Bokken: Encyclopedia - Bokken

Bokken

A Bokken (木剣, bok(u), "wood", and ken, "sword") is a wooden Japanese sword (or sabre), usually the size and shape of a katana (though wakizashi and tanto-sized are available). They are also known as bokutō (木刀, "wooden sword"), which is also the usual term in Japan.

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, and aikido, while being primarily an empty-handed art, also features bokken training. The focus of the bokken in some aikido dojo is not that of a weapon, but that of a tool to enchance 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 practise 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.

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 South East 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.

Some of the bokken that are a step up from the red oak ones, will use superior woods. Japanese white oak, also known as Kashi, has been a proven staple, having a tighter grain than any red oak wood, and 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 but a common drawback of these heavy and hard materials is the tendency towards brittleness. Many of the exotics are suitable for suburi (solo practice) but not 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.

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 made from an oar.

Bokken - In fiction

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 Sazuka uses a bokken as her weapon of choice. It is stated 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 Ruroni Kenshin one of the main characters Karou Kamiya and her students Yahiko Myojin and Hitaru Tsukayama all wield bokkens as their weapon of choice following the teachings of Kamiya Kashin Ryu

See also

• Iaido
• Kendo
• Kenjutsu

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Bokken", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki