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Post by alientude on Mar 8, 2021 21:51:55 GMT
I'm a complete novice at cutting, and I was hoping to get some advice on the cuts in the video below. I think my edge alignment on these was generally okayish, but as you can see, the results weren't great. Even when I cut through the pool noodle, the cuts were very jagged and more tears than cuts. I think my biggest problem here was my follow through, both in terms of keeping the plane of the cut steady and stopping the cut too soon. Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks!
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Post by Adventurer'sBlade on Mar 8, 2021 22:04:34 GMT
You need more velocity in the sword than that to bite the noodle. The key is to maintain your edge alignment while increasing the speed of the sword. And think sliding the edge down across the target on contact. It's probably time to start doing a passing step forward with the cut as well.
Take a blunt or stick and practice cutting starting high over your dominant shoulder with your dominant leg back. Step dominant leg forward as you cut diagonally downward. Pull the hilt towards your nondominant hip and end in the plow guard with sword held low and pointed at the target's "head". Once you can do that with power and control, do it with the sword.
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Post by alientude on Mar 8, 2021 22:47:13 GMT
I'll definitely practice that with my wooden sword. Thanks for the tips!
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Post by Lukas MG (chenessfan) on Mar 8, 2021 23:36:59 GMT
While stepping can make it easier to incorporate the hips to generate power (careful though, don't step first and then cut, as you often see with people who cut a lot but don't fence/fight), it also makes it harder to get edge alignment, cutting angle and and/arm-movement right. I suggest continuing without stepping first, focusing on increasing speed in the strike while maintaining correct blade alignment. Try not to strike "harder" (to avoid trying to muscle the sword), try moving the blade tip faster while maintaining a fairly relaxed posture. You can impart some hip movement without stepping, too. Once that works, start incorporating footwork.
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Post by RufusScorpius on Mar 8, 2021 23:42:19 GMT
Pool noodles are notoriously hard to cut. Your technique has to be spot on. Keep practicing and don't give up, it may take you a very long time to do it properly (and there is no shame in that). Focus on doing the cut right and not trying to just hammer your way through the target.
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Post by treeslicer on Mar 9, 2021 2:24:39 GMT
Okay, alientude , I see several areas for improvement here, but things will have to be taken a step at a time. First and foremost, you have a very long and weighty sword which is hard to stop once you get it going. To safely bring it to the velocity that you need, for targets like pool-noodles, you'll have to be able to stop it on a dime as well, because pool-noodles have little resistance when properly cut. This means two-handed swings, using the Japanese technique called "wringing the tea towel" ( chakin shibori), opposing the twist of your two hands, with flexed arms, to stop the sword.
Once you can stop it when you need to, pool noodles require a slicing cut, never a chop, performed using the outer third of the sword moving at a very high angular speed, but also being pulled toward you as it goes through the swing. This is far more difficult using a straight Western knightly sword, than it is with a curved sword such as a katana, saber, kilij, or tulwar, etc. Razor-sharp is good, too, and the best cutting angle is around 35 degrees to the axis of the pool-noodle (the same observations apply to bamboo and tatami, but pool noodles are more difficult). Considering the sword's cross-section as an airplane wing, you want an angle-of-attack of zero throughout the cut.
My advice on mastering pool-noodles is to get yourself a good cheap katana along with a copy of Nakamura's Spirit of the Sword, and teach yourself tameshigiri (ignoring all the iaido material*). Once you've absorbed that, you can reverse-engineer the techniques to whatever cutting sword that you wish to.
* My old iaido sensei would slap the semprini out of me for telling you that, as well as for recommending Nakamura, BTW.  |
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Post by Adventurer'sBlade on Mar 9, 2021 3:36:37 GMT
IMO you don't HAVE to train to stop that big sword on a dime after the cut. Your follow-through can be to redirect it all the way around your body in a circular orbit so it terminates movement up over your right shoulder exactly where you started the cut. You just need to ensure it does not come close to hitting your own left leg or head.
I did this a lot in my recent grosse messer review because that sword was so chonky that any sort of cut with sufficient speed to bite a water bottle had massive inertia.
A katana really would be 100x easier for pool noodles.
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pgandy
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Post by pgandy on Mar 9, 2021 16:06:22 GMT
From what I see at the moment you need to develop your foot work and apply body English, and get your speed up. The former two will help with the speed. Just a WAG as I don’t have a sword that long nor have I cut noodles but if you try cutting closer to the tip your speed will pick up. I can’t tell with your video but for me when using two hands I use the left hand for the power (I’m right handed) and the right to guide the sword, as I would with a katana. Your performance will also pick up it you bring your fingers into play. In your case the little finger of your left hand and decreasing towards the index finger.
Just read what I wrote and no WAG that your speed will pick up closer to the tip, it will. The WAG part comes in at increasing halving those noodles.
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Ouroboros
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Imperial, Mysterious In Amorous Array
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Post by Ouroboros on Mar 9, 2021 16:12:40 GMT
(ignoring all the iaido material*). * My old iaido sensei would slap the semprini out of me for telling you that, as well as for recommending Nakamura, BTW. Nakamura deserves a good reading and consideration. Also up for consideration: Obata "Naked Blade." Ignore nothing Now we may both hang our heads in shame.  |
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Post by alientude on Mar 9, 2021 16:21:10 GMT
Wow, lots of great advice here! Thank you everybody for being willing to share tips with me. I own Cutting with the Medieval Sword by Michael Edelson, and I'm trying to learn from it, but I'll definitely also look into the books mentioned above.
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Post by RufusScorpius on Mar 9, 2021 17:42:21 GMT
Pgandy and treeslicer gave excellent advice. It's terribly hard to explain over the internet the mechanics of performing a proper cut. There are subtleties that just can't be explained well in words that, with an on-site teacher, could be shown in a few minutes. It's not uncommon for beginners to quit because they were trying to self-teach and got frustrated.
And to be honest, cutting isn't exactly easy. In established schools the student will usually spend AT LEAST a year learning the movements with a wooden sword before ever attempting a cut with a real blade. You have to get the angle correct, the contact point on the blade correct, the motion of your hands and arms correct, and your foot motion has to be in unison with all of the above. Then you have to concern about push/pull motion and hip and shoulder orientation. All of it has to happen at the same time. And learning to do it all in a split second comes only after lots and lots of practice until it becomes automatic. And it all needs to be done with a LARGE amount of self-awareness of your surroundings and own limbs- safety is paramount! A sword may be an obsolete weapon, but it's still a very deadly one. Improper handling can lead to some very unwanted outcomes.
Pool noodles will show if you got it right or not more so than any other material that I've found. You can't hammer though a pool noodle like you can something harder like bamboo or tatami. Pool noodles are too soft and floppy for that.
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Post by alientude on Mar 9, 2021 17:50:37 GMT
I'm impatiently waiting for my HMO to make a vaccine available to me so I can join a local HEMA club, that's for sure.
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Post by treeslicer on Mar 9, 2021 17:58:55 GMT
(ignoring all the iaido material*). * My old iaido sensei would slap the semprini out of me for telling you that, as well as for recommending Nakamura, BTW. Nakamura deserves a good reading and consideration. Also up for consideration: Obata "Naked Blade." Ignore nothing Now we may both hang our heads in shame. Both books are readily available from various booksellers on eBay, BTW. |
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Post by RufusScorpius on Mar 9, 2021 17:58:58 GMT
I will say "thank you" for sharing your video. Too often people won't do that for fear of being ridiculed. We all started in the same place as you, so no worries! I respect your eagerness to learn.
Looks like you live in Florida maybe? I would be happy to show you some stuff if we were geographically closer.
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Post by alientude on Mar 9, 2021 18:01:07 GMT
California, actually.
And if people ridicule me for being a beginner, then I know to ignore them in the future.  |
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Post by RufusScorpius on Mar 9, 2021 18:11:56 GMT
California, actually.
And if people ridicule me for being a beginner, then I know to ignore them in the future. Ah, I saw the palm tree in the background and figured it was 50/50 between CA and FL. Yes, no matter what unique path the more experienced members of the forum took to get where they are now, we ALL started knowing nothing. |
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Post by treeslicer on Mar 9, 2021 18:19:21 GMT
California, actually.
And if people ridicule me for being a beginner, then I know to ignore them in the future. Self instruction has its beauties, one being the absence of immature senpai to deal with.
Something I'd add to RufusScorpius 's great comments, is that a sliced six-inch pool noodle preserves a permanent record of how well the cut went, which is useful for instruction. Every little deviation gets recorded, and has a meaning which can be read. My position on pool noodles is that they should be added to the other standard targets for tameshigiri. |
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pgandy
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Post by pgandy on Mar 9, 2021 23:16:29 GMT
My money was on CA, I got that part correct.
One thing nobody has brought up and will help. Practice in front of a mirror or reflective window. There is nothing like a live instructor but they are no always available. You will have to know what is correct vs what you are not doing will help but make a mental note of something that you saw and use that as a model. One thing to be aware of is “anybody can make a video”, be careful but you can learn much from your reflection. Another is to make a video as you did but for self assessment . I’ve learned a lot from my videos. Sometimes I can’t believe that I could make such a mistake. My instructors and sparring partners are all history.
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Post by alientude on Mar 10, 2021 2:19:03 GMT
Quick question...I have a wood longsword from Purpleheart Armoury. It has a fuller through most of it. If I get the "swish" sound throughout the cut, does that mean I'm getting proper edge alignment, or is that only a thing with katanas?
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Post by RufusScorpius on Mar 10, 2021 3:01:02 GMT
The swish is probably a good sign, but I can't say for certain. In any event, it's an indicator of only one parameter of many.
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