Wednesdays are usually slower here at BF, so in the interest of sparking some controversy
, here's the training options. The following opinions are MINE, but I've tried to play devil's advocate and list common
perceptions, right or wrong. In that respect, I don't agree with some of the items I myself have posted.
1. Self-taught. Okay if you want to experiment with cutting objects, and light "thrust work," but usually not a good idea. Swords are one of those things you just can't figure out on your own. You might think you've got it, but even ten minutes with someone that knows something about swords can make dramatic improvements in your cutting and attacks.
2. WMA - Reconstructed. These guys can quote nearly every fight book ever written, and strain to discover new techniques in centuries old writing. They operate under the very reasonable theory that the guys who know best about swords are the ones who used them daily. Of course, there's no modern tradition--so no masters you can ask to settle disputes--and to be fair, a lot of this is interpretation with no guarantee of being correct. There is some balkanization of German vs Italian vs English, but generally these folks all seem to study each other's texts as it relates to their prefered sword type and share information.
3. WMA - New Material. On the other hand, these are people who treat swords as modern weapons. The old texts have a lot of merit, but those were written in different times for different situations. Instead, focus on today: what techniques can you do with a sword, regardless of whether it has historical precedence. I'm interested in this approach, but there's not a whole lot of information out there yet. On the other hand, a good criticism is that this is reinventing the wheel, with less of a probability of learning whether your techniques really work outside of sparring.
4. Kenjutsu - Really, a family of Japanese styles that I'm not qualified to separate or go into. The advantage of a JSA (Japanese sword art) is that you generally have a long, lengthy tradition of teachers and students, and can double-check your techniques or ask clarifying questions. On the other hand, many of the JSA are 19th Century reconstructions themselves, since the sword arts fell into some disuse (more than many JSA folks will admit). WMA enthusiasts are quick to point out that the JSA practitioners haven't really verified their techniques under real combat situations either... but of course are pretty much guilty of the same charge they level.
5. Iaido - Another JSA with numerous subdivisions I can't get into. Iaido is very popular, for all the reasons Okuden listed. However, a common criticism by non-Iaidoka is that drawing a sword against imaginary opponents is not actually sword combat, and many Iaidoka experimenting with other Eastern and Western sword enthusiasts in informal cross-training opportunities do not fare well. I've found Iaidoka very tricky though, and very good at the one move, one kill technique.
6. Battojitsu - I have extremely limited knowledge of this; anyone care to list pros and cons?
7. Kendo and Fencing - Why list these two very different styles together? Because they're both sport forms, heavily modified away from combat use. I agree that they lend themselves as "significantly better than nothing," but I can't shake that feeling that sport forms without a combat infrastructure won't provide as much as a fighter would need.
Please note there are Chinese and Korean styles I have not listed here. I went after the ones better known. Basically, I have worked with a few styles--some of which are too obscure to list here--and found that all of them are ultimately better than self-taught.
Okay... if anyone's game, let the clarifications/corrections/disputations begin!
