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Post by makoto on Jul 26, 2022 5:44:13 GMT
Hello everyone, I've been lurking in the shadows for the past couple months and just recently signed up for an account - so this is my first post. Thank you for this forum! The content on this site combined with some YT reviews (lots of Matthew Jensen) helped guide me to my first purchases: a Mushi "hand hewn" katana (to trash) and a Ronin Dojo Pro #14 (also to trash, but hopefully not quite as quickly). They arrived today from KoA and at first glance I'm pleased with them for the money. The Ronin is actually nicer than anticipated. Musha: Ronin: I have a fairly extensive background in Japanese martial arts (Aikido & Bojutso) but have never studied with a katana. I intend to approach this fairly methodically with the goal being tameshigiri. I am also interested in laito and already have my eye on a nice Tozando but I think my sword budget is tapped for the month. Well at least a couple weeks. Ok...like a week. Generally when I get into something I go deep. So far I have avoided ordering a custom Motohara and I'm feeling very proud of my amazing restraint. Anyway thank you. And cheers! -Dave on a hill in Northern California
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Post by pellius on Jul 26, 2022 7:43:40 GMT
Welcome to the forum. Congrats on purchasing your first swords. May you show as much restraint when buying your 100th!
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Post by AndiTheBarvarian on Jul 26, 2022 9:01:35 GMT
Welcome!
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Post by paulmuaddib on Jul 26, 2022 15:35:32 GMT
Welcome. Hope you enjoy your time here.
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Post by alientude on Jul 26, 2022 15:39:46 GMT
Welcome to the rabbit hole! Lots of room in here.
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Post by makoto on Jul 26, 2022 17:21:33 GMT
Welcome to the forum. Congrats on purchasing your first swords. May you show as much restraint when buying your 100th! I feel so seen. Thanks for the welcome folks. I have spent some time scouring the old threads here but still have a ton of annoying questions. I won't ask them all at once.
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Ouroboros
Member
Imperial, Mysterious In Amorous Array
Posts: 569
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Post by Ouroboros on Jul 26, 2022 19:42:55 GMT
Welcome! Good choice to experience a through hardened blade: that dojo pro 14 is a nice beasty at 33". The worst part is forgetting how long she really is when doing a quickdraw or noto Enjoy and, welcome.
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Post by makoto on Jul 26, 2022 22:34:40 GMT
Welcome! Good choice to experience a through hardened blade: that dojo pro 14 is a nice beasty at 33". The worst part is forgetting how long she really is when doing a quickdraw or noto Enjoy and, welcome. Yes I have ape arms and am 6' 1" but that Ronin is... substantial. I do not have an uwa obi yet but will be ordering one soon. Any recommendations?
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Ouroboros
Member
Imperial, Mysterious In Amorous Array
Posts: 569
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Post by Ouroboros on Jul 26, 2022 22:59:26 GMT
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Post by makoto on Jul 26, 2022 23:14:09 GMT
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pgandy
Moderator
Senior Forumite
Posts: 10,296
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Post by pgandy on Jul 27, 2022 12:51:42 GMT
Don’t be too hasty in trashing the Mushi as a lot can be learned from it such as sharpening. If the hamon bothers you that can be polished away as part of the learning process. Without looking it up I suspect that it is of 1045 steel which in itself is not bad but most are not hardened to their maximum potential due to the expense but are still useable, just stick to the normal soft backyard targets. I have had one for over 15 years and it is still going and has taught me much. I hope that you will accept my belated welcome. I missed your original post.
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Post by makoto on Jul 27, 2022 15:08:09 GMT
Don’t be too hasty in trashing the Mushi as a lot can be learned from it such as sharpening. If the hamon bothers you that can be polished away as part of the learning process. Without looking it up I suspect that it is of 1045 steel which in itself is not bad but most are not hardened to their maximum potential due to the expense but are still useable, just stick to the normal soft backyard targets. I have had one for over 15 years and it is still going and has taught me much. I hope that you will accept my belated welcome. I missed your original post. Thank you for the advice and for the welcome. Yes it is not my ambition to destroy that Musha intentionally, but I suspect there will be some hard lessons learned through cutting and sharpening
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Post by makoto on Aug 22, 2022 0:48:15 GMT
Just a little follow up.
I have been using the Musha for beginner katas and blade alignment practice and while I like the sound produced by the bohi it's not a particularly comfortable tsuka, and the itto has become quite loose. I will be laquering it asap and don't regret buying that sword, but I suspect it will fall out of use in time.
The Ronin Dojo Pro is actually nice. It's the longest blade in their lineup (30") but the balance is quite good for cutting (so far just pool noodles). The tsuka and itto are much more comfortable and I can actually swing that thing around with less effort than the Musha. It just feels more like a part of me than the Musha if that makes sense.
Funny story: I live in a cabin off the grid. It's so hot during the day that I generally practice on the deck in the evening. As the sun sets and the artificial lights reflect off my rapidly swooshing sword it attracts.... BATS! A bunch of bats. And they fly directly at my sword. Moths to a flame so to speak. So far I have managed to avoid them.
In other news I just bought a JKOO from a member here through the classifieds. Nothing fancy but it should be a nice step up from the Musha. I'm leaning heavily toward a Z-sey in the coming months. Possibly a bare-blade project (starting with their $880 SanMai).
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pgandy
Moderator
Senior Forumite
Posts: 10,296
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Post by pgandy on Aug 22, 2022 1:28:11 GMT
Just a little follow up. I have been using the Musha for beginner katas and blade alignment practice and while I like the sound produced by the bohi it's not a particularly comfortable tsuka, and the itto has become quite loose. I will be laquering it asap and don't regret buying that sword, but I suspect it will fall out of use in time. Funny story: I live in a cabin off the grid. It's so hot during the day that I generally practice on the deck in the evening. As the sun sets and the artificial lights reflect off my rapidly swooshing sword it attracts.... BATS! A bunch of bats. And they fly directly at my sword. Moths to a flame so to speak. So far I have managed to avoid them. I’ve lacquered itos with clear nail polish using the small brush that comes with the polish. My itos were not loose when doing so, but that anchored them down. I did so to prevent further fraying. Ah, bats. I had a problem with them when I had banana trees. I suspect they were fruit bats. I would have to hose my house down each morning because of the bat sh*t. They would sling that mess in every direction. I must have had several hundred of them. At the time I had a friend in the Philippines who told me there they caught the bats for food by using fish hooks. They would string fishing line horizontally, then suspend lines from those vertically with the hooks at the end. The bats would snag themselves.
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