I Need a New Set

I missed Aikido on Tuesday and Thursday due to prior school commitments. Today was a completely different story. My wife began a new class today - human development - that is scheduled to run every Saturday from now until December.  Her class gives me the opportunity to go to Saturday weapons class each week. I'm looking forward to that.

We did some good work today with the bokken. I had a lot of fun. Since I was senior student, I worked with Sensei Chris on all the demonstrations. And if you ask me, I think I did a pretty good job as his uke.

That last two weapons classes have made clear to me that I need new weapons. I got mine nearly two years ago as a set. The set included a red oak bo, and a read oak jo staff. When it arrived, the jo had a thick clear finish that stuck to my hands when they got sweaty. I sanded off the finish and put on a few coats of wood oil. It has worked fine for me since then, but it's really gotten beat up over the past two years. It's really dinged up pretty badly now. When I slid the jo up and down my hands, it feels like Swiss cheese moving under my fingers.

The bokken, while it still looks good and works well, is simply too light for me. For the last two classes I've put mine aside, and taken out a white oak bokken from our dojo supply cabinet. There are several bokkens in the cabinet, but I always reach for the thickest, heaviest bo in the cabinet. My forearms clearly feel the weight difference during class, but I find it better than using something that now feels like a toothpick. This particular bokken is finished similarly to the way my jo staff came, but if my hands stick to the bo, it doesn't bother me. When I get my own, I'll sand it down like I did my jo staff. I'm going to show our chief instructor both white oaks bos and ask him to find me one of the thicker, sturdier ones. I feel I am clearly ready for it, and I don't see myself outgrowing it any time soon.