Byron, I don't know about the action of a Tenkara rod but I fish with an 11 foot Sage XP 6 wt. That rod acts as a shock absorber when I have a large fish on, and 99% of the time I do not have to feed the fish more line. The fish simply fights against the action of the rod. I have had guides telling me to feed it more line but I could tell that the rod could do the job without breaking the tippet. The few times I have had to give the fish more line, well, if it had been a Tenkara rod, then the fish simply would have broken off. When that happens, then like the photo on the Home page, you just created a 'fishin tale'. Larry ---sagefisher---