クサクラショップブログ

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the beginning of the year was quite frustrating for us Judo practitioners. With the closing of all Dojo and the temporary prohibition of practicing any martial arts, due to the unavoidable closeness the two opponents have to face, we have been deprived of our passion.
This is in this context that we decided to handle a small quiz, to allow our customers to learn a little bit more about their passion while providing them the opportunity to win some valuable prizes.

It is now time to discuss some of the results and the process we implemented to handle this quiz.

If choosing a Shinai is actually quite simple for a beginner (classic and not too heavy), it is a more complicated task for a confirmed practitioner that needs a weapon adapted to his working style. The weight, the balance, the type of bamboo (or carbon) will greatly influence the behavior of the Shinai and therefore both the qualities developed in training and the possibilities during Shiai (match).

After a first overview of Judogis' manufacturing steps, let's have a deeper overview and focus our attention on the Sashiko fabric that covers most of KuSakura Judogi Jackets. Although this fabric appears to be traditional and aesthetic, some of its characteristics turned out to be a huge advantage in martial arts. This is actually why we can find the Sashiko fabric on all Judo, Aikido as well as Kendo Kendogi today.

Almost 160 years ago, the founder of modern Judo was born in Kobe, Japan. After having mastered different styles of Ju-Jutsu with great masters such as Fukuda Hachinosuke and Iso Masatomo, he designed his vision of martial arts by creating his own: Judo. Determined to work for the international recognition of his sport, he created the Kodokan in 1882, where many generations of Judoka will train. On this special day, we would like to pay tribute to this great man through an article recounting some essential points of his life and his work for the development of Judo worldwide.

The production steps of a Judogi can be quite complex for non-specialists. Here at KuSakura, we are proud to benefit from a century of experience in the conception of martial art pieces of equipment. Our reputation on the outstanding quality of our models and the major innovations we brought to the industry. As we explained in our quick focus on M.Iwao Hayakawa and in our anniversary article, KuSakura has been the very first company to modernize the production of the 'Sashiko' fabric after the Second World War, fabric entirely handmade before then. Take this article as a guided tour through KuSakura's workshop, the only one in the world to master the entire production line!

KuSakura is famous to be the inventor of the modern Judogi as we know it today and known as the only brand capable of producing Judogi based on the original one worn by its inventor, Jigoro Kano Sensei. With this article, we would like to share with you some key points about the evolution of this iconic training suit from its origins until nowadays. This article is also the beginning of a series dedicated to the conception of this famous martial art garment that we all wear during our long training session.

KuSakura (九櫻 in Japanese) means "the nine cherry blossoms. A meaningful and historical symbol for a Japanese company, especially when we know that the brand logo is inherited from the armory of the Japanese warlord of the Namboku-cho era (14th century) that ruled over the company founder's region of origin. 100 years later, the company is still family owned, eager to keep fulfilling the original mission entrusted by M.Hayakawa Juichi. An anniversary that gives us the occasion to realize a small focus on the brand, its evolution through time and its activity nowadays. If you are wearing KuSakura's Judo Gi or if you just would like to know more about a brand that knew how to evolve while staying traditional in the martial sector, you might want to read this article until the end.