Komonjo for iai?

[brandon]

Hello,

 

I was not sure which category to post this under. Has anyone who purchased a komonjo “gendaito” actually used it for iaido or tameshigiri?

 

- Are they safe to use?

- Are they sharp or do they need to be sharpened / re-polished?

- Are the yokote cross polished or geometric?

 

For 2.8 shaku nagasa, the prices are reasonable (compared to production swords). But getting habaki and koshirae made is not insignificant.

 

Thank you in advance!

Brandon

[16k]

In order:

-Have one

-Never used it for Iai but looks safe

-Extremely sharp

-Real Yokote

[Ken-Hawaii]

Welcome to the forum, Brandon.

 

Unless your sensei says otherwise, you should use an iaito for iaido. Also, since this forum is for the study & preservation of traditionally-made blades, I recommend buying a modern shinken for tameshigiri.

[Greg F]

What Ken said +100

 

Greg

[16k]

And I agree too. Somehow, even Komonjo’s blade are too beautiful for tameshigiri. Use a Chinese copy.

[brandon]

Thank you all for the feedback. 16k, thank you for confirming real yokote. I have an iaito and was looking at options for longer shinken and the komonjo pricing is inline with higher end production shinken (which is how I was mentally categorizing these).

 

Again, appreciate it!

Brandon

[jeremy]

Hey Brandon, i don't know your level of training , however at those lengths you should bare in mind the weight of the sword if you will use it for iai. I learnt the hard way training with a 1400 grams sword for 9 years , gave me all sorts of issues with tendonitis etc...my current sword weighs 1200 grams. Its a good weight for iaido and tameshigiri. Just my few thoughts

Jeremy

[16k]

Brandon,

 

Of course, the blade came bare. I used a Japanese Iaito I had, removed the fake blade and used the koshirae for the Komonjo blade. I had very little modifications to make it fit. You might try going that road, cost less that having a new Habaki and koshirae made.

[Novak77]

In order:

-Have one

-Never used it for Iai but looks safe

-Extremely sharp

-Real Yokote

 

 

^^^ This ^^^

 

I have a Gendaito from Mike (Komonjo) and my Sensei has nothing but good things to say about my decision.

 

Cheers

[Ken-Hawaii]

Your decision to use it for iai/tameshigiri? If so, please go back & read #3.

[brandon]

Old post, but I ended up opting for a motohara custom production sword vs komonjo.

 

Thanks

Brandon

[Dave R]

Nice to have the end of the story.

[Katsujinken]

The Motohara blades are the best production swords on the market right now, in my opinion. Jason, the owner, trains in Toyama Ryu and is a great guy.

 

And Ken, I appreciate that you want people to be safe, but literally every time a thread like this comes up you jump in to tell the person to talk to their sensei, don’t use shinken, etc. Respectfully, sometimes your tone comes off as patronizing because you appear to assume that 1) the person isn’t studying a style in which shinken are actually required; and 2) the person isn’t experienced or smart enough to have already considered your points to begin with.

 

Your heart is in the right place, and I know you are an experienced martial artist, but after a dozen of these threads I hope you’ll consider this feedback. There are lots of other experienced martial artists out there, too, and sometimes they might want advice on blades and not whether or not it’s appropriate for them to buy one.