3 inches long and 1/2 and inch think came off of the tip. After that happened, I looked at the wood. It is very knotted up and even seems black as if it has been rotting or had some water in it.

The little tsuba was interesting though. Inside the package was a little rubber nub that slides down the blade to the hilt. The little nub sits just above the wrapping, and you are supposed to take the hard plastic/wood (I'm unsure of its material), and slide it over the nub. I couldn't get the tsuba over the nub very well and left it off. It seems purely cosmetic though.

All in all, I am returning it and getting my money back. The boken would make a nice prop or even something to swing around. Be careful swinging it around though. It wouldn't surprise me if you slightly nick a wall or something and a small piece comes flying off of it.

Just got my bokken and I'm sad to say it has cracked and is already chipped. Looks like it's been used to chop down a tree. I mean honestly, seems as if they threw it in a box with blatant disregard about the product or customer's satisfaction at all. Needless to say I will be returning it asap.

i bought two of them so that i could mess around with one of them. for instance i have a giant wild cactus field up in this lot by my house, so i use it to slice through them so i know its realy sturdy, because the cactus has broken a pvc pipe before. so my point is buy it!!!!!!!!!!!

Overall, it was pretty good, I was a little disappointed in the quality of this sword. There were several cracks in the finish of the sword. Nothing huge, just minor eyesores.

I bought this sword, and when i got it, the package was already opened, and the sword has some engravings on the side, one side has some japanese lettering, and the other side says "musashi". I was expecting a blank black training sword, and that is not what i got :/

I ordered this from Amazon about a year ago along with the Forza video.

It is a decent production, no wood splinter and the weight feels consistent and balanced. Personally this bokken has the right weight; it is light enough for me to get into things, but have sufficient weight that it helps me to firm up my muscle groups. Note, I am only using this for exercise, not Kendo, so I do not know how this item would serve some one interested in Kendo.

The down side is that if you do end up sweating in your hands (which I do), the wrapping do come off within few months after daily use. But, if you wear a glove then the wrapping really doesn't matter, neither does the plastic guard which I also don't use. The finish will also rub off on walls depending on the paint used; I once simply lean the bokken on a wall, that resulted in a black mark which took me nearly 10 minutes to get rid off without actually repaint the wall.

Overall, I'd say for the price this is an excellent exercise tool, provided you are aware of possible coloring of the wall and wrapping coming off.

they are black, they arrived on time, they are bokkens, and they are wooden. i ordered 4 of them and they all showed up different sizes. it's like they guess-timated or eyeballed the 40" length while making them.

what you should know:
they showed up full of saw dust so be prepared to wipe them down when you get them. don't count of 40" exactly cause at least 2 of the 4 i ordered at the same time were short. personally i expect more from a retailer...

First, this is an excellent value for the price. However, having said that, I have to say this is probably best used as a non-contact practice sword. I don't know what type of wood it is made from, but it doesn't seem heavy enough to be oak. The blade has some irregularities in it, like the wood was scooped out slightly with a spoon. It also has oriental characters carved into the blade. The characters are highlighted with gold paint, giving the sword a very nice appearance. However, I fear all of these will contribute to weaken the blade. The plastic retaining ring was too loose, and I had to glue it onto the sword to keep the tsuba in place.

The cord wrapping and the detail on the tsuba make this an attractive piece. I could certainly recommend it for doing kata, but not for anything where it meets firm resistance, such as against another sword. I would certainly buy this item again for the use I intended for it. For the money, it is a good value.