sword specs of cheness tenchi and its applications

by Jerry
(San Diego)

QUESTION: I am currently learning weapons training and unarmed martial arts as well as experimenting things and researching on my own with regard towards Japanese martial arts and the katana. I know cheness blades make very good cutters and beaters, but are a bit heavy. However, how well do they far as blades for iai and battojutsu?

Will having a bohi or no bohi make learning iai and batto impossible or will it just make things a bit more interesting and time consuming?

Also, I am learning to use to hilt as well as the blade. Do you think i should get the tsuka extended to 12/13 inches or will 11 inches do just fine?

ANSWER: The Cheness swords are designed for Dojo applications, and most of their customer base are martial artists - so they will be fine for iaido, kenjutsu, battodou, etc. :-) There is a video on my Dojo Cutters section which shows a Cheness sword being used in a dojo setting..

As to the bo-hi, it depends on what you are trying to do. A Cheness sword with bo-hi is better suited to forms and cutting - while the non bo-hi version is really a dedicated cutter, with a more forward center of balance.

And the tsuka, the 11" grip is more than adequete for most people. If you want to get it extended, it is really a matter of personal preference.

Hope this helps.

- Paul