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Post by Kane Shen on Feb 15, 2022 21:51:26 GMT
I'm confused by the sarcasm in the opening post, how is this some kind of "gotcha" that exposes criticism of swords? This isn't a sword. Even a 2x4 piece of lumber can "work" as a weapon, doesn't make sword physics irrelevant. Heh, it doesn't. But one can avoid a serious debate with legitimate argument, just by strawmanning it.
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Post by Kane Shen on Feb 15, 2022 22:10:19 GMT
Eh, I bet if you gave Miyamoto Musashi a $50 Musha katana he'd still kill his opponent even if they had a Masamune Nihinto. Pretty sure he wouldn't throw it down and say, "Yuck! It has no distal taper!" And run away... Just for gits and shiggles, I checked KOA's stats on one of their Mushas. It's not the $50 model, but it's closer to $70. www.kultofathena.com/product/musha-oda-clan-katana/Thickness: 7.5 mm - 3.8 mm That's not off from the high-end models... 35-45% taper on a katana is pretty typical at any price. But Katanas are the most popular sword style out there, and have been for a while. It figures that the better low-cost production outfits have learned how to squeeze the most sword for the lowest cost. Can you show me a medieval European sword at that price point that is as reasonably functional? As far as I've seen, they're not even close. The Euro-"Mushas" start at 4 times the price. Either the "institutional know-how" is not sufficient yet, or so far the demand hasn't justified it. But, that being said, it does seem the budget manufacturers are at least looking into taking steps to make their Euro-swords handle more like swords. Thanks for linking the stats. I took my lady out for a special night on Valentine's Day, what did I miss? I really enjoy how the Musha $50 Katana was used as a great example of "having zero distal taper" to push a misconception, but once you brought up how it in reality has a significant amount of distal taper, more importantly the proper amount of distal taper for a katana of this size, the topic of distal tapering and how it is being zero as an active argument in a debate are conveniently forgotten. How the goal post of the discussion is suddenly shifted to fit and finish, and how the ito wrap is not tight. Loving it! I happen to own a Musha Katana too, and I happened to get it on a sale for $40, because I was curious how the lowest end of the budget market can offer, and I want to hold unbiased, neutral and rational opinions. I own 80+ swords so far, all the way from this $40 Musha to a $8500 project. I can most definitely tell, having a low cost is never a barrier to having the correct dimensions, proportions, profile and distal taper, cross section, edge bevel, harmonic balances. What needs to be cut at budget level is only the quality of fit and finish. And the above aspects are not part of the "fit & finish", but physical properties that fundamentally determine how a sword moves. Now here are the stats of the $40 Musha, per my measurement of it: Weight: 830g Blade length: 28" (26.5" nagasa) Overall length: 38.25" Point of Balance: 6.25" Distal Tapering (46.5%)7.1mm at habaki 5.5mm at 14" from the base 3.8mm at yokote Profile Tapering (33.8%)32mm at habaki 26.6mm at 14" from the base 21.2mm at yokote Do I expect these stats to be ever brought up again in this discussion of why budget swords cannot have distal taper, because "it's so costly to implement, obviously only Albions can afford to have them"? No, it will also be conveniently overlooked for forgotten. Because it doesn't suit a narrative.
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Post by Kane Shen on Feb 15, 2022 22:23:08 GMT
BTW back to the topic of the "tie bian" or the Chinese bar mace. This is my comment to Matt's video.
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Post by Pogo4321 on Feb 24, 2022 23:39:26 GMT
The weapon of Judge Dee aka Detective Dee.
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Post by treeslicer on Feb 24, 2022 23:55:10 GMT
OK, I just noticed this, uh, discussion about "sharpened crowbars". Anybody here heard of a kabutowari? Last time I looked, nobody laughs at them, and nobody wants to get hit with one, either.
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