How to Tie Your Dou-Himo, Properly

Having your dou-himo come undone during practice is not only a hassle, but it also disturbs the flow of geiko. Knowing how to tie your dou-himo properly can greatly reduce the odds of it coming undone.
Here's a link to a TED Talk describing the strong vs. weak forms of a knot. • How to tie your shoes ...
Standard dojo etiquette disclaimer: If your sensei teaches you a different way, please follow your sensei's instructions.

[@verybarebones]

My himo comes loose once or twice each class, im gonna try this next time and hope it works 🙏 Edit: tried it, it didn't come even slightly loose even once, thank you for saving my life

[@The_Custos]

Those loops look great. As a beginner, this is what I was really worried about, so thank you.

[@edenwalsh1014]

Thank you for that gentle lesson, Shin Sensei.

[@MichaelMark666]

this helped me a lot, my previous knots kept coming undone. thank you!

[@piperwalton]

Thanks for this! I just started wearing my bogu a couple of weeks ago, and I've been having trouble getting a solid knot for the upper himo (ended up coming undone at the end of practice last week). Will definitely use this method tomorrow!

[@AndrewWebber]

I am about to return to training after two years off at university. Prior to my break I had practiced Kendo for 12 years -- not very well it seems, as up until now the only thing I could never trust was my do himo. I had been using a hybridised version of this knot, with a 90% (guessing, obviously) success rate. The thing I have always had issues with, aside from the success/failure of the knot, is that in any other way there is additional shortening or lengthening of the himo due to it loosening during the knotting procedure. Not now! There is nothing worse than having a "bad himo" day, and you can guarantee that if it is going to be one of those days it will usually manifest on the day of a tournament... *Steps up to edge of shiai-jo* "I've done all the training. I've practiced suburi every day. I've been running, so I am fit. I slept well last night. I have eaten well. My Hakama and Keiko-gi are clean and ironed... so is my tenegui. My shinai is clean, tight, balanced and feels like it is part of me. Wait... is that my do-himo getting loose again? I think it *should* hold.. it *should* be fin..." *opponent lifts shinai up, then down -- 3 flags go up* "Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!" Thanks for this video.

[@PaulHBShin]

+Andrew Webber Hahaha. I'm glad you found it useful. Nothing like dou-himo coming loose to interrupt the flow of practice or, even worse, shiai.

[@TheElvanore]

OMG your comment is so realistic. I felt I were at the shiai jo , facing the opponent !

[@TheElvanore]

It is new method of making knot of longer himo to me. It seems to be very tight, and Paul's explanation is simple and clear! I am going to try this and write the result

[@자장가폰116]

After a few months training with this method, it is definitely helpful! Thank you very much!!

[@andreascarfone]

I use this method since day one with bogu, very effective. Thanks Paul.

[@ThisIsMyAccountForWork]

I was doing some kind of unexplainable tie ... often coming loose or even untied. Now I don't have excuse to not tie it correctly

[@baesian4988]

i like your accent

[@leah-m-holmes]

I will have to try this method! I've been practising naginata for a bit over a year and one of the biggest problems I have is with putting on my dou - when I first learned to put it on, I kept getting the ago of my men stuck underneath the mune, so one of the more senior class members recommended that I simply tie it higher. Now the problem I have is that every time I have to switch stance, the ago smacks into the loops at the top of the mune and knocks the knots open. It makes wearing bogu pretty miserable for me and I feel like it's holding me back. Hopefully this method will help as it looks a lot more secure than the method I'm currently using!

[@spriachumkongwisawamit7548]

You're Great, Thanks

[@MrPugnus888]

Thanks a lot for this video! I often have problems with tying my Dou when we train and often the others in the Dojo have to wait for me or just start without me and then I try to tie it but often the knot on the one side is weaker then the knot on the other side...but with that method it´s looks quiet easy and quiet firm, too! I guess I´ll try that one out when we have training again in January 2016! I´ll subscribe to your channel because I guess that it will help me a lot if I watch your videos to learn the basics again of Kendo and Iaido and I´ll look forward to your next videos! I wish you merry christmas and a happy new year! Yours, Magimos

[@PaulHBShin]

+Yashiro Magimos Isana Thank you! Merry Christmas and a happy new year to you, too!

[@amintrabelsi6783]

Interesting video !!! Could you please post a video showing how to tie a knot for the red or white ribbon on the back for shiai ?

[@PaulHBShin]

Sure thing. Will put that on my list.

[@hathbeenslain]

I just find it incredibly difficult to tie behind me without looking. I can't do it properly for my hakama either. It's really frustrating, I've been doing kendo for almost 8 months now and My fellow beginners can do all the basics perfectly but I always have to ask for help.

[@PaulHBShin]

Practice, practice, practice.

[@HeathBlythe]

Try several ways, I managed to tie my Hakama by aiming the loop downwards, such as it did help when tieing the Do, I find tieing Men just like tieing shoe laces.

[@nguyenis7885]

Why is this so hard to follow

[@TheUnknownL]

Hi Paul, great video, my issue is that when I tie my dou it’s generally too low, which I’m turn becomes undone during Keiko. Any tips/advice on how I can find the sweetspot where it’s not too high nor too low? Thanks!

[@PaulHBShin]

Best way to find the sweet spot is to tie the dou himo while in seiza. Then the bottom of the dou should be in line with the bottom of the band that forms the top of the tare -- that is, the bottom of the dou should be in line with the top of the middle flap, if that makes sense.

[@lavoolpe]

Very useful ,Thx a lot !

[@mosama22]

Quick question please, I want to buy a deerskin Do, is durable or no please? i.e. will it stand practice?! Thank you so much.

[@PaulHBShin]

Do you mean unlacquered deer leather covering the dou-dai? Or do you mean deer leather for pieces like the mune?

[@mosama22]

@@PaulHBShin No, Just the mune is deerskin, sorry I replied you but it looks like youtube deleted my reply, it had a link.

[@femalebusinessacademy]

Couldn’t see anything:(

[@jiaqicheng1816]

umm，can u tell me which kendo school is good and within low price？i also live in new york

[@PaulHBShin]

You are lucky because there are four dojos in NYC -- our dojo is Shidogakuin, then there's also Ken-Zen, NYC Kendo and Kenshinkai. If you Google the names, you should be able to find their respective websites. You should visit them to see which location/times/atmosphere are a good fit for you.

[@jiaqicheng1816]

thank you ：D