Kingsley Armoury
The Jinenkan Ottawa Dojo is honored to support the newly-founded Kingsley Armoury, the source for high-quality, personally tailored leather armour and custom steel-craft. It's lead craftsman, Dan Kingsley, has been a life-time student of martial arts. He is a student of the Jinenkan Ottawa Dojo, a 2nd Dan exponent in the Korean Sword Art of Haidon Gumdo, and an expert in security, private investigation, and fraud investigation. From this life-long immersion in both classical martial arts and real-world experience, he has distilled a great depth of perception into both the individual and social role of combat, and brings this to his latest endeavor: custom-made leather-craft and steel-craft. Though his current projects have drawn from historical examples of shields, leather armor and weapons, these are not flimsy, decorative products made to hang on the wall: each is functional, well-balanced, and made to take a lot of abuse. Dan's work is not strictly limited to designs related to Japanese martial arts; they can draw from a host of cultural sources. The following are some samples of his work, drawn from his Web site.
 "A traditionally designed Scottish shield the targe is a heavy tough shield. This one was made with a 1/2 inch core of plywood. The reverse has 2 layers of horse rawhide, and a layer of rabbit fur held on via 1 1/4-inch buffalo hide strips. The handle is 7 oz hardened leather riveted to the wood and covered with horse rawhide. The strap is 2 inches wide and of the same material as the handle. It too has a rawhide padding cover. The front is made from 7 oz vegetable tanned leather stained and sealed. The centre boss is 12 gauge steel riveted and cold soldered into place. The pattern was chosen by the customer and the rough look to the decoration was his choice as he wanted a common soldier look to it. Of course the cross of Saint Andrew, as well as the crucifixes that adorn the shield are very traditional."
 "Made with high carbon steel painted black the blade is 18 inches long. It has a 5 inch tang inserted into the 1 1/2 inch oak shaft. After the blade was epoxied into the shaft the blade was riveted, bound with 12 gauge steel wire, then wrapped in several layers of split hide leather. The leather was then dipped into boiling water to shrink and harden it. The crosspiece is also made of hardened vegetable tanned leather. The weapon is well balanced, and the shaft is beveled so the user always knows where the blade is."
 "Originally stamped from a truck leaf spring this Kukri blade has had the hilt rebuilt and reshaped. A serious edge was put on the knife. The sheath is made from 8 layers of boiled split hide that has been treated with bees wax and baked."
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