I know I've been MIA for over a year now, but here goes...
I am impressed with how thorough your review is, but really, I can't say anything about *that* that hasn't been said.
However, what I do feel inclined to say is in regards to your sword use. I'm not trying to rag on you, but here are just a couple things I noticed that you could probably work on:
1: Wear shoes. Trust me. a 1% of 1% chance of the sword slipping or you slipping and your foot is in need of surgery. I'd rather have maybe a broken toe or bruised arch than serious lacerations.
2: Your shoulders are torquing independently of your hips. This is because on your diagonal cuts you're moving the sword in two axis - vertical and horizontal. By pulling the sword through the horizontal axis(while it moves in the vertical one) with your arms and shoulders, the weight of the sword is pulling your body alignment way out of wack. Remember, the horizontal movement of a sword during a diagonal cut comes from hip rotation, not shoulder/arm movement. As far as your shoulders and arms are concerned, a diagonal cut is identical to a vertical downward one - it's just your hips (and slight re-alignment of the edge) that make it diagonal.
3: A sword is a lever. Not a stick. Your top-hand(main-hand, whatever you want to call it) that is nearest the guard(for most people, the right hand), is the fulcrum. Your bottom hand(usually the left) is your effort. The blade is your 'load', as it were(this is physics lingo for levers). What it means is your right hand moves in an arc forward at maximum extension, and 'aims' the cut'. The blade moves in an arc that itself rotates around that right hand, through the use of the bottom hand which rotates inward around the top hand *as the top hand arcs in front of your centerline*. So there are actually 2 arcs going on here. The arc of the main hand around your center, and the arc of your bottom hand inwards around the main hand which rotates the blade around the already arcing fulcrum.
I bring this up because you're basically hitting the target right on with the edge and just trying to push the edge through the target in a straight line. Remember, the sword is a lever, and it rotates about it's fulcrum(your main hand) to add a 'slicing' motion, as well as increased velocity to the edge.
You're footwork isn't atrocious, but it could use some work to.
Again - not trying to just say you're doing badly - but you have a passion for this sort of thing, as anyone here can tell. I just want your form to mirror your passion.
Thanks! ;D I can see that that is not meant to be offensive...and I appreciate the advice. I'll definitely try that out...
Do note, however, that these are the three WORST cutting sessions I've literally ever had with a sharp sword.
The cold, being sick, and the wieght of the sword combined made my form far worse than it had any right to be.
I should have a video of me cutting with my prefered sword, the VA304S, up pretty soon... would you mind taking a look atthat and critiquing it, so you have a more realistic example of my form to base your reccomendations off of?
Oh, and I guess you're right about the shoes, lol.
So many people are talling me that, I think I'm going to wear 'real' shoes just to stop the complaints, lol! ;D In all seriousness, you're right, and it'll keep my feet from getting wet and muddy too, which would be nice.
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Jonathan- Thanks! ;D I'm glad you liked it. As for the fuller, I agree that a fuller would drastically improve this sword's performance, but it would take away from the spirit of the original design. With the Torino, one of my favorite aspects about it is the plain, unfullered blade... anyway, I think that some distal taper would be a better solution, but that's just me.
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Adam 2- You know, I forgot to say this... but WELCOME BACK!
Your presence here has been missed... I hope that you'll be sticking around.
Anyway; wow, you really choose some of my best moments there, didn't ya?
lol, I know... it wouldn't be helpful if you focused on the good parts.
Your points make sense, though, and thanks for taking the time to do that.
Breathing... gotta remember that one. ;D
As for being afraid... LOL! I seriously cracked up at that one... not sure why, it doesn't seem funny now.
I'm definitely not [i[scared[/i] of cutting, thank you very much.
I did have an inclnation to shy away from the exploding water, as you saw, but that was just instinct due to it being cold, and the water being VERY cold.
But yes, your point is very true, even if it doesn't apply in this particular scenario.
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Okay... this is where the invisible Odingaard post was, which I missed, but I surmise that it was something to do with one of my videos drawing the Dark Sentinel from the back suspension I made for it, right?
George- LOL, that video was specifically made to demonstrate how drawing from the back DOESN'T work. ;D I made it a bit lucrative to get my point across, but don't worry, I didn't really think that would work.
And yes, the camera is fine. It wasn't nearly as close as it looked, but the effect ended up being pretty cool, IMO.
SM1- That would help handling quite a bit, indeed... I just like the plain, smooth blade of the torino, though.
SM2- That would definitely make a difference, lol. Unfortunately, I don't think Gen2 would hollow grind the blade for us...
But it sure would be nice! ;D
SM3-
Jonathan- Thanks for stickin' up for me.
I really don't mind the advice from Adam, although if you're refering to anything Odingaard said, I can't comment. As for the rest of your post, I agree 100%, although, again, adding profile taper would change the swords image a bit.
Odingaard- Feel free to shoot me a PM.
I've always found you to be a reasonable sort of guy, aso I'd be interested in hearing what it is that you have to say.
Wraith- first part of your post; cool. Second part? Not so cool.
Please, I don't mean to sound demanding, but I'd appreciate it if you gave me the benefit of the doubt.
That's what's kept me out of all the arguments that perpetually plague SBG as of late; even ones that revolve around me! I always assume the best of someone and their intentions, until reasonable logic proves otherwise. (if someone posts advice likes Adam's, I'll always assume it's meant to be helpful, not demeaning, but if someone brand new joins, and their first post is advertising hand bags, I won't assume that they aren't a spammer, but actually just keying us in to a great deal. Does that make sense?)
The entire pupose of that video was to show how impractical a back suspension is (for drawing from that position), and I only did that to demonstrate what you'd have to do to draw such a long sword. Now, I wouldn't try the same thing with ANY of my other blades, and you know why? (tip: this is where the benefit of the doubt thing comes into play) The Dark Sentinel is windlass-dull! the edge is nearly 1mm wide, all the way along the blade. It has trouble cutting MILK JUGS, man, so I was not in any way endangering my hands, or any other part of me except for incuring the albiet-slim chance of dropping said blade and having it stab me.
Seriously, man; I've come to expect better reasoning than that from you... if you know that I generally act so maturely, how is it that you come to the conclusion that I would do something so stupid as to grab the blade of a sharp sword? I don't mean to be offensive, as you should know by now that I have the utmost of respect for you... but I am curious about that. As for the cuts after the draw... I'll tell you a secret; I tripped. Nothing more than that made them so uncontrolled, if it's indeed the video I'm thinking of. Yes, I know tripping is stupid, but that's why I'm careful to never do something that would cause injury if, say, I tripped.
Does that make sense? (seriously, I'm tired and didn't relish the thought of responding to this, so I have no clue if my last paragraph was written in english or not... and I don't even know any other languages.
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Now... Bloodwraith and Jonathan, thank you BOTH for your help, BW for your advice and Jon for standing up for me. I appreciate both of your input, but please don't fight, guys. We're all friends here, right?
Wraith, I don't think that Jon was attacking you or anybody else, personally, but let's at least be cordial about it, 'k?
All in all, that's all I have to say. I do hope that I haven't offended anybody, because that was certainly not my intentions at all.
Wraith, I'd like to extend the same invitatio nto you that I did to adam; when I post my next vid, would you mind critiquing it for me? These videos are NOT, i repeat, NOT, a good example of what I can or cannot do. Thanks.
Adios, amigos. (I may not know any other languages, but I have picked up around 5-10 words of spanish. ;D Hey! It's progress, you know!
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-A tired Slayer