Book Review: The art of tsukamaki
Mar 15, 2012 5:12:08 GMT
Post by Charl on Mar 15, 2012 5:12:08 GMT
Alright, so there is no template for a book review so I am going to use the sword one and fill it in where appropriate! :ugeek:
The art of tsukamaki - Thomas Buck
Introduction
Everyone buys a particular book for a reason. I decided to buy this particular book because I was scouring the net to find some information on wrapping a katana handle and subsequently came across information regarding many different styles of wrapping, but no real instructional information as to how its done. I read about Thomas Bucks website where he had detailed instructions on a variety of different tsukamaki styles, but by the time i got around to finding it, the information was gone and in its place was an advertisement to buy the information in the form of this book. So I decided to make the purchase and I am not sorry i did!! I had a bit of communication issues, as can be read about here: forum.sword-buyers-guide.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9768), after buying the book and not hearing anything about it being sent, but it did arrive safe and sound!
Historical overview
Well, I guess I could say that there are many different styles of tsukamaki throughout the history of Japan and in the first third of this book it gives you an in-depth history of these styles and in what era they were popular in Japan. I Liked this bit of history but thats probably because Im a bit of a book nerd!
Initial Impressions
The book is broken up into three sections, in the first section it talks about the history and development of the Japanese sword and how the tsukamaki evolved throughout the history of Japan, putting into perspective just how long the styles have been around and what function they had.
The second section this book starts by showing different tsuka styles, a descriptive diagram of a tsukamaki stand and says that it shows you how to do 25 different tsukamaki styles, alot of them are so similar its probably not going to be "that" usefull to someone wrapping handles for friends etc. Some of the wrap styles would probably only be used by museum restorers but then again i could be wrong. The illustrations are simply done but i find them very easy to understand.
And the final section of the book goes in depth into different sword styles, hamons, why swords are shaped the way they are etc. Again something I found very interesting and useful in educating me about what good quality sword should look like.
Conclusions
So all in all I think this book is definitely worth buying if you are interested in exploring the world of tsukamaki. It does a great job of walking you through the process of each style that is portrayed in the book. If you are not going to be doing your own wraps, there are probably many more informative books out there that concentrate on the other information in the book.
I hope all of this makes sense and is helpful in making your mind up if you were wondering whether this book was worth buying or not.
And finally, if you check this link: forum.sword-buyers-guide.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=10107 you will see a wrap i did today from instructions out of this book.
The art of tsukamaki - Thomas Buck
Introduction
Everyone buys a particular book for a reason. I decided to buy this particular book because I was scouring the net to find some information on wrapping a katana handle and subsequently came across information regarding many different styles of wrapping, but no real instructional information as to how its done. I read about Thomas Bucks website where he had detailed instructions on a variety of different tsukamaki styles, but by the time i got around to finding it, the information was gone and in its place was an advertisement to buy the information in the form of this book. So I decided to make the purchase and I am not sorry i did!! I had a bit of communication issues, as can be read about here: forum.sword-buyers-guide.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9768), after buying the book and not hearing anything about it being sent, but it did arrive safe and sound!
Historical overview
Well, I guess I could say that there are many different styles of tsukamaki throughout the history of Japan and in the first third of this book it gives you an in-depth history of these styles and in what era they were popular in Japan. I Liked this bit of history but thats probably because Im a bit of a book nerd!
Initial Impressions
The book is broken up into three sections, in the first section it talks about the history and development of the Japanese sword and how the tsukamaki evolved throughout the history of Japan, putting into perspective just how long the styles have been around and what function they had.
The second section this book starts by showing different tsuka styles, a descriptive diagram of a tsukamaki stand and says that it shows you how to do 25 different tsukamaki styles, alot of them are so similar its probably not going to be "that" usefull to someone wrapping handles for friends etc. Some of the wrap styles would probably only be used by museum restorers but then again i could be wrong. The illustrations are simply done but i find them very easy to understand.
And the final section of the book goes in depth into different sword styles, hamons, why swords are shaped the way they are etc. Again something I found very interesting and useful in educating me about what good quality sword should look like.
Conclusions
So all in all I think this book is definitely worth buying if you are interested in exploring the world of tsukamaki. It does a great job of walking you through the process of each style that is portrayed in the book. If you are not going to be doing your own wraps, there are probably many more informative books out there that concentrate on the other information in the book.
I hope all of this makes sense and is helpful in making your mind up if you were wondering whether this book was worth buying or not.
And finally, if you check this link: forum.sword-buyers-guide.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=10107 you will see a wrap i did today from instructions out of this book.