High end weapons manufacturer

Techbrute · White Belt

Is there a niche manufacturer that makes high end Kamas and/or Sais? If you are aware of one, what is it that makes you consider them "high end?" I have typically just run with whatever I could get my hands on, but I recently handled someone else's sais and they were phenomenally balanced. He told me the maker, and I promptly forgot.

NewEnglands_KyoSa · Pre-Black Belt

none that come to mind, but i'd google something like 'custom made weapons' or something like that
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harleyt26 · Orange Belt

I would say in this order:Tokaido,Shureido and Agena from Weapons connection as the top end from my experience.Peter Carbone makes the Agena Sai at Weapons Connection and does a very good job.Top end custom weapons don't come cheap though,you get what you pay for.If you are ok with pot metal Chinese made sai then the price of the custom made sai will probably scare you.Tokaido and Shureido are off the shelf but are very good quality.I have not seen any new Tokaido for several years they may not make them any longer.Shureido are the ones I use the most you can usually find them for around seventy five to one hundred twenty dollars they are black iron and tend to rust and must be oiled regularly.The Tokaido I have went for about one hundred seventy five dollars they are stainless steel.My Agena sai I paid two hundred forty five dollars they are stainless steel with copper wrapped handles,very nice.
Tom Hodges
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migi kamae,migi bo kihon ichi

Holland · Blue Belt

While I like the Agena Sai from Carbone, I think for the money the shureido are just as good if not better.

I do like Carbone's Tonfa though a lot. I have a pair of them and the shureido, and while I think the shureido can be manipulated faster, the Carbone Tonfa are incredibly well balanced and once you get them going, they have an incredible flow.

Murasaki Kobudo is not bad either and Crane Mountain makes some nice stuff as well. I have some Kamas and Tekkos from Murasaki and I have worked with several crane mountain weapons that my friends have, including the eku. (which is really nice.)

But about the kamas...as I said the Murasaki are nice, but the are unsharpened and I don't know if you want a live pair or not. But it is a mightly nice looking weapon that feels great to use. I am less fond of the shureido kamas as they basically feel like hatchets.

harleyt26 · Orange Belt

I have not tried the Murasaki weapons but I have many Crane Mountain weapons and they are very nice.As I said the Shureido sai are the ones I use the most.Another top end wood weapons maufacturer is Don Shapland in Chilliwack,British Columbia,Canada.One of my students(Jeff Hawkins)is a metal worker and makes all of the tekko for me and my students and occasionally he makes a very nice set of sai.
Tom Hodges
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migi kamae,migi bo kihon ichi

JohnASE · Yellow Belt

A little off topic, but among inexpensive sai, some are better than others. We've bought sai from one vendor that were obviously made in different ways. Some were very well balanced, some were a little off balance, and one group of them was VERY off balance. They were horrible! We returned them.

One thing you pay for with "high end" brands is consistency.

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