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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2009 7:01:23 GMT
I am watching Lock & Load on the History Channel and it succeeded in making me pissed off... I have no problem with people playing with swords and experimenting, but some level of experience must be required for them to actually take up the huge task of trying to compare them and this is not the first time I have seen this done. What most pisses me off is that they actually mostly cut with the lower middle of the sword, totally neglecting the idea of a CoP or of actual medieval martial arts. Then, they draw conclusions from their pointless and imprecise test and air their genius in national TV... I want a refund for the last hour I have spent watching an 180 year old civil war veteran try to look like he knows what a sword is... what are your thoughts on this?
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2009 7:35:06 GMT
Well, having little experiance myself I do hate it when people, especially in something like that, try to behave like experts. But I hate stuff like that in all facets of life.
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Avery
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Post by Avery on Oct 3, 2009 12:19:21 GMT
The sad fact is, this has and will continue to happen. With all these psuedo science shows like "the Art of"....whatever, or "the Deadliest"...whatever. Most of the time its because they can't get real masters to perform some of the "tests", so they Joe blow from down the street to hack away. A real sword documentary would be "Reclaiming the Blade".
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2009 13:04:44 GMT
I do agree, another very good documentary is "The Weapons That Made Britain" series, at least for the longsword documentary it uses an actual medieval book to show snippets of medieval martial art and is performed by people who have been handling swords for a while and it does not take the huge task to compare weapons, because that is just plain stupid. There is no way in earth how one can compare a katana to a broadsword, it's like trying to compare a boat to a car, they are two different things used in two very different ways for two different purposes, which is why I usually hear there "experts" lead to conclusions and wonder where the heck they get them from...
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2009 14:37:30 GMT
The best documentary I've seen on swords and swordsmanship is "Reclaiming the Blade". It's on DVD and well worth the price of admission.
dxr
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Post by YlliwCir on Oct 3, 2009 17:24:48 GMT
I wouldn't expect much from something called "Lock & Load." It stopped surprising me some time ago what people take for fact about swords and history in general.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2009 19:07:10 GMT
I wouldn't expect much from something called "Lock & Load." It stopped surprising me some time ago what people take for fact about swords and history in general. oh, i agree to that, what I am pissed about is that I pay the history channel money every month to be just that and they don't even take the time to look at their shows and separate what is worth looking from what is total b.s...
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2009 19:50:08 GMT
I wouldn't expect much from something called "Lock & Load." It stopped surprising me some time ago what people take for fact about swords and history in general. oh, i agree to that, what I am pissed about is that I pay the history channel money every month to be just that and they don't even take the time to look at their shows and separate what is worth looking from what is total b.s... I wouldn't say it's the history channels fault, I'd think it would make more sense to blame the shows producer. It's his or her job to get all the experts or so called experts on the show. Modern Marvels on the history channel has a fairly good producer for instance, as far as I can tell. When they did a sword episode they at least had ARMA on the show.
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Post by YlliwCir on Oct 3, 2009 21:41:47 GMT
Yeah, I like history channel. More of a problem of not being enough good shows out there to fill up their air time. Also history is always being reinterpreted it seems. Which is good I think.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2009 23:07:08 GMT
The best documentary I've seen on swords and swordsmanship is "Reclaiming the Blade". It's on DVD and well worth the price of admission. dxr I'd heartily recommend reclaiming the bade too. That documentary/film is the result of some actual research
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Post by Deleted on Oct 4, 2009 5:50:30 GMT
I've watched my copy of Reclaiming the Blade to many times, even earlier today while doing the dishes ............ its the one thing that if any of my friends or relatives ask "So you know swords and stuff whats all this about sword nowadays" I just say look you got an hour to casually spare, sit down, watch this, come talk to me afterwards ............ if I heard they watched the DVD extras then I know they were'nt just doing it to amuse me .......... Its a real good legit doco and theres a sequel coming out showcasing alot of the footage and sword fightclubs they couldnt include in the first
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Post by Deleted on Oct 4, 2009 6:03:20 GMT
Thanks to all you folks I just put Reclaiming the Blade and the bonus features as number one and two in my Netflix lineup. Of course I'll probably end up buying them. Thanks for making me aware of them.
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Post by Kilted Cossack on Oct 4, 2009 16:58:28 GMT
I just checked, and Netflix has Reclaiming the Blade available for instant viewing.
So I know what I'll be doing this afternoon!
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Post by ShooterMike on Oct 4, 2009 18:25:15 GMT
I have recorded every episode aired of Lock & Load to DVR. I have watched the episodes on "Blade Weapons", "Machine Guns", "Rifles", and "Handguns".
So far, every episode I've seen has contained it share of errors, half truths and just plain old faulty reasoning based in lack of experience or skill. But the one that actually irritated me was the part about the Katana vs. European longsword. I usually like watching R. Lee Ermey even though I know he's mostly just sticking to script, saying something some writer told him to say. But that segment was misleading and inaccurate with respect to both swords. I actually found it irritating enough that I deleted the episode which I haven't done with the others.
And in a totally different direction, I add my voice to those that say Reclaiming the Blade ROCKS! I bought it when it was first released, and I was afraid it would fade into obscurity. I am very glad to hear it's available on NetFlix.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 4, 2009 21:15:44 GMT
I avoid TV shows on weapons, period. I know I'll just end up raging, or worse, "learning" something faulty.
M.
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Post by sparky on Oct 4, 2009 21:45:05 GMT
Having my better half put Reclaiming the Blade on our netflix as we speak. ;D
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Post by Brendan Olszowy on Oct 6, 2009 13:35:40 GMT
So is RtB worth buying? Did you actually learn something from it?
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Post by Kilted Cossack on Oct 6, 2009 13:55:22 GMT
Brenno:
Not directed at me, I'm sure, but I'll take the proverbial (and metaphorically highly appropriate) stab at answering.
I enjoyed Reclaiming the Blade. The production values were quite good, the Viggo was good, and will probably do a good bit to 'broaden the market,' and I really enjoyed the emphasis on Western blades. I don't want to get into "samurai vs. viking" issues here, and I don't think RtB did either. My personal conviction is that the reason we so esteem Asian martial arts (and particularly Japanese martial arts) is because we lost or forgot out own martial arts. (I speak here as an American of mixed Celtic descent, shorthand for "us Westerners.")
I think that Reclaiming the Blade is a fine effort, but probably aimed more at the mass audience than at the (proudly self-titled) "sword nuts" here at SBG. It almost felt more like the introductory chapter to a longer work on European blades----imagine if the same production values were applied to a series of hour long documentaries focusing on, say, Talhoffer longsword technique.
I quite enjoyed it, although it left me hungering for more.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 6, 2009 21:35:29 GMT
it's worth watching from what I see, especially since they have Gimli narrating it.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 7, 2009 4:30:58 GMT
Brenno, me being a queenslander I thought "yeah alot of shipping just to get one measilly DVD over the water" ......... Did I learn anything from it, some bits and pieces only because like alot of us here I throw myself into this culture and learn as much as possible but its still a good watch ......... sad part is I watch this casually at least twice a week, either the doco or the bonus dvd.
Things I liked:
Good narration Good interviewing with people who count (alot of hank reinhardt talking which was nice).
It gave insight into western swords in all relevant genres starting with movies and their inspirations (also stage steel was done after that), going to modern incarnations of practice like modern fencing and kendo, and then shedding light on the revivals first SCA, then WMA and the fight schools, a bit in archeology of found artifacts and also forging ........
Bonus DVD had a nice segment on Oakeshott typology describing the whole typo The Sword Training vids werent really training more like a plug for the fight schools but gave you a "taste test" of what a bit of the different training types were. You couldnt stand there with your blunt and follow techniques (which to me was a bit of wrong advertising but hey all good if it gets people going to the fightschools). Jake Powning had a segment on forging a blade which was interesting.
All in all this is a brilliant resource to show a beginner or person unfamiliar but eager to learn it would be invaluable insight.
To all us in the know now its a good casual watch the kinda reaffirms the love ....... its re-watch value is kinda low unless your a desperate bugger like me
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