The Martial Artist's Katana

Buffalohump said:
Excuse the banal nature of my next question, but what did you think of the film 'The Last Samurai'? Was it a fairly accurate depiction of the culture and lifestyle of the Samurai do you think or a lot of Hollywood BS?
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Short answer is that my Sensei enjoyed the film, and my fellow iaidoka did as well.

There were some fairly accurate depictions, we feel the battle scenes were more BS than plausible and if Tom Cruise got hit in the head more than once with a bokken like that, his skull would have caved in.

50% realistic, 50% Hollywood BS.....from the perspective someone who trains in an art that is hundreds of years old, but is not hundreds of years old.;)

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Ah yes, where hunting with a compound bow is concerned its very much alive and current. Very popular around these parts too in fact.

I was referring more to the ritualised type of archery as practised in Japan. What you call kyudo I believe?

SShepherd said:
while sword arts are pretty much archiac- I think the bow does still have alot to offer. I'm tyring to not paint with a broad brush.
Yes, different aspects of sword arts can be bought to use in modern times.
Maybe is just me geographic location, but hunting with a bow is still common an very popular. Be it a trditional or new compound bow I think because of it having a decent range and fairly silent, I see no reason for it not to be used in modern times.
That being said, the study of kyudo is a very stylized art.
But thats another topic:)

I didn't take you post with a deragatory tone:)
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I'm glad to hear that. I confess I very much enjoyed the film and particularly the scenes in the village, no doubt romanticised to a certain extent but nevertheless very nicely done I thought. And I confess Ken Watanabe's magnificent death scene brought a tear to my eye. I really dug seeing the traditional armour they wore, quite amazing considering everything was entirely organic. Lacquered bamboo was a key material as I understand it. Not that bamboo lacks strength, in many ways its a better material than steel as its considerably lighter and floats in water.

Kohai999 said:
Short answer is that my Sensei enjoyed the film, and my fellow iaidoka did as well.

There were some fairly accurate depictions, we feel the battle scenes were more BS than plausible and if Tom Cruise got hit in the head more than once with a bokken like that, his skull would have caved in.

50% realistic, 50% Hollywood BS.....from the perspective someone who trains in an art that is hundreds of years old, but is not hundreds of years old.;)

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
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Buffalohump said:
I'm glad to hear that. I confess I very much enjoyed the film and particularly the scenes in the village, no doubt romanticised to a certain extent but nevertheless very nicely done I thought. And I confess Ken Watanabe's magnificent death scene brought a tear to my eye. I really dug seeing the traditional armour they wore, quite amazing considering everything was entirely organic. Lacquered bamboo was a key material as I understand it. Not that bamboo lacks strength, in many ways its a better material than steel as its considerably lighter and floats in water.
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MOST Japanese armor(yoroi) makes extensive use of steel plates, for generals and such, chain mail was also used.....I have seen this in museums in Tokyo, Kyoto and Gifu.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Buffalohump said:
My mistake, I was under the impression they used bamboo. :eek:
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They did....somewhat.....yoroi is laminar.....underdress, then a layer of bamboo(or mostly lacquered leather), stitched together with silk cord, with steel plates on top of that, including cuirass, arm guards, shoulder plates and helmet, all made of steel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ō-yoroi

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
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Carolina River Rat said:
This has been one of the most educational threads I've ever read on these forums. Thanks STeven.
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Sure thing!:)

You can really blame/thank Forumite JoeP.....he has trained in JSA, and we were talkiing about some sword geometry comparisons one night, and he started bugging me to post up a thread like this....and he kept at it for about a month before I agreed, just to shut him up.;)

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
see my bantering brought about this wonderful thread .. STeven apreciate you taking the time


My thoughts on last Samurai

Nice movie I enjoyed it

not 100 % acurate but what movie is

good filming rich costumes

goofy ending
 
Kohai999 said:
Sure thing!:)

You can really blame/thank Forumite JoeP.....he has trained in JSA, and we were talkiing about some sword geometry comparisons one night, and he started bugging me to post up a thread like this....and he kept at it for about a month before I agreed, just to shut him up.;)

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
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In regards to the JSA, do you know of any instructors in my area? I can't find one, but my Google-fu is notoriously weak.

JParanee said:
see my bantering brought about this wonderful thread .. STeven apreciate you taking the time


My thoughts on last Samurai

Nice movie I enjoyed it

not 100 % acurate but what movie is

good filming rich costumes

goofy ending
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I agree. I liked the movie. I thought the man who played Katsumoto did an excellent job. I think too many folks look for complete historical accuracy in films which are intended primarily as works of fiction. If you want history, there's a channel for that. I know this for certain fact, because I watch it on the regular.
 
Carolina River Rat said:
In regards to the JSA, do you know of any instructors in my area? I can't find one, but my Google-fu is notoriously weak.
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SEUSKF
Charleston Kendo and Iaido Club

http://saluki.cee.citadel.edu/kendo/ckic/

Charleston, SC
Contact: Makio Ogawa Office: (843)577-5011 x6712
e-mail: ogawam@musc.edu

--------------------

Kendo/Iaido Dojos in NC
-----------------------------

Charlotte Kendo Club
Carolina Gymnastics & Martial Arts

http://home.earthlink.net/~tonymary/kendo.html

14017 E. Independence Blvd.
Matthews, NC
Su 9am-12pm
Contact: Ken Strawn (704)399-0774

-----------------

Triangle Kendo and Iaido Club in Raleigh, NC

http://www.trianglekendoiaido.org/

All contact information is on this site. They do Seitei Gata Iaido, which is not a Koryu(Old tradition, classical Japanese sword art) Iaido sword art. Just thought you should know there is a difference.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Steven, thanks for the warm welcome!

As both an archer (longbow) and a Japanese sword practitioner, for me it's all about the art and developing discipline.

When I first started out in archery, I had a high tech compound bow, but then after a few years I started to "regress" and stuck with the longbow exclusively. I basically wanted to know how well I could shoot without the sights, fancy flipper arrow rest, a release mechanism, and lightweight aluminum shafts. With my longbow, I can spend the time correcting my stance, grip, aim, and release. If I miss the target completely, it's entirely my fault and have no sighting devices or fancy release mechanisms to blame.

I have sort of a minimalist philosophy when it comes to some of my activities. I'm one of those runners who likes using those Vibram Five Finger shoes because the cushioning in expensive running shoes led to lots of running injuries. Other than a fading case of runners knee, the Vibrams seem to have helped me avoid the other injuries. But I digress...

Regarding the martialartswords.com L6 sword, it is definitely a strong blade. Many years ago, when Howard Clark had first started producing them, Adrian Ko of SwordForum decided to do some tests on it. He stuck the blade in a vice and bent it past 90 degrees, and he even started smashing concrete blocks with it. The blade had some pretty deep scratches, but it didn't break. My greatest fear when doing a tameshigiri demo in front of an audience is either accidentally losing the blade and having it go flying into the audience, or having the blade shatter during a bad cut and have all of that shrapnel flying about. With the L6 being as strong as it is, I know it won't shatter.

Has anyone ever done a comparison of cutting performance between an L6 and some of the CAS Hanwei models like the Bamboo Mat Katana? The CAS Hanwei models seem to cut very well and they've gone so far as to make some really nice hamon on the blades, but as far as having a blade that has a long lifespan...?
 
jmijares said:
My greatest fear when doing a tameshigiri demo in front of an audience is either accidentally losing the blade and having it go flying into the audience, or having the blade shatter during a bad cut and have all of that shrapnel flying about. With the L6 being as strong as it is, I know it won't shatter.

Has anyone ever done a comparison of cutting performance between an L6 and some of the CAS Hanwei models like the Bamboo Mat Katana? The CAS Hanwei models seem to cut very well and they've gone so far as to make some really nice hamon on the blades, but as far as having a blade that has a long lifespan...?
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Yunno, my greatest fear is looking like an ass in front of a room full of onlookers, not sending a chunk of sword into them.

This is as a result of a lot of cutting with any sword on my own, and then at the dojo, as we know, fellow practitioners are fair game for failed cuts(inside joke, not serious)....do not try this at your dojo without informining Sensei......and everyone else, otherwise the bar bill will put you into bankruptcy:D)

The oldest CAS blade that I have right now is a Shinto Elite that simply kicks ass....BUT like I wrote before.....if it bends frequently(for me that is more than three times, and easily(same) it is gone....to be honest, the only sword that I have owned that did that was a Bugei Dragonfly.

You have been to some taikai.....by looking like an ass, I mean DQ by not being able to sheath a sword due to a blown cut, and thus.....outtie there.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Kohai999 said:
Yunno, my greatest fear is looking like an ass in front of a room full of onlookers, not sending a chunk of sword into them.
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Good point. The last taikai I was at was Carl McClafferty's in Tucson 2006. I was doing tameshigiri from seiza. Cuts were perfect! But then instead of going straight to seiza, I stood up... I could hear the gasps from the audience. I looked at Big Tony Alvarez, who was judging, and I gave him a big sheepish grin, then went back to seiza as he raised the red flag. D'oh!


Kohai999 said:
The oldest CAS blade that I have right now is a Shinto Elite that simply kicks ass....BUT like I wrote before.....if it bends frequently(for me that is more than three times, and easily(same) it is gone....to be honest, the only sword that I have owned that did that was a Bugei Dragonfly.
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You've got better luck with swords than me. Bought a blade from Darryl Guertin many years ago and used it in a festival. I twisted it after the third cut. I was able to twist it back straight, but with each successive cut it kept twisting even more. :(

Being getting some feedback from some folks about why my MAS L6's edge isn't holding as well as my Cheness beater sword which everyone in the dojo uses. It might be the heat treatment of the edge. I'll be giving it a polish in a couple of weeks. Might post the results here after some more testing.

Jay
 
SShepherd said:
you should try a raptor for some cheap cutting fun;)
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I've heard some good things about the Raptor! Two weekends ago I attended a seminar with John Evans Sensei from the UK. He brought his shinsakuto along with him and did some cutting with it. But when I asked him if he used it all the time, he said No. For most cutting he actually prefers to use the Raptor because it's got good balance and cuts very well.
 
jmijares said:
... I could hear the gasps from the audience. I looked at Big Tony Alvarez, who was judging, and I gave him a big sheepish grin, then went back to seiza as he raised the red flag. D'oh!
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I watched a number of practitioners flag out due to variety of gaffes, I don't want to be "that guy"....so I drive my gear to extreme before competition, and maybe get thrown out by Hataya Sensei during a clinic for a dull sword, rather than break or bend one during the West Coast Taikai....I'll buy breakfast or drinks because I feel like it, not because I have embarrassed myself or my ryu by bad performance....the worst that I have been hit with is "not as good as others", because THEIR performance shined, and I was simply average.

Will show up to compete with 4 swords to the average of 1 or 2 for most competitors(two primary, and two backups).

When my dojo has a Taikai or Gasshu, I RUN the cutting floor in fancy pants, I don't compete any more....only the regional Taikai.

I can live with that. ;)

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
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