There is a thread in the weapon forum about a possible ban on swords in England. Some other references can be found here on MAP about weapon bans as well. Which includes my rant about gun control efforts. What I thought might be an interesting topic is how weapon bans hinder martial arts training and to what extent. There seem to be a fair number of martial arts that use weapons and the number of weapons varies. According to Jester they learned about two or three weapons in Shotokan including the Tonfa, Bo staff and Sais. Yet I learned some Chinese styles have twenty or more weapons in thier different art forms. Granted a ban of swords would cause serious issues for Kenjutsu students. Yet what about martial arts that are not primarily about weapons? Or those which have a balance of empty hand to weapons like FMA?
First time I've heard of weapons training in Shotokan..... ya learn something new every day, I guess.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7139724.stm Looks like replicas will be banned. What interests me is what the legislation and procedure for obtaining a proper sword is going to look like...
I doubt most training swords count as actual swords, right? I mean are fencing foils, bendy chinese swords and telescopic tai chi swords going to be banned? I very much doubt it.
Do you personally trust a politician to even recognize the difference between training and fighting swords? What are the odds that a politician would even know anything concerning martial arts? The lawmakers are free to introduce legislation on subjects they know nothing about. Better to play it safe and oppose any sword ban.
Well William Hague and ,i think , lord Coe are both graded in judo , so there's a chance that someone may have some knowledge.
So iaido isn't a "real" martial art? Or any TMA that use weapons in their forms? What about all the european martial arts?
The ban will have little or no effect on anyone in MA. It may stop sad wanabes buying a katana and claiming to be gajillionth dan in Kendo because they can throw some shapes. Good result all round I think Seriously, I think people are building this into something it isn't. Mitch
The Meiji Revolution all over again... What?! If they try to strip us of our swords, it shall mean rebellion!
Martial=War. Then Samurai were not martial artists becuase they used swords? What about the Shaolin monks with thier weapons? These days most students of martial arts learn fighting skills because they enjoy as much. Not because the majority of us have to learn by neccesity to survive. Maybe you are thinking in terms of sport-related martial arts?
