For those of you who are thinking of buying new bogu, here are a few observations on the “new bogu experience”.
1) It’s probably going to be stiff. For me, this has meant more pressure on my ears. The first class I had to take my men off to give my ears a break. I’ve had around a 1/2 dozen practices with the new men and now I can go for a full class with them.
2) You’re going to get blue. Mostly from the himo (strings) I find. The men has also “leaked” some blue – mostly on the neck and onto the tenegui when I’ve sweat a lot.
3) Your hands will smell like bacon. This depends if you get a set of kote with smoked deerskin palms. Otherwise, it’ll just smell like sweat ; )
4) Your glasses may not fit properly. If you wear corrective lenses, you may find they don’t fit inside the new men. This is the case with me, so I will be looking for a set of Kendo glasses.
Aside from these items, one other thing I’ve noticed is that I don’t feel men strikes as much. That’s probably due to the stiffness of the men. My old men was pretty soft but I could feel every hit.
It may take some time to get used to, but new bogu is a good investment. Even a moderately priced set (decent sets start at around $400) should last you for several years. You can expect to patch or replace the palms in your kote if you’re using them several days a week, so it might be worthwhile to have an extra set around for the inevitable repairs.
I’ve started purchasing through KendoYu (http://www.kendoyu.com). Based in Mississauga, it’s run by Ryan Yu and his sister Lisa. My new bogu is from them and so far, so good. Ryan will also make “house calls” and has visited our dojo already to make sure students are properly measured for their bogu.