Shinai Review - RAN from All Japan Budogu

"Ran" from All Japan Budogu

I purchased some shinai from Andy last year, Ichou "Deluxe Jissengata Shinai" , to use for both practice and shiai and was pleased with the quality and longevity of the two shinai that I purchased. 

A few weeks ago I order two more and decided to try out one of All Japan Budogu's more expensive shinai, Ran, a deep smoked bio dobari shinai made from top quality madake bamboo.

Initial impressions of the Ran were that it was first of all a beautifully made shinai and that it has quite a large swell at the area close to the hands. This large swell is known to make shinai feel lighter at the kensen, and the Ran feels extremely light when held in kamae or swung. The leather fittings are of good quality too and the shinai comes with a double loop tsuka-gawa (leather grip).

I was very impressed with the shinai and eager to try it out in keiko, last night I decided to use it for the first time and was just as impressed while using it as I was looking at it initially.

With its normal sized grip, the shinai sits comfortably in my hands, added to the wide dobari and light tip I found the shinai very easy to maneuver, kihon uchi and waza practice were a joy and I felt that my strikes were landing with more precision during the waza practice especially. The shinai's light feeling also help to make my strikes during San Dan waza (three stage attacks such as; kote men men, kote kote men, etc) much quicker.

During keiko I was very happy with the feeling of lightness, I could pull off sharp and quick debanna strikes easily and the shinai's wonderful balance was helping me to keep my cuts small with no extra movement that sometimes comes with a heavier feeling shinai.

Overall, I'm very impressed with Ran, its well balanced and well made from Madake bamboo, the large dobari makes the shinai feel extremely light in the hands, and the leather fittings are of a high quality. It also looks great!
I look forward to using it for special practices and shiai, and I will certainly consider buying one again in the future.

I recommend this shinai for people going for shiai or grading, or to those looking for something special for practice.

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