Handmade Hickory Eku

[Christopher Adamchek]

Hand made my own hickory karate eku (Okinawan [fighting] oar)
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With a tung oil finish, im so excited its done

 

[Flying Crane]

Nice. I’ve made my own staff and spear shafts and tomahawk handles from hickory. I love the stuff.

 

[jobo]

Hand made my own hickory karate eku (Okinawan [fighting] oar)
‍

With a tung oil finish, im so excited its done

it's a nice piece of work, but do you have a foreseeable use for a fighting oar?

I supose if theres pirates in the vicinity it may come in useful?

 

[CB Jones]

Hand made my own hickory karate eku (Okinawan [fighting] oar)
‍

With a tung oil finish, im so excited its done

Nice work.

We have a lot of friends that compete in weapon forms with ekus....eku....eki....what's the plural form of eku?

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Beautiful job!

 

[Tez3]

Deep in the recesses of my brain I remember I'd heard of 'fighting oars' somewhere, but they are lovely things to be sure!

As for uses, well a weapon is a weapon is a weapon!

 

[Deleted member 39746]

Now you can finally be a boatman!

I was tempted to try making a quarter staff, but im not exactly sure how/ what the traditional/best method of doing it is. I have heard taking a sapling is the traditional way of making it and you need a draw knife. I think its called that. Kind of a lost art really.

And i imagine Ash is quite expensive to get your hands on especially a sapling.

 

[Danny T]

Nice!

Oh and don't let those who would make fun of your training.
There are some excellent reasons for working with odd type weapons like an oar:
I - improved coordination
Training with an object like the oar helps to improve your coordination in ways that only controlling something that you don't have nerve endings in can. The length changes the effective range and center of gravity as well.

II - weapons of opportunity
It's not just an oar. It's also anything potential its length and weight. You're training with anything cylindrical of roughly the same length. You'll have to make adjustments for weight/length/feel, but you'll be better equipped to fight with odd type of objects than if you haven't.

III - historical preservation
Whether or not this is important to you many choose to practice with historical weapons, a category which many martial arts weapons fall into, because they want to preserve, or in some cases, reconstruct, historical weapons practices. This can be because the weapon belongs to a martial art they've already invested time into. It can also be because of cultural heritage. Or, it may well be something a person simple enjoys doing.

 

[Flying Crane]

@Christopher Adamchek i also intended to ask what your shaping method is.

I do not have a lathe, so I shape things on a belt sander. I’ve found I can control the shape pretty well that way.

I typically buy a hickory board and cut it into square rods of about 1 1/8 inch on a side, by however long the board is. Then I just start shaping them down, turning them on the belt sander. There is a whole lot of hand sanding afterwards, and I finish with linseed oil and teak oil.

 

[Blindside]

@Christopher Adamchek i also intended to ask what your shaping method is.

I do not have a lathe, so I shape things on a belt sander. I’ve found I can control the shape pretty well that way.

Have you considered a Japanese wood rasp like one of these? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004DIHDU0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They are incredibly good at taking off material, I have been doing sword handles with it and it really saves me a lot of time.

 

[Flying Crane]

Have you considered a Japanese wood rasp like one of these? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004DIHDU0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They are incredibly good at taking off material, I have been doing sword handles with it and it really saves me a lot of time.

I’ve got one actually, but I’ve never used it. I’ll give it a try. Thx!

 

[Christopher Adamchek]

Nice work.

We have a lot of friends that compete in weapon forms with ekus....eku....eki....what's the plural form of eku?

Thank you
hmmm, i feel like its like moose, so just eku
I have some interest in the forms, non for competing with forms, im excited to actually spar with it in the sand and water

 

[Christopher Adamchek]

@Christopher Adamchek i also intended to ask what your shaping method is.

I do not have a lathe, so I shape things on a belt sander. I’ve found I can control the shape pretty well that way.

I typically buy a hickory board and cut it into square rods of about 1 1/8 inch on a side, by however long the board is. Then I just start shaping them down, turning them on the belt sander. There is a whole lot of hand sanding afterwards, and I finish with linseed oil and teak oil.

Table and jigsaw to get the rough shape
Planer to strip it closer to the shape
And hours with an orbital sander (40,150,and 220)
Then 7 coats of tung oil buffing with 00 steel wool between each coat

 

[harlan]

It’s lovely. What are the dimensions...the ratio of blade to handle?

 

[Christopher Adamchek]

It’s lovely. What are the dimensions...the ratio of blade to handle?

started with a 1in x 3.5in x 6ft hickory board
handle is 1in x 1.25in (oval) x 3.5ft
blade is 2.5ft long
top of the blade is angled down about 15 degrees on either side and concave bevel near the middle
back of the blade is slightly rounded

making a 5ft one next with a 3ft handle and 2ft blade

 

[Deleted member 39746]

III - historical preservation

Making a lot of these is a lost art, let alone anything involved in using them as weapons.

 

[Flying Crane]

Making a lot of these is a lost art, let alone anything involved in using them as weapons.

Hickory is a good choice for weapon viability.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Hickory is a good choice for weapon viability.

My understanding is Appalachian hickory is preferable to whatever "standard" hickory is. I've been contemplating special-ordering a couple of boards from a woodworking supplier, to make some staves from. Appalachian hickory staves seem to go for upwards of $100, so I can't see myself ever actually buying one.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Hand made my own hickory karate eku (Okinawan [fighting] oar)
‍

With a tung oil finish, im so excited its done

That's some beautiful work there, man. I've had an opportunity to watch ecu forms once at the school where I teach. If I were to pick one weapon other than a basic staff to learn forms on, that'd probably be it.

 

[JR 137]

That's some beautiful work there, man. I've had an opportunity to watch ecu forms once at the school where I teach. If I were to pick one weapon other than a basic staff to learn forms on, that'd probably be it.

I’ve seen a few traditional Okinawan eku kata. My former sensei was quite good with it. It’s one of those weapons you don’t see often. I’d love to learn it. My current organization doesn’t use it that I know of.

My former teacher went the right way with weapons IMO. He pretty much made it a completely separate entity. His students learn the basics of the bo, a kata or two, and some partner drills. His weapons program has its own ranks, and various weapons at various ranks. Eku is one of the weapons. Not sure how far alone the program that is.