SlayerofDarkness
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Post by SlayerofDarkness on Aug 11, 2009 15:30:03 GMT
Hey everyone! ;D After posting the video of me cutting paper with the kaze, I was made painfully aware of how inadequate a target thick paper is for the uber-sharp kaze... So, I subsequently promised to make a 'real' cutting id, and here it is! ;D I'll copy and paste the description from youtube, to save me a bit of time typing. I'd like to apologize for my horrible form, but it was partially because I had mosquitoes trying to eat me alive. VERY distracting! Why, oh why, I live in Florida... It was so much fun making this video that I'm doing some more cutting this afternoon. I'll try to film it as well, and upload it tonight. And this time I'll wear jeans, so I can focus more on cutting and less on getting bitten to bits. ;D Any and all comments/criticisms/suggestions about my form is appreciated and useful. I won't be offended if you say I'm horrible. ;D Comments and ratings make me happy! -Slayer
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SlayerofDarkness
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Post by SlayerofDarkness on Aug 11, 2009 16:26:27 GMT
Oh, and just let me know if there's a problem with the video. I'm not that great at uploading stuff, but I try. Thanks! ;D -Slayer
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Post by shadowhowler on Aug 11, 2009 16:48:42 GMT
Wow... thats a lot of cutting. I like the cut on the empty at 4:55.... good job on that one. That Kaze is certainly a VERY good cutter. Your quick and confident in your cutting, which is good... but your also wild and reckless with your swings, which is bad. You don't seem to have full control over where the sword is going sometimes... which can be a bit dangerous. I would practice going a bit slower... make more controlled cuts... you where a whirling dervish in that vid. Cool stuff.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2009 19:11:26 GMT
Yup, that was a slew of cutting Slayer. Good job and WELCOME TO THE ADDICTION!! ;D ;D
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SlayerofDarkness
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Review Points: 65
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Post by SlayerofDarkness on Aug 11, 2009 22:45:36 GMT
Thanks guys! ;D SH- Good points, man. I'll see what I can do about it... I think part of that may be because I'm used to having to 'force' the sword through the target a bit more than is required for the kaze. Both the Windlass Verneuil I had (but sold) and my other two kat's require a lot more effort to cut than this. It's still pretty easy with the katana's but NOTHING like this. Anyway, thanks for the tips. ;D Wizzbang- Thanks. ;D I've actually been cutting for about 9-10 months now, since I got my first real SBG-recomended sword in October of last year. This is just my first cutting video; I've been addicted for quite awhile I'm afraid. ;D But still, I've NEVER gotten cuts that good before. -Slayer
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Post by sparky on Aug 11, 2009 23:26:57 GMT
I liked it! And you'll never get anything else out of me................ you have swords and are way faster than me ;D No really I did enjoy! You are much better than me at this bottle cutting...... um thing. Don't let that go to your head though, I suck
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2009 23:46:14 GMT
You reminded me of a samurai ninja warrior (I know that is rediculous, but I was trying to be humorous), but it was cool. I was very impressed by the cut on the horizontal bottle, the one that remained in place with water in the lower half. I'm not a big fan of katana, but that kaze looks fun.
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Post by Tom K. (ianflaer) on Aug 12, 2009 0:38:20 GMT
ok, now that I've seen this video I can comment.
first of all that is what I call a FUN cutting session. I could tell you and Kaze both really enjoyed yourselves.
you are obviously agile and quick on your feet.
for being untrained (right?) your form was pretty good.
your edge alignment was obviously pretty good throughout.
your body mechanics show that you are untrained. while not bad there were some things you could do that would make you much more effective.
the slow work that shadohowler mentioned is very important, it will help you see when you are unbalanced and in awkward positions.
concentrate on keeping your knees bent there were a few time when you went very straight kneed maybe even all the way to locked. a good thing to practice is to find your initial stance, bend your knees and then never let your head rise or fall no matter what you do. this will regulate your center of gravity and keep you in a strong position. also if you train this way and something odd happens and you need to straighten or flex your knees to keep your balance you have the joint-motion available to do it.
when your blade strikes its target your shoulders and hips should both be pointing to the same place (a spot just barely beyond your target) and your tsuka (handle) should be pointing towards your belly (or the vertical center-line of your body) in most cases. in this way your body moves the sword. the power and motion come from your legs and hips rolling through your body in a wave-like motion transfering naturally out to your sword where all that power and motion comes together. you arm are pretty much only there to hold on to the sword and keep it held up at the right height.
I loved the horizontal cuts on bottles laying down I wonder why I never thought of that.
I loved that cut on the upside-down empy when the two parts just fell to the ground. that was a good cut.
you are doing well keep at it. thank you for sharing this with us. +1 for a good cutting vid.
CHALLENGE! how slowly can you swing that sword and still get it to cut a bottle clean through?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2009 0:55:04 GMT
I don't think I can give you better advice than has already been given, so I'll just say that looked like awesome fun! Great to see you and the kaze enjoying yourselves so much! Thanks for the vid, & have a karma! Cheers Marc E
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Post by YlliwCir on Aug 12, 2009 13:53:56 GMT
Well done, Slayer. I was gonna mention a few of my favorite parts but there are just too many. +1
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SlayerofDarkness
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Post by SlayerofDarkness on Aug 12, 2009 14:02:44 GMT
Well done, Slayer. I was gonna mention a few of my favorite parts but there are just too many. +1 (when I recharge) Wow! Thanks man. Praise from the master is valuable indeed. 'Cause, you know, NOBODY scares bottles more than RicWilly. ;D It rained yesterday, so I'm probably going to do the cutting today. With luck, I'll be able to implement the suggestions I've recieved here. WATCH OUT, HIR COMZ TEH MASTR NINJA BOTTL BATTER!!! ;D LOL -Slayer
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Marc Ridgeway
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Post by Marc Ridgeway on Aug 12, 2009 14:19:15 GMT
Slayer, You are quite an accomplished young cutter. You do cut with confidence, but you overpower a bit. i wont critque your form, becasue my own is pretty poor, because I'm just so uncooridinated plus, what does form matter to a backyard cutter, right? What I would like to comment on is safety.. several times I noticed you cutting towards your forward leg... thats dangerous, if cutting diagonal left to right, lead with the left leg.. and visa - versa. Great job! and good cutting! You made some impressive cuts. +1 from me
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2009 14:22:14 GMT
Stop twirling the f**king blade around! Seriously, I know it looks flashy but you have to understand that your confidence can hurt you just as much as anything else. Remember one slip with that katana and you will hurt yourself, at first you won't even notice because it is that sharp and that is the most dangerous thing of all. No offence man but you cut like a french whore making love, too fast and no pleasure. Try this, stack up your bottles, close your eyes, calm yourself, let the excitement drain out of you and find a place where you are centred and the adrenaline is not controlling the blade. Picture the cut in your head, what you want it to do, how you want it to land and then when you have played it over in your head and found your calm, only then attempt your cut. You are far to uncontrolled, so much so that you worry me man, I can see you taking off your ear or scalping yourself. Set yourself in the stance you want to use, when you make the cut control yourself, picture a point just past the bottle and try to stop your blade at that point. Once you have made the cut, take a moment let the adrenaline settle and then make the next cut. Don't just randomly and wildly swing and hope for the best. Most of all have fun and savour each cut, learn from each one. Nice try for your first vid, cut safe and for goodness sake, wear proper footwear! My last piece of advice is to study some of the classical cutting stances, there is a reason they have survived the many centuries because they utilise the katana to it's most effective cutting ability.
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SlayerofDarkness
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Review Points: 65
"Always give everyone the benefit of the doubt."
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Post by SlayerofDarkness on Aug 12, 2009 15:03:20 GMT
Slayer, You are quite an accomplished young cutter. You do cut with confidence, but you overpower a bit. i wont critque your form, becasue my own is pretty poor, because I'm just so uncooridinated plus, what does form matter to a backyard cutter, right? What I would like to comment on is safety.. several times I noticed you cutting towards your forward leg... thats dangerous, if cutting diagonal left to right, lead with the left leg.. and visa - versa. Great job! and good cutting! You made some impressive cuts. +1 from me Thanks for the compliments, Marc. ;D Although, I wouldn't call your form bad at all. Good point about the cutting towards forward leg thing. I hadn't realized that I was doing that... would you mind giving me an example of where I was doing that so I can see exactly what you're refering to? Thanks! ;D -Slayer
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Marc Ridgeway
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"The best cost less when you buy it the first time." - Papabear
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Post by Marc Ridgeway on Aug 12, 2009 15:45:18 GMT
The very first cut you made was towards the forward leg... you had the left leg forward and cut diagonal left to right. of Course on the recovery cut you were not doing so... fior double cuts like that try cutting from teh horse stance, or just alternating your footwork during the cutting... There or more examples in the video... but that one should show you what I mean.
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SlayerofDarkness
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Post by SlayerofDarkness on Aug 12, 2009 17:25:58 GMT
The very first cut you made was towards the forward leg... you had the left leg forward and cut diagonal left to right. of Course on the recovery cut you were not doing so... fior double cuts like that try cutting from teh horse stance, or just alternating your footwork during the cutting... There or more examples in the video... but that one should show you what I mean. Ah... okay, now I see what you mean. I kind of thought that that was okay when I was cutting at an angle that was close nough to horizontal that the blade never even came close to my front leg. Would you still recomend not doing it, just in case? I though that in that situation I was safe, but I'll trust your expertise. -Slayer
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Post by septofclansinclair on Aug 12, 2009 17:45:40 GMT
Also, I know the camera was on a stand which makes it safe to get the vids from this cool angle... but if someone was holding the camera you'd want them to be behind you out of the area where the centrifugal(sp?) force could send the blade flying should it suffer structural failure. Just a thought.
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SlayerofDarkness
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Post by SlayerofDarkness on Aug 12, 2009 17:52:15 GMT
Also, I know the camera was on a stand which makes it safe to get the vids from this cool angle... but if someone was holding the camera you'd want them to be behind you out of the area where the centrifugal(sp?) force could send the blade flying should it suffer structural failure. Just a thought. Definitely. You certainly make a good point. At this point in time I don't have the skill to keep my cuts from going all over the place, so even behind me would not nessacerily be 'safe', lol. I prefer using a stand anyway, although in this case my stand was a beat up old plastic table I used as a cutting stand until I made some real ones. Thanks for the advice, though. If I hadn't known that, you could have just saved me a LOT of trouble. -Slayer
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Marc Ridgeway
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Post by Marc Ridgeway on Aug 12, 2009 22:59:52 GMT
The very first cut you made was towards the forward leg... you had the left leg forward and cut diagonal left to right. of Course on the recovery cut you were not doing so... fior double cuts like that try cutting from teh horse stance, or just alternating your footwork during the cutting... There or more examples in the video... but that one should show you what I mean. Ah... okay, now I see what you mean. I kind of thought that that was okay when I was cutting at an angle that was close nough to horizontal that the blade never even came close to my front leg. Would you still recomend not doing it, just in case? I though that in that situation I was safe, but I'll trust your expertise. -Slayer Yes the angle was a bit flatter than katana cuts usually are... and there was likely no way to hit your leg with that cut... but habits die hard , and its best not to develop them,...
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Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2009 0:00:18 GMT
Hey Slayer, I liked the movie and I give props to anyone that posts on youtube. There are some really great suggestions from good cutters on this thread. However, I would like to add one suggestion of my own if I may.
I have only started cutting a few months ago and I loved it right off the bat. I am not formally trained and had to teach myself. I was cutting water bottles like a mad man but I was also swinging wildly. The thing that helped me the most was to stop cutting anything and just get a feel for the sword. If you have a bokken or Iaido I would suggest using it to train. Focus on a strike a week. You probably wanna start with kaesagiri and work your way down. Once you feel that you have control of the sword then start on the bottles again. I think you will be amazed at the difference you feel when you take a break from cutting bottles and only focus on your form and the feel of the sword.
I also used youtube to watch and learn from others. I emailed cutters for advise and then tried to apply the advise I was given.
Again, I am not formally trained and am only giving advise based on what helped me. I am by no means an expert, in fact I am still very much a beginner.
Best of luck to you Slayer!
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