When I began practising Kendo this was the first shinai I bought and I'm pretty much hooked on the oval grip. As another person mentioned, it really feels like a bokuto grip in your hands. For myself, it really helps me keep the right angle on my strikes, especially Do. I'd give it a five but I'm just not experienced enough yet to declare something perfect ;)

The shinai have good balance with its dobari style exelent for any strike Men,Kote,Do and Tsuki, have a thicker grip than regular oval shinai is good for bigger hands, i heavely recomend to buy with its tsuba included because it is a little width than the regular tsuba.


El shinai tiene buen equilibrio con su estilo dobari excelente para cualquier golpe Men, Kote, Do y Tsuki, tiene un agarre más grueso que el shinai ovalado normal es bueno para manos más grandes, recomiendo comprarlo con su tsuba incluido porque es un poco ancho que la tsuba normal.

The cost of this shinai is extremely reasonable. The Koban grip is amazing and I really do love this shinai. Because of this, I will be buying another soon.

I do all my kendo shopping with Bogu Shop because Lynn has always been amazing to deal with, the quality is amazing and the price is extremely fair.

This shinai is a great quality at at even better price! I just used it at practice last night and it feels amazing. Next time I have bogu needs I’m going to shop at bogushop!

Very happy with this shinai. The tsuka is girthy and not whispy like most koban shinai. The heavier/solid feel of the tsuka is important to me for proper hasuji and ability to maintain proper kamae. Worth the money for sure. My only gripe is they need to make it in a koto style as well as dobari.

Very happy with this shinai. The tsuka is girthy and not whispy like most koban shinai. The heavier/solid feel of the tsuka is important to me for proper hasuji and ability to maintain proper kamae. Worth the money for sure. My only gripe is they need to make it in a koto style as well as dobari.

Very happy with this shinai. The tsuka is girthy and not whispy like most koban shinai. The heavier/solid feel of the tsuka is important to me for proper hasuji and ability to maintain proper kamae. Worth the money for sure. My only gripe is they need to make it in a koto style as well as dobari.

Just received these shinais today. I'm used to using koban so nothing really out of the ordinary on the feeling. I did have a pleasant surprise of having tsuba and tsubadome included. The nodes are also matching (one other korean supplier had mismatched bamboo) so I could swap take between them, though not as much as a round shinai. Overall great price and Ivan replies to mails.

Grip seems to add control and precision to my strikes. Feels much like a bokuto in the hand. Very well balanced for me... might be a little slower but more accurate. Good for us older guys!

We are very proud of our Ryougi series as it is made for Kendoka with slightly bigger hand yet still want an extremely comfortable grip with good maneuverability.

When I received them at first, I was surprised at how big the grip was and how light they felt. Fortunately, I have pretty large hands and they ended up being perfect for me. Haven't seen any other large grip Koban style out anywhere else on the web. I've been using those for 2 years now and can't switch to anything else. Plus, they're just as durable as any higher priced Madake out there (sometimes more). They've become my personal classic!

unlike other Koban shinai i've used, this Koban shinai has a bigger grip and feels really oval. felt great!