As with bos, we have been very disappointed at the quality of hanbos (three-foot staffs) on the market, so turned to making our own.  There are many hanbos commonly available, but at best they are "hardwood" (red oak or ash), and at worst are a soft pine - none of which will stand up to actual striking of hard targets.  More common than anything is for a student to go to their local hardware store and buy a 3' dowel, which looks nice and works fine as long as they don't actually hit anything with it, but as soon as they do begin striking will shatter and send sharp wooden shards flying across the room.

As with bokken, we tried many different materials and studied properties of various woods before settling on hickory as the best compromise of strength, toughness (ability to take impact), resiliency, and price.  Stronger and harder woods are available (usually at a dramatically increased price), but as the hardness increases they quickly become brittle, and can shatter when really struck hard.  Hickory has a natural resiliency that allows it to take huge amounts of impact without breaking, and still be heavy and strong enough to dish out the punishment too!

These hanbos are 7/8" inches in diameter by 36" in length.  They are hand sanded to a 220 grit finish (too fine and the hanbo won't slide like it should) and hand-rubbed with five coats of a low-gloss tung oil.  Jos will be available in the future, or can be available with a minimum order.

Because of the size, these are also much easier and cheaper to ship than the bos, so please don't hesitate to send us your zip code for a shipping quote at sales@jinenkanseigi.com.

Hickory Hanbo                                             $15.00 each