Where do buy a decent sword .

Can you complete the sentence?

..very good for iai/batto?
..very good for kenjutsu?
..very good for tameshigiri?

 

Yes indeed I’ll be happy to post my opinion.

I’d like to be as concise as possible whilst also giving a fair and balanced opinion of the PK & PK+

Please bear with me I’ve just got back from a stressful Keiko so I’m a bit tired and probably not as articulate as I’d like to be.


Right after going through some kata with not only the PK & PK+ but also a very nice Shinken, is it a nihonto Scott?, I believe I can offer a decent assessment of them and how they compare to the other Sword.


Like I said I’ll try not to waffle on and get to the point…….




They suck!




They are awful, no in fact they are dam awful.

For the purpose the author of this thread is looking for and I’d say for JSA in general they suck big time.

Terrible balance, wrong weight I didn’t like the tsuka the list goes on and on.

Scott’s other sword was a dream hell by the end of it I was ready to propose to it.

There is no comparison. IMO my £160 Cheness Iaito knocks them into fits and yes I would sooner use a bokuto.

 

Sounds like you need a good quality shinken too...or a new Mach 3 razor.

How are you?

 

I didn't bad mouth your school or training. I'm bad-mouthing your opinion and lack of respect for proper research.

It's not "budo-nazism". When someone says something that is blatantly rude and untrue and is a gross over-generalization, it has to be addressed.

You said:

Total, over-generalizing rubbish. It just shows what little you really know.

Your bad manners and apparent lack of etiquette was exactly the thing that made me step into this thread in the first place.

Oh but wait, you're showing some real good manners and etiquette now with this recent response as well.

 

LOL Touche!

Good, thanks mate. Still training and teaching.

 

Ah I understand now where we are disagreeing. A sword to me has only one purpose, that is for use against an opponent. I viewed the sword with regards to how I think it would do against another weapon. You are looking for a item for a particular stylistic use. I wouldn't dream of commenting on that, I am sure you would know what you are looking for within your stylistic requirements.

It's kind of like a foil in western sport fencing. There are good foils and bad foils but neither are weapons of any use.

The Bear.

 

I think we already knew what your response was going to be.

The Bear.

 

Now we are getting somewhere...

OK, for budo/bujutsu use, the Chen/Hanwei sharpies don't have any place, except, perhaps as an entry-level tameshigiri sword. They can't be used for any repetitious practice due to balance and weight, they feel unpleasant to use, their toshin-to-tsuka ratio is downright odd and the tsuka itself is not made for anyone with below-average hand size.

Uses:

For iai/batto practice, a beginner should use a bokuto (acceptable) or an iaito (ideal) until they have amassed enough knowledge/experience/skill to move onto a shinken. A small lapse in concentration can be entertaining for the triage nurse down the local stitch-up joint. A good bokuto is £15, a decent iaito is £150-350 and a shinken can be a couple of grand for a decent one.

For kenjutsu practice, a bokuto is usually mandatory. I don't know anyone in the UK who uses anything else, except for a few experienced guys who use kata-yo for paired practice... Kata-yo cost abour £300.

For tameshigiri practice, any sharp sword can be used from a refitted gunto to a Chinese sharpie to a nihonto. Word of warning - some gunto are cheap cast weapons and are more dangerous than a rabid pitbull and are liable to shear on impact. Check with your sensei. Suitable gunto can be £100 upwards + refitting cost.

For pretty swords to look at - some of the best I have saw are from a company called Uniquities (not sure if URLs are allowed here) - I see them at shows from time to time and they only flog decent stuff. From £1.99 on eBay.

For swords that fit The Bear's requirements, hell, knock yourself out*. If it's got a sharp edge its a sword, but I am unsure of why someone would buy a sword if it doesn't fit into the above categories. We don't use them for self-defence anymore, nor are they ideal for securing oil wells in Iraq and I can't remember the last time I used one on the battlefield or fighting with my tribe against the neighbouring tribe from Wolverhampton.

*...but don't blame me when you redecorate the Power Rangers wallpaper in your bedroom with a nice shade of crimson. Don't forget to take pictures.

 

Not really. Look at my posting history you should see that I don't agree with people just because they do the same art or even happen to be my teachers.

If I thought they were ok I would have said so. They felt more like a machete type weapon than a Katana. The balance made me want to hack not cut where as the other Shinken felt like it would cut for me :love:

 

Wow really, I would never have guessed that. Why thanks Scott, all those years in JSA have paid off for you.

Then why train and own a weapon at all? If you never intend to use a weapon don't have one.

Now who is being insulting.

The Bear.

 

Bear you've had no training in Iai or Kenjutsu is that correct?

Your main focus is in WMA?

 

I have trained in Aikiken.
Primarily Saito Senseis view though I have did train using some of saotome sensei stuff too but it was a long time ago.

The Bear.

 

None of my above posted was aimed at you. It was for the interested observer who wants a sword.

This is just laughable. Go Google the reason...

Why should ANYONE 'intend to use a weapon'...? Self-defence? Murder? You're having a laugh. Why did you practice Scottish broadsword? Did you want to lead an army on Bannockburn? Oh hang on, let me guess - in case you get attacked at home and you have a weapon nearby...?

Grow up fella. You're arguing for argument's sake. I thought your post #86 and my response #88 ended our debate? Let it go...

There ain't enough 'rolleyes' smilieys on here for your post...

 

Why should anyone learn to use a weapon then? For Larping?

The Bear.

 

When I grow up I want to be Duncan Mcleod.....

 

When you understand what budo and bujutsu is, then you'll know.

I'll ask you again - why did you learn Scottish broadsword?

Mods, does this need splitting off from the OP's original thread? Maybe just before post #90...?

 

Ah so now "the way of the warrior" is nothing to do with fighting. All those Samurai just waved weapons about with no harm intended. Sorry I misunderstood.

It was more to do with the single stick exercise than the broadsword pre se.
I wanted a method of training that taught me how to fence an opponent rather than repetitive kata. It taught me alot about distance and timing. That you just don't get in paired kata. Also about cutting through the intention to strike even though you don't know what attack is coming.

The Bear.

 

Thanks for the confirmation that you do not know anything about budo, bujutsu or the difference between them. I would have thought that an extensive aiki background would have primed you for this? You DO have a good understanding of aiki, yes?

 

Kuma,

Since your experience in Japanese swordwork and usage primarily stems from aikido, with all due respect, it isn't really sufficient to know what you are doing or what a real weapon's balance should feel like.

Aikiken is almost always done with bokuto (Aikido bokuto tend to be a tad clunkier than other koryu counterparts for tanren & durability reasons), therefore experience of usage with a real sword is highly limited, unless your dan grade is somewhere in the stratosphere, like Inaba Minoru who teaches aikido and his own brand of Kashima Shin-ryu at Meiji Jingu budojo. (He has used shinken in embu)

The late Nishio Shoji, founder of Nishio aikido also had experience in swordsmanship from other sources, other than aikido. Nishio sensei also studied Muso Shinden-ryu iai & Muso Jikiden Eishin-ryu, Shinto Muso-ryu jo and Hozoin-ryu sojutsu.

OK, you have experience in classical Chinese martial arts in the way of taiji, and also in WMA via Highland broadsword. It is not commensurate to experience in learning iai or kenjutsu.

I hope you do not find this to be patronizing.

In the small measure of things, a weapon is a weapon and as budoka, we must enable ourselves to use any weapon, while encompassing the same mindset. However, certain weapons are not suitable or safe to train with in certain areas.

Can we stop bickering now?

Cheers.

 

Oh I understand, but the modern budo with its pacifist ideals as opposed to bujutsu being more martial however, it doesn't mean I have to agree with them or their redefinition by those who wish to see martial arts lose it's martial efficacy.
As for Aiki, I think it is an idea that should not be placed above martial efficacy.

The Bear.