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Post by ambulocetus on Jan 19, 2018 3:26:43 GMT
Ok, here's some pics. First, the best I can do to capture the flat niku Now a picture of the geometry of the yokote And finally the width compared to a Hanwei Renshu I don't know why the first pic made a nice thumbnail but the other two are giants.
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Post by ambulocetus on Jan 18, 2018 21:28:50 GMT
Maybe one of you can tell me what I have here. I found a used KC 26 from about 2006 and snagged it up because everybody says how the old ones are very good. I was expecting a beefy blade with a lot of niku from all the reviews, but the sword I got is rather thin and has no niku. Is this a feature of certain models? It has a nice shape and a geometric yokote, so I'm not unhappy with it, just a little disappointed. Do you think I will be happy with it in the spring when it is time to do some cutting? Also, it's one of the old ones with the glued on tsuka, if you could tell me what the tang looks like under there, I would greatly appreciate it.
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Post by ambulocetus on Jan 13, 2018 21:09:43 GMT
An interesting side effect of all this is that the Chinese ebay-ers who normally sell sex toys and cosmetics are jumping on the sword band-wagon. I was looking at menuki and all the cheapest sellers have another specialty. It was slightly disorienting seeing tsubas and wakizashis right next to n****e clamps and false eyelashes. I guess Artsfeng has some strange friends.
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Post by ambulocetus on Jan 8, 2018 6:18:44 GMT
I have a couple of favorites that you might like to know about: First is The Spring and Autumn of Chinese Martial Arts - 5000 Years by Kang Ge Wu. Some of his conclusions are a bit controversial, although he has done much research to back it up. It is a good book for a broad overview of the subject. I'm not really into Karate, but I found The History of Karate: Okinawan Goju-Ryu By Morio Higaonna, to be well written and very interesting. Unlike the previous book, this is more history at the personal level. Higaonna Sensei has done much research on the origin of Karate, tracing it back to Fukien Crane style of mainland China. Chineselongsword.com has translated some ancient manuals and also makes reproductions of some of them, including traditional binding. He is an amateur translator, but he does a pretty good job, and he translates some stuff that nobody else does. Reasonably priced, so check it out.
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Post by ambulocetus on Jan 5, 2018 14:49:36 GMT
I noticed that the BattoDo guys don't do sayabiki. Is that because back in the day they were using Gunto?
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Post by ambulocetus on Jan 5, 2018 5:12:05 GMT
The most unusual Nihonto I've seen up close was a NanbokuchōTo in shirasaya with a big ō-kissaki and mystical bonji all up and down both sides. The mune was a mitsu mune and the nakago had a tameshigiri inscription that said something like "this sword cut through 3 bodies at the nipple". The story the owner told was that the sword had bitten every owner at least once. I think he was trying imply that it was cursed, but I don't believe in such things. I don't remember the smith, and this was before smart phones, so no pictures, but I've seen a lot of swords and this one was memorable.
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Post by ambulocetus on Jan 4, 2018 5:33:50 GMT
Shakudo is copper with a little bit of gold mixed in to make a nice patina. If I add a little gold electro-plate solution to the copper electro-plate solution, and then proceed to electro-plate a part, can the finished piece get that nice dark shakudo patina?
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Post by ambulocetus on Dec 29, 2017 5:02:57 GMT
Yea that's how we did it in Tenshin Ryu, but I have to do it different now. It took quite a bit of correction from sensei to get used to it; one systems good technique is another systems bad habits. To be honest, Mugai Ryu isn't my favorite style, but it's close to my house and the hours fit with work.
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Post by ambulocetus on Dec 29, 2017 4:40:24 GMT
In Mugai Ryu a couple of the kata have blocking with the mune, but in my old style, Tenshin Ryu, we blocked with the shinogi. Block isn't really a good word for it though, I guess parry would be closer. The thinking is that the mune is soft and a cut from another blade could dig in to the metal, but the shinogi is structurally stronger and it would be harder to cut through a blade from the side than it would from the top. Back to moroha zukuri, I guess you would do noto the same way you do a chinese sword. Kinda hold it sideways and put the point in horizontally. Does anybody here practice with one?
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Post by ambulocetus on Dec 28, 2017 13:34:00 GMT
I recently switched to Mugai Ryu,and my new sensei wants us to keep thumb and forefinger of left hand curled around koiguchi, while sliding the mune across the web of your hand along almost the whole length of the blade. My old style had a couple different ways depending on the kata. Also my new sensei frowns upon using shinken in class, but my old sensei encouraged it for black belts.
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Post by ambulocetus on Dec 28, 2017 5:51:05 GMT
How about a naginata naoshi or a moroha zukuri? I probably wouldn't get one of those, but I am curious how people practice with them.
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Post by ambulocetus on Dec 28, 2017 5:15:22 GMT
Does anybody here who does iaido or kenjutsu have an unokubi zukuri or a naginata naoshi that they practice with? How do you do noto? I would think that your sensei probably won't let you use one in the dojo, but if you have one I'm sure you've played around with it at home. I'm thinking of getting one, but I'd like to know what I'm getting into first. I don't see any problem with batto, but I would imagine that noto is awkward?
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Post by ambulocetus on Dec 26, 2017 4:31:52 GMT
Slightly off topic, but I just wanted to add that the Chikanori Tachi at Sho-shin is really something else. After looking at all the Chinese made swords for a while, viewing that incredible piece was like taking a breath of fresh air after being stuck in smoky cave. I didn't even bother to look for the price, because like the old saying, if you got to ask, you can't afford it.
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Post by ambulocetus on Jul 5, 2017 20:15:06 GMT
Lol, good story. I have an open mind. Perhaps I'm being too harsh. I shall ponder now.
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Post by ambulocetus on Jul 4, 2017 4:40:20 GMT
Right, and if someone sees this guy dressed like a cop, and he is near a crime in progress but does nothing, people will say "what a lousy cop" because they don't know he's not real. This could give all cops a bad name. Similarly, if someone dresses up like a "sammy rye" but doesn't act like one, people will say "what a lousy martial artist, that stuff must suck". Traditional martial arts has an image problem already, what with all the fake tai chi masters getting there ass kicked and all the McDojos selling impractical techniques. We don't need amatures giving us a bad name.
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Post by ambulocetus on Jun 30, 2017 22:23:52 GMT
My grandfather was a machinist. He made a knife out of an old file and that sucker is tough. Back in the day I took it to work when I was a Teppan Yaki cook. The other guys would sharpen their knives every day, mine needed it maybe once a week. I still have it and it is still sharp. When it was new it was slightly prone to surface rust, but now it has a nice patina.
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Post by ambulocetus on Jun 29, 2017 13:02:30 GMT
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Post by ambulocetus on Jun 27, 2017 13:07:58 GMT
We never focused on tameshigiri in any of the classes I've been in, so many of the backyard cutters are better at it than I am. But imagine how good they could become if they learned about hasuji and sayabiki and tenouchi, etc. I think one of the most important lessons in martial arts is reishiki. It not only teaches respect, but it also teaches safety. I don't think it's snobbery when you advise people that joining a good dojo can help them become not just a better cutter, but also a better person.
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Post by ambulocetus on Jun 26, 2017 3:47:38 GMT
I understand what you are saying, but it may still give observers the wrong impression, even if they aren't setting out to with the intent to deceive edit: what I mean is it sort of gives the classical arts a bad rep, just like that Ki master who tried to fight the MMA guy
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Post by ambulocetus on Jun 26, 2017 3:40:32 GMT
I don't think we had a rule, but I never wear mine outside either. For one thing it attracts too much attention here in the city. I just put my obi on over my street clothes, or else I just set the saya down somewhere.
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