How do you make a kendo stick?

Answer 1

Its better to simply buy it; bamboo is not readily available here in the U.S. If you know someone who is a carpenter, or has experience working with wood, you can always make your own wooden sword. You need to be careful with the engineering though; although seemingly a wooden stick, the curvature of a bokken is designed to mimic that of a Katana, so the measurements need to be precise. Its the same for a suburito, if you do not give it the right curvature it just won't handle the same. Also, price does determine quality; generally the more expensive bokken and suburito handle better than the cheaper ones.

Another point of shock, is the price tag; people are often shocked to discover that some bokken may run up to $200. Well, all people except those who work with wood; individuals who do carpentry as a hobby know full well some types of wood aren't cheap. Hickory, because its extremely tough, is very hard to work with, hickory wood is so tough that in olden times they used it to make hammer handles. Hickory is quite possibly, the best kind of wood to use to make a wooden sword if you live in America. Almost guaranteed not to break, no matter how vigorous your sword play may be.

Again though when making a bokken or suburito you need to know what you're doing, and it stands to reason that, assuming you've got the money and the patience, that the best kind can only be bought from Japan. I have handled both American made, and Japanese made bokken, and yes there IS a difference, you can feel it.