After all my fear of machete guys I actually stopped to talk to some today. I saw two homeless guys hacking at bamboo in the middle of their camp and asked them what they were making. I saw them working hard scraping away the outer layer from the bamboo and was curious 

They were sculpting the raw bamboo into shinai to practice their kendo. They told me lots …. they are apparently blood brothers from 2 different senseis and that is why they have different techniques to create their shinai. 

They at first didn’t really want to get into this with me “we are making walking sticks” but it didn’t take long to uncork the tap and get the details. Crafter recognize crafter is what I am telling myself. I asked as many questions as I felt as I could get away with, without feeling impolite as I had nothing to give them

The Farcaster formerly known as Kchamp. Books, beats, bodybuilding, bright ideas and beautiful things.

katherinechampagne.com

Thank you for sharing. You gave them your time and attention. I don’t know many ppl who don’t want to tell their story to someone who’s interested.