Bogu... 2mm? 4mm? 6mm?

good man soo detail.

Sorry for taking a bit longer time to answer and confirm things on this thread. I've met with Ito san the bugo shop maker, and he provided me with some of the answer you guys are looking for. It seems that like what had been said there is in bogu the idea of safety and also usability.

The biggest priority has always been the former and followed by the latter. Following this idea, a bogu that is thread 1.5 bu (F.Y.I:a bu signifies how fine the thread is been sown to make the bogu. A 1.5 bu is equal to a machine stitches of 3 to 4 mm) is the best in terms of protection and are usually recommended. According to him, the original thickness of Bogu before they are sown is around 10 cm thick, depends on the way they sown it and how fine it is been sown, the thickness is pull to a size that you guys are currently see, thus creating and opposite force from the fabric to return to its original size which is been use to reduce the impact of a strike, a good bogu is suppose to protect you from getting hurt from strikes. But when the bogu is sown finer than 1.5 something like 1.0 or lesser, it is hard and very painful to use, since the the fabric ability to repulse the outside impact is lessen greatly due to the whole thread holding the structure strongly.

For a cheaper price and good usability, the 2.0 and 2.5 bu is usually recommended. Since it offers more flexibility. And Ito san wanted to emphasize that the difference between expensive and cheap bogu is not only the material that is been used, extra padding is also put on the bogu. And this differs between bogu makers and also shop. And also, within a class of bogu stitches there are varied grade and quality, this depends on the bogu maker and shop too. For example a 1.5 bu bogu could have a grade ranging from the highest to the lowest. In that way, you could make a bogu of bigger stitches with a high quality bogu. So bogu quality is not that straight forward. It is always good to check with the bogu maker and consult with them, if you want to buy a quality bogu. That is as far as have ask Ito sensei.

Ito sensei have told me though he doesn't have a computer and internet, he is willing to cooperate with you guys so that you guys could have access to better understanding of bogu and kendo equipment, and would like you guys to post question that occur on your mind and need clarification. And i will pass to him the question and he will answer it, plus i will have to translate it also. So it might take sometime around 1 or 2 weeks for me to pass and get the answer. So, douzo.

If i'm not mistaken the "Bu" signifies how fine the stiches are. Other than that i can ask ito sensei bout it. Until then i will halt all my opinion

i want one too billy.


And what about the "bu"? For the handmade bogu there is 1.2 Bu, 1.5 bu......

Wah.. RM8000++...i wish i can have one too.

According to Ito-san the bogu maker I usually visit, the smaller the stitches the better protection it offers, and though it differs between bogu maker, but usually for this high end bogu extra inner pad are added to reduce pain. And the idea of trade off between flexibility and protection is only a big problem for bogu any lower if I'm not mistake than 1.5 mm. anything smaller than that, they call it unworthy to be call a bogu. It depends on the maker too, since i've tried before a 2 mm stiches that really flexible and even better than mine. But of course all this is not cheap one part of the bogu is almost the Rm 8000 or more.

It all comes back to the quality of the materials used to make the bogu. Lower stitch widths 'may' give you extra protection, but it will also cost you flexibility ^^ [or so the people who have these bogu-s say]

The smaller the number, the more stitches the bogu will have and theoretically the more protection you should have.

Personally, I think it's a load of crap counting by the number of bruises I've acquired.

i have no idea what is that mean...

The difference is in the stuff they use to make, quality and inevitably the price X.x Like Tezashi also. Fuuuh... insane stuff.

It's like Kendo's version of Nike and Adidas haha Although I don't know which is which.

why is it different if from tozando? mine is from kendoshop.com. wonderful site.

izzaz wrote:When browsing for bogu, I have always wondered why its written there 2mm bogu, 3mm bogu, all the way up to 5 or 6mm. I was told that this has something to do with the stitching, so can someone clarify for me? And what's the difference between a lower mm bogu and a higher mm bogu?

Just my two cents...

Many people tend to assume that the stitch width denotes the quality of the bogu itself. Then again, it's not entirely correct to my understanding as the materials used by every manufacturer may differ from the other. Basically, the stitch width is related to the stiffness (flexibility) of the bogu. The smaller the stitching with, the stiffer your bogu gets. I was advised to get a 4mm bogu as my first one as 5mm onwards may be too soft and perhaps may not provide sufficient protection.

Then again, if your bogu is from Tozando XD That's a different story.

When browsing for bogu, I have always wondered why its written there 2mm bogu, 3mm bogu, all the way up to 5 or 6mm. I was told that this has something to do with the stitching, so can someone clarify for me? And what's the difference between a lower mm bogu and a higher mm bogu?