Even though the hand guard doesn't fit, it's an excellent training sword; I accidentally smashed my friend's training sword in half with this one ^__^;;;;

It can take lots of abuse, but it starts to look sort of rough when the paint begins coming off with use and time.

It's a great practice sword; it's heavy, about 5-7 pounds, so it's also good to learn to control a sword so you don't stab yourself mid-swing. 5 stars

For the price, I shouldn't complain, but what the heck? What ever happened to quality control? It came double shrink wrapped. There was a plastic handle guard that didn't fit the sword, so I had to just throw it away. Very little pride in the product. The wood was roughly sanded before it was painted. Well, it's just a stick afterall. I'm just glad I did not purchase a more expensive item from this vendor, DreamObjects. Read their feedback responses -- sounds a lot like aggressive Ebay sellers who get their jollies replying to negative or lukewarm feedback. Sorry -- waste of my time and a few dollars. I gave them a 4 out of 5 feedback simply because you can't tell quality from a single digital photo. 2 stars

As I stated in the title there good and bad to this item, the sword itself felt nice, grip was good, and it like amazing however as pleased as I was with all that and very pleased with it there was a lot of bad to it as well. It did arrive on the last day stated but that was 2 weeks after the order was but in so it did take a while to get here. Also the packing was terrible it was wrapped in shrink warp and that's it, nothing else to protect it. And the hand guard which everyone on here seems to complain about on this item anyways I did not even receive, so I will never know if it is as bad as people have stated. As I said though it's still a nice look sword and good to practice and for the price you really can't complain to much about the down side to it, so if you can handle a little sloppiness then it's a good buy other wise steer clear of this item. 3 stars

This bokken is awesome.
I have accidentally smashed it into walls and it is still in one piece. Some of the paint chipped off along with a small piece of wood though. The sword is well balanced, about 7 inches above the guard. The grip is a major plus as it allows it to not fly out of your hands, haha.

Addressing the issues talked about the guard not fitting. I am not sure, but maybe now they have updated it since the one that shipped with mine fits. You can only fit it on one way since it is grooved and the rubber that keeps it in place is good, but it is getting a little loose now.
5 stars

I'm very happy with the craftsmanship of the swoard and the delivery service. The exactness of the finish and,the wrap was done with every bit of care as a swoard made of metal. My son was also very happy with the workmanship and quality when he opened it on Christmas.
Thanks everyone,
G. Hanson 5 stars