By Heino Minnema
When I started practicing traditional Japanese martial arts, I quickly ran into a problem: there weren’t many good training weapons available.Since I had already spent quite a bit of time working with wood, I decided to try making my own. That decision started a journey that, in many ways, mirrors budo itself.Every weapon I make teaches me something. Every new piece has some small improvement over the last one.
It’s like training: you keep practicing, correcting, staying open for feedback, and searching for the michi — the way. The process begins at the lumberyard. I personally choose the wood, and once I start working on it, I try to “listen” to it.Sometimes the wood is perfect for what I had planned. Other times, I have to adapt — change the design based on the grain, weight, or hidden defects I find along the way.Every phase has its own “go” or “no-go” moment: * Choosing the lumber * Rough shaping * Setting the outlines * Rough rounding * Rough shaping the blade * Fine tuning * Smoothing everything out * Applying the finish And between every step: testing the balance, the weight, the feeling in the hands.
Finishing a weapon is sometimes the hardest part. It’s tempting to keep tweaking, keep adjusting. But like in budo, perfection comes overtime — when the form is right, you have to put the tool down. A recent example is a naginata I made from Niove wood, 215 cm long and about 1650 grams in weight.I finish each weapon by hand, massaging in a homemade wax mix with my fingers. It’s one of my favorite parts of the process — a moment of quiet connection with the material.
While most of my weapons are made for koryu styles and not for atarashii naginata, I feel honored to share my work with the European Naginata Federation. After all, whether it’s through practice or through craftsmanship, we’re all walking the same path: keeping the spirit of the naginata alive.
If you’re curious to see more of my work, or if you just want to talk about wood and weapons, feel free to reach out. I’d love to connect. Info@heinominnema.nl