Average tenugui for kendo

by Tanya
(El Salvador)

Hello! I'm happy to have come across your site.


I'm a newbie in Kendo, less than 6 months practicing, but we have recently started to use a bōgu. Well, I have to wait a bit longer but it'll be next month if I'm not wrong.

We were told that we had to use a tenugui with an inspiring message and I noticed some of my sempai had their usual white tenugui with Japanese writing in black. My sensei had one similar and so on.

In my country, Kendo isn't as popular as it should be and being able to buy tenugui can get a bit expensive. I saw some tenugui in amazon with different motives like cherry blossoms, bunnies, etc.

They complied with the size required for Kendo (if I'm not mistaken, the tenugui size is standard in Japan, whether it has an inspiring scripture or if it's just a cartoon).

Is there a problem if I use that kind of tenugui? I know bunnies aren't inspiring but it's cheaper for me and I would still be taking care of our dojo's bogus, which is what's most important since they're limited and we have to take care of them as best as we can.

Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions :D

Answer: Hi Tanya! I am happy for you that you are moving onto the bōgu! Everything gets harder but take your time. No hurry. Be patient. You will get through that phase :)

OK. About the size. I measured some of my tenugui.


  • The length: 98cm - 100cm (38.58in - 39.37in)

  • The width: 35cm - 36cm (13.78in - 14.17in) 



I have never compared kendo tenugui with the normal one but I have some kind of doubt that the normal one is a lot smaller than kendo one.

So I am more worried about the size than what you have on the tenugui.

As long as your teacher is OK with the design of the tenugui, I think it is OK. There are Hello Kitty tenugui and some anime character tenugui nowadays. So ask your teacher first.

You can buy from some kendo shops online as well. Click the names below to see what tenugui they have.



Hope this helps! Good luck with your bōgu training and don’t hesitate to ask anything if you have questions about bōgu training!

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