KOBUDO (BOKKEN)

It is with the birth of the ryu system (organized systems of teaching martial arts) that craftmen began to fashion the bokken (a wooden mock word) still in existence today, little changed. The bokken offered several advantages over a live blade in training at the ryu dojo. Aside from safety, it was also a good way to preserve the edges of expensive steel swords. The Japanese katana is forged so that its spine is quite mallable, allowing it to absorb considerable punishment in striking and thrusting, yet it has a brittle, razor-sharp edge that permits its great cutting power. From this combination of hard and soft emerged a deadly bladed weapon, but one that could easily be damaged if the cutting surface came in harsh contact with another hard object. Some fencers claimed the bokken to be superior in training for it also allowed certain techniques like kesa gake (cut and twist) which places a lot of stress on the blade and handle connection.

A folktale exist of Miyamoto Musashi who, with a crudely carved bokken from an oar, met and defeated Sasaki Kojiro armed with his katana 'Frost Silver' on a sandy islet in the middle of the Kanmon Straits, in Southern Japan.

Kendo replaced the bokken with the shinai, a flexible weapon of lenghts of bamboo lashed together. But because of the lack of curvature, balance and weight it is far less than the real thing, and it encourages hitting rather then cutting.