From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bogu (防具, Bōgu^?) is special protective armor used in a number of Japanese martial arts, most notably kendo and naginata.

It consists of:

• men: facemask and shoulder protectors
• dō: trunk protector
• kote: hand and forearm protectors
• tare: leg and groin protector
• sune-ate: shin protectors (worn only by naginata practitioners)

The men protects the face, neck, and shoulders. It consists of a facemask with several horizontal metal bars running the entire width of the face, from the chin to the top of the head. To this is attached a long rectangular cloth padding that curves over the top of the head and extends to cover the shoulders. A throat protector is attached to the bottom of the facemask. The men is held in place with a pair of ties that wrap around the head. The back of the head is left open for ventilation and is unprotected. The target areas of the men are the center top, and upper left and right sides for cutting strikes and the center of the throat protector for a thrust.

The main component of the dō is the gently curving stomach and chest protector. The modern form has a pronounced bulge to help redirect the force of strikes away from the soft areas in the middle of the torso. Lacquered bamboo is traditionally used although lacquered paper "fiber" (frequently misidentified as fiberglass) or molded plastic are used for less expensive dō. The dō hangs off of the shoulders by two diagonal ties and is restrained at the small of the back with another set of ties. The target areas of the dō are the two lower sides for a slashing belly cut. The top half of the dō is a valid target for a thrust in naginata. In the past, this has also been a valid target for certain situations in kendo but is currently not allowed.

The kote do not allow much movement of the fingers — they are mitten-like gloves. They are specialized entirely for kendo. This means that while they seem cumbersome, enough mobility is allowed to grip the shinai in a comfortable, powerful, and firm way. Kote for naginata users have a singulated index finger and thumb to better facilitate the rapid shifting of the hands along the length of the naginata's shaft. Naginata kote have a little less padding than those used for kendo. In the past kote were often made with fully articulated fingers. This is rarely seen today as there can be a safety issue with snagged fingers. A special heavily padded design known as oni-gote are used by some koryu, most notably Itto-ryu. The target area is the wrist portion of each kote.

The tare is a canvas belt with laces that wrap around the waist once and tie in front of the groin. Sturdy canvas-covered flaps hang from the belt to protect the legs and groin. The flaps run along half of the belt's length, which should be positioned over the front half of the body. The center flap is usually covered with a name tag that identifies the name of the wearer and the dojo or country they represent. In the past, for kendo, the center flap of the tare was a target known as sukopu that could receive a thrust like the throat protector of the men. There is currently no legal target on tare. It is retained for protection against missed and accidental strikes.

Kumdo is Kendo in Korean, since kendo was introduced to Korea during the Japanese colonization. In Korean kumdo the bogu is called a hogu (호구) and is usually more sober in design.

Other bogu variants are used in jukendo, sojutsu, and karate.

• Armor