Fan fighting

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My tessen is exactly the same, except 4 the design on it...chinese and japanese fans seem very similar =D

 

They're very different altogether.

 

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They look exactly the same! theyre just fans

 

A wallhanger looks exactly the same as a nihonto (to the uneducated eye), but they aren't the same by a long shot

 

Here is a drawing I did of Takeda Shingen, The fan is iron. Would not like to get hit by it.

regards koyo

 

Couldn't have said it better myself.

 

uhh, considering that you were the one who went out of your way to resurrect a TWO YEAR OLD thread and wow us with your supposed knowledge, this is a pretty ignorant comment.

One of my law school classmates said this on day one of classes.. "what does it matter, they're just words!" The professor glared him into the corner. I'm giving you the same look. :yeleyes:

 

Bill,

That's a gunsen. There were a few ryuha that taught the use of that weapon. It's slightly different from a tessen though.

 

Steve,

Isn't Shingen holding a gunbai dansen there (the non-folding signalling type of fan)?

I understand that gunsen is war fan - what is the literal translation of tessen then?

 

Gunbai Dansen (軍配団扇 ) - Tactical Group Fan (Signaller's fan - A fan used to pass out military orders to seperate groups in an army.) This is still used today in sumo by the shinpan to show who won the bout.

Gunsen (軍扇 ) - Military fan

Tessen (鉄扇 ) - Iron fan

 

Cheers Steve...

 

No bother.

 

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But that's what they are...yer man's words are just words. Fans are just fans.

 

And I set out not to 'wow' you, as you put it, but clearly I have wasted my time trying to help, because the whole lot of you are too narrow-minded to even entertain the idea of accepting someone elses opinions.

 

Can you summarise your points/opinions? I've just come out of a coma and am interested in the debate.

 

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Well, I believe that fans were used by samurai in feudal Japan. I believe that they were used as hidden weapons (i.e-they werent recognised as weapons).
The tessen (fans) had bladed edges at the end of the spokes which were used to cut and slashall over the place. When the tessen was closed, it was used as a club, although the bladed edges could also be used when it is closed.
The tessen could be used open or closed to parry/block attacks by swords, staffs, fists, feet etc.

I think that fans, japanese or otherwise were nothing more than fans. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's what they look like.
Perhaps used differently, but they were just fans.

 

Choose one...?

 

What I meant was they were physically nothing more or less than fans,but were used in various ways.

 

Perhaps, but what about the ones built for fighting? Were they nothing more than fans?

I used to have this paperweight that was made by Smith and Wesson and for some strange an inexplicable reason it could project .357-sized lumps of metal out of it at speed. Was that just a paperweight?

Ah, just kidding. I don't really care much for this fan debate. It is boring. Can we talk about ninjer smoke bombs instead?

 

As someone who has trained and lived in Japan and specialized in classical Japanese martial arts, including the use of the tessen, I have to say that pretty much everything you have written above is inaccurate.

Tessen did not have blades protruding out of it's "spokes". (Fans have ribs not spokes, it is not a bicycle) Slash all over the place? Sorry you seem to have your weapons mixed up.

Some Chinese fans used in gung-fu I understand have bladed edges, but not Japanese tessen. The morphology of the weapons are quite different.

Open, a tessen is vulnerable to breakage if you attempted to block an oncoming strike. Closed, it is much more effective, since the iron outer ribs provide structural integrity to the weapon.

Earlier on on this very thread, I posted pictures of two examples of tessen. No protruding blades out of it's ribs.

Closing this thread now, as it has served it's purpose.