Wood lamination has been around for a long time. Basically we glue multiple pieces of wood together cross-grained to give you a bokken that is very unique. Our exclusive Build-A-Bokken™ lets you create your own combination of woods to have a personalized dynamic bokken. For longer items like jo staffs, lamination will help prevent the staff from warping.

We use exotic woods to give you a product that is as unique as it is beautiful. We choose woods based on different factors to give you a balanced and strong bokken that with last.

You can specify the size of the handle when you order.

We measure the bokken from the tip to the back of the handle. Our standard bokken is generally 40 inches and our Iwama bokken is 41 inches. We can make a custom length if you prefer.

Our standard bokken is our most popular bokken. It combines many styles into one a beauitfully balanced bokken. Like martial arts, our bokken are designed for balance and strength. Through years of trial and error our standard bokken has evolved into design that will fit anyones needs. Our Iwama bokken has a moderate curve and shaped to the specifications of Iwama style. It has a blunt tip and is balanced slightly different than our standard bokken.

A highly engineered wood/plastic composite, Dymondwood has the physical and mechanical properties of high density hardwood, acrylic and polycarbonate plastics, and brass. Brightly dyed northern hardwood veneers are combined with engineering grade resins, heat and pressure to create a product that has the best characteristics of each. Dymondwood is distinguished by its unique strength, durability, dimensional stability, weather and moisture resistance as compared to regular wood.

We offer a discount if you are in the Military, Law Enforcement or a Firefighter. Send us a message to find out how to receive the discount.

Argentine Lignum Vitae is . . . well, not exactly Lignum Vitae. Allow us to explain. The wood popularly known as “Lignum Vitae” is, in fact, technically called “Genuine Lignum Vitae” (Guaiacum officinale). Genuine Lignum Vitae is quite famous for being “the densest wood in the world” — it ranks atop the “Janka Scale of Hardness,” which measures such things. The wood is also believed to have medicinal properties in its resins and chips; “Lignum Vitae” is, after all, Latin for “Wood of Life.” Unfortunately, because of Genuine Lignum Vitae’s highly desirable properties, the wood has been grossly over-harvested and is now possibly on the endangered species list. Although some Genuine Lignum Vitae is still available on the market, it is no longer being sold in any significant quantities. That’s where Argentine Lignum Vitae (Bulnesia sarmientoi) comes in. Although it’s not genetically related to Genuine Lignum Vitae, it has become widely used as a substitute wood due to its similar appearance and characteristics to the “genuine” variety (i.e., it’s extremely hard, heavy, dense, strong, and durable). With an average specific gravity of about 1.10, the wood will sink in water. Because of its incredible density and strength, Argentine Lignum Vitae is often applied in making mallets and clubs.

The Suburito has a unique tip that is a cross between the Iwama tip and the Standard tip. It is not as blunt as the Iwama and not as tapered as the Standard tip. Attached is a photo of the tip.

By laminating wood together you are increasing the strength of the weapon. Bowyers have been doing this for years. By laminating the limbs of bows, you increase the flexibility and strength of the bow (Blizniak’s Bows coming soon…). When thinking in terms of bokken, you are increasing the amount of impact edges. The more impact edges you have the stronger the weapon will be. You can think of plywood as an example. The layered edge is much stronger than the face edge because you have many layers on the impact edge. The other advantage of laminating is that you can create a more customized weight and balance to the bokken. By varying the types of woods you can get different overall weights. Laminating also creates a unique and beautiful look.

We do not bend wood together to laminated it, however, this is possible if you have a the right jig to bend the wood and laminate it together. We have only had a bokken de-laminate twice. One was due extreme temperature changes and the other was Genuine Lignum Vitae. Genuine Lignum is not able to be laminated due to the amount of oils and resins in the wood. You want to take care of you laminated bokken and try to keep it at normal temperatures.

We currently use tung oil.

The gap on the Standard bokken is approximately 3/4″.

Sorry, we do not currently offer sayas for our bokken. We now offer 3d printed tsubas to fit our bokken.  

Yes we do come across it from time to time. If it is available as a wood choice when you order, then we have it in stock.

Yes you can select your country when you checkout.

I do not make the tips very sharp. They come to a point, but I round it over for safety.

In my opinion, Ipe is one of the more robust woods that I work with often and it is more affordable as well. It is much harder and heftier than Hickory. Katalox is another very robust wood along with Argentine Lignum Vitae. For more information, you can compare the specs of all the available woods on this page: Compare All Woods You can compare many different factors like rupture strength, hardness, density, etc.