Bokken

A pair of bokken

A bokken (木剣, bok(u), "wood", and ken, "sword") or more traditionaly known as 'Bokuto', is a wooden Japanese sword, usually the size and shape of a katana,but can be made to replicate any type of sword. Other common shapes are wakizashi and tanto. They are also known as bokuˑtō (木刀, "wooden sword"), which is also the usual term in Japan.

Contents

1 Usage
2 Construction
3 History
4 Types of Bokken
5 Wood types
6 Media depiction
7 See also
8 External links

Usage

A bokken is a training sword, used as a relatively safe and inexpensive substitute for a real blade in several martial arts. They are used in the early stages of iaido when a practitioner has not yet reached the level where use of a iaito would be safe. The exception would be when a certain kata involving two people is performed. Then the veteran iaidoka will use a bokken for safety reasons. There are also specially designed bokken made for sword drawing only. These are, for the most part, supplied with a plastic or wooden saya and are generally slimmer than a normal bokken and not suited for regular sword techniques.

Kenjutsu makes heavy use of the regular bokken in various drills, as does the Bujinkan as well as other Ninjutsu systems while aikido, being primarily an empty-handed art, features bokken training on a less extensive basis. The focus of the bokken in some aikido dojo is not that of a weapon, but that of a tool to enhance focus. These wooden swords often have a smooth transition between handle and blade and are not used with a hand guard (tsuba). Other bokken are made to accept a hand guard (tsuba) and have a clearly defined transition between the handle section and the blade.

Bokken are used for the practice of kendo; to learn to make proper strokes and get accustomed to the curvature of the blade, as well as to practice the kata (forms). More than a few kata take advantage of the curvature of the blade and the presence of the tsuba to block the opponent's sword. This is not possible with the straight "blade" of the shinai.

Many Aikido techniques come directly from the Japanese sword. Aikido practices a slightly different form of sword work from other Japanese arts known as Aiki-Ken. The bokken is used in Aikiken to learn proper body position and distance from the attacker to be in the safest and most powerful position. Philosophically, Aiki-ken stresses the importance of moving into the safest killing position, allowing the Aikidoka the option to not perform the killing blow.

Construction

The quality of the bokken is derived from several factors. The type of wood used, along with the quality of the wood itself, and the skill of the craftsman, are all critical factors in the manufacture of a good quality bokken.

First, and most importantly, is the selection of the wood used to make the bokken. Almost all mass produced inexpensive bokken are made from porous, loose-grained southeast Asian wood. These bokken are easily broken when used in even light to medium contact drills, and are best left to work in kata only. Furthermore, the wood is often so porous, that if the varnish is stripped off the inexpensive bokken, one can see the use of wood fillers to fill the holes.

While most species of North American red oak are pretty much unsuitable for any serious work with a bokken, there are some Asian species of red oak that have a significantly tighter grain, and will last longer.

Superior woods, such as Japanese white oak, also known as Kashi, has been a proven staple, having a tighter grain than any red oak wood. Another choice, hickory wood, seems to have a very good blend of the factors that contribute to a wood's suitability (toughness, impact resistance, hardness, etc), while still having a relatively low cost.

The use of exotic hardwoods is not unusual when looking at some of the more expensive bokken. Some wooden swords are made from Brazilian cherrywood (Jatoba), others from purpleheart, and some very expensive ones made from Lignum Vitae. Tropical woods are often quite heavy, a feature often sought in bokken despite the drawback of these heavy and hard materials having a tendency towards brittleness. Many of the exotics are suitable for suburi (solo practice), but not for paired practice where there is hard contact with other wooden swords or sticks.

The most important caveat when making generalizations on wood quality is that there are differences between individuals within a species, and a bokken made of any particular wood type might be quite a bit different from another of the same wood type.

A suburito is a bokken designed for suburi. Suburi, literally "bare cutting," are solo cutting exercises. Suburito are thicker and heavier than normal bokken. One wielding a suburito has to develop both good technique and strong muscles to wield one. Their weight does, however, tend to make them poorly balanced; consequently, they are not used for paired practice.

History

Historically, bokken are as old as Japanese blades, and were used for the training of warriors. Miyamoto Musashi, a legendary kenjutsu master, was infamous for fighting fully armed foes with only one or two bokken. He defeated several master swordsmen in this way, including Sasaki Kojiro. Sasaki was armed with a deadly Nodachi great sword, but Musashi slew him with a bokken he made from an oar during the ferry boat ride to the duel.

Types of Bokken

The following list is the basic styles of bokken made, all bokken will fit into atleast one of the catagories.

1.) Daito (Katana Sized)

2.) Shoto or Wakizashi Bo(Wakizashi Sized)

3.) Tanto Bo (Tanto Sized)

And,

4.) Suburi - Which is less of a classification than the earlier mentions, it can be made in daito and shoto sizes but it is meant for kata training. They are much heavy and harder to use, developing greater muscles, increasing skills with 'normal' sized bokken. One famous user of Suburi sized bokken is Miyamoto Musashi who used one in his duel against Sasaki Kojiro.

Bokken can also be made in any style of weapon required such as nagamaki, no-dachi, yari, naginata, kama, etc... The few examples above are the most widely-used.

Wood types

Studies done on wood for bokken use have found that in all cases Appalachian Hickory (also know as impact grade hickory) is the best possible wood for bokken use, its sheer strength and flexibility make it next to impossible to break under normal use, and does not loose quality over the years like other woods. Appalachian hickory have numbered levels to judge there best usage ranging from 3 with a density of .75sg to 7 with a density of .97sg. Level 3 is good for light contact and will longer then most woods, but, level 7' strength is unmatched with any wood (even Japanese white oak which is the most commonly used wood for bokken use) and will last for years with out any change in the grain or quality of the wood.

However, no matter the quality or strength of a wood, no bokken is indestructible and will break if put under enough stress.

Media depiction

The suburito has been popularised in Neal Stephenson's cyberpunk novel Snow Crash as the "redneck katana". It is described as "a one-metre-long piece of heavy rebar with tape wrapped around one end to make a handle. The rebar approximates a katana, but it is very much heavier."

In the anime series Outlaw Star the assassin Twilight Suzuka uses a bokken as her weapon of choice. Gene Starwind believes that the reason for this is in order to prevent detection from metal detectors.

In Usagi Yojimbo, the main character and his son, Jotaro were allowed to wield a bokken in their youth.

In Rurouni Kenshin, Kamiya Kaoru uses a bokken, as her family's Kamiya Kasshin Ryu forbids lethal swords. Her students Myōjin Yahiko and Tsukayama Yūtarō wield shinai.

In the manga and anime the main character, Ryoko Mitsurugi used a Bokken exclusively as her weapon of choice.

In the manga and anime Shaman King there is a character called Ryunosuke Umemiya who was nicknamed "Bokuto no Ryu", or as he is known in the English manga, "Wooden Sword" Ryu (In the English anime he is called "Rio.") The Bokken/Bokuto is his signature weapon.

In the manga and anime Ranma ½, Upperclassman Tatewaki Kuno uses a bokken as his signature weapon, though it often fall short in duels with Ranma.

In Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok, Narugami uses a wooden sword that is actually Thor's hammer Mjollnir in disguise.

External links

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