MKUltras - Mokuti Short Form Editions
MKUltras - Mokuti Editions
The elegant Mokuti material is forged from folded layers of titanium, then precision machined, polished, and torched to create eye-popping colour patterns, reminiscent of wood grain. When machined to our specifications, the grains of the material become exposed in a way that accentuates the appearance of the curves, creating a beautiful topographic relief. These beads feature a slight etch, giving them a lightly textured feel that provides some grip as well as an interesting tactile feel you won't find in other sets.
Details:
- 8mm Edition: 29 x 8mm beads + 1x 10mm bead; ~38.0g including cord
- 10mm (Deca) Edition: 23 x 10mm beads + 1x 11.8mm Micro Boss bead; ~50.0g including cord
- Mokuti material, polished and torched
- All beads drilled with 3.5mm bore
- Strung on AO2's custom 100% silk cord, and includes a spare strand of our new custom 2mm Kevlar cord
Note on the current inventory of 10mm beads: As discussed in our January 2023 Drop Preview video on YouTube, these beads have a more generous rounding around the inner bore than our other 10mm beads, making them slightly shorter in length. This makes them very comfortable to manipulate, and to compensate for the length we have added two beads for a total of 23 (compared to the usual 21), making them roughly the same length overall.
General Info on the Ultras - Mala/ Komboloi Hybrid Beads
The MKUltras are a hybrid design, combining elements of traditional Mala and Komboloi beads. The MKUltra name gives a nod to this lineage, as well as their experience as tools to help us focus our minds and still our thoughts. They can be used in a variety of ways, ranging from quiet bead counting, through to raucous flipping.
The unique setup of the MKUltras allows them to be worn like mala beads, or carried discretely in the pocket. They adjust by means of a simple friction fit through the larger "Boss" bead closure. Although the design is exceedingly simple, we're fairly confident you won't find anything quite like them around. This is a knotless system, and does not require any special lock bead. The cord is simply compressed when threaded through the Boss bead, providing a reliable, secure fastener, that is easy to adjust when needed.
In this way, the Ultras can be worn on the wrist, or loosened and slid up above the elbow to keep them out of the way when needed. Excess cordage can be knotted loosely around the Boss bead when they are worn on the wrist, or left dangling. This modifiable arrangement allows them to be used very quietly, for simple bead counting used in breath work and meditation, to "raindrop" methods marked by the satisfying, rhythmic clacking of the beads, as well as much more physical methods of manipulation which resemble short game begleri play. While they aren't intended as a highly technical skill toy, there are still a solid range of moves you can link together, and lots of ways of working with them.
The MK Ultras consist of 19 Micro Boss beads (~12mm), and one 15mm Boss bead to close the loop. They are strung on durable 2mm accessory cord. The current batch of cord features a red/ orange core, which makes an excellent tassel, or can be trimmed for a straight black finish. The Ultras are available in a variety of materials. The gr5 titanium model features a discretely etched Boss bead, marked with your choice of either our AO2 logo, or the full AROUNDSQUARE word mark. The Ultras are also available in 7075 aluminum, stainless steel, brass, and copper. The aluminum and stainless models feature a light wordmark on the boss bead. The brass and copper models may have faint traces of the original wordmark, but they have been lightly tumbled in order to achieve a matching finish on all 20 beads, and this process has essentially erased the logo etching on these softer metals. Click here to see the Ultras in action on our Instagram feed.
New to the Ultras? You can wear em on your wrist, or check out the video below for some other examples of what these beads are capable of.
