Katori Shinto Ryu Bokuto – White Oak Daito

The Katori Shinto Ryu Bokken is made in the specifications necessary for practicing Katori Shinto Ryu Kenjutsu and Kodachi techniques. This Bokken or Bokuto is similar in design to a standard Bokken, but is slightly heavier and also has less Sori (curvature) compared to the standard Bokken.

The Katori Shinto Ryu Bokken is made of high quality Japanese white oak (Shirogashi) and has a fine wood grain in the longitudinal direction. This compact grain gives the wooden sword a great balance between strength and flexibility. This bokken is of course made of 1 piece of wood and is not suitable for a tsuba because the handle and blade are one whole.

What is Japanese White Oak?

The oak wood used for our Bokuto, Shirakashi, is very different from the wood used in bokuto outside Japan. The structure of Japanese oak is uniformly hard, has excellent dent resistance and impact resistance.

Daito

Total length: 97cm

Blade: 70cm

Handle: 27cm

Estimated weight*: 620 g

What is Katori Shinto Ryu?

Katori Shinto Ryu may need no introduction to many as it was one of the very first Koryu Bujutsu (Japanese classical martial arts) introduced to the west by the famous Don Draeger.

Needless to say, it is the oldest surviving martial art in Japan with over 650 years of history.

The style was founded by Iizasa Choisai Ienao after 1000 days of intensive training. The style is characterized by paired kata exercises where multiple movements/techniques are exchanged between the training partners. Another notable feature of the school is its wide range of technical repertoire, a feature often found in Koryu Bujutsu, founded in the Sengoku era or the pre-Edo period when the martial arts skills were mainly used on the battlefield as opposed to to fairly peaceful early-middle Edo. period when martial arts skills were intended for self-defense. Since it is a martial art used on the battlefield, it means you have to be able to handle different weapons, therefore Katori Shinto Ryu practitioner has to learn Kenjutsu, Bojutsu, Naginatajutsu, Iaijutsu, Jujutsu ... and more, which takes years of dedicated training.

You can also see the origins of the battlefield, as many of the techniques assume the use of Yoroi (armor) and target areas are often the opening of an armor, such as the joints.

The style's extensive technical repertoire has been well preserved through the efforts of generations of dedicated practitioners and style has many followers both in Japan and abroad.

*Due to the nature of the material, weight is indicative and may vary.

*Wooden Bucks are very strong BUT a tool for practicing martial arts, hitting it very hard can damage it, be it wood or steel. If you want to use it for abuse, we recommend non-traditional but extremely durable, affordable heavy-duty polypropylene trestles.

*Due to health concerns for our craftsmen in the wood workshop, varnish will be replaced with wax for the finish of all wooden weapons.