Katana wielding

[jerichothebard]

Oh yes. I was talking strictly about the katana. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

In the case of one-handed point weapons, large amounts of power do not need to be transmitted through the weapon, so the grip is completely different. Really, your hand in that case is occupied with simply aiming the point at the target while the legs and arm propel it forward. With a katana, the hand forms the end of a complex armature directing force from the torso out to the edge of the blade and against the target.

At least, that's how I'd sum it up.

Pretty much spot on.

I know next to nothing about fencing, however. My hand-eye coordination is TERRIBLE, and it seems that success in fencing depends in large part on that, which may explain why I've not done so well at it.

That, and reaction time.

I wasn't terribly good at it, but picked up enough of the basics. I did get some great use out of my superior reach - at 6'-6", my lunge was pretty far out of anyone else's range. But then the short, cute, French exchange student swatted that lunge aside, moved inside my maai (to borrow a term) and broke her foil on my chest. OW! Through the padding and my shirt, I had a bruise the size of a silver dollar for weeks.


I switched to Aikido the next year, and got thrown around the dojo by a short, French-Canadian Sensei. *sigh* I guess I'm a sucker for the accent, but what can you do?


jtb

 

[Plane Sailing]

Very interesting thread, everyone!

I liked the movie, but it irked me a bit that Preston was so...invincible. I mean, he's fighting (in the katana scene) about 6 equivalently trained Clerics, and then he utterly demolishes the guy that previously fought him to a standstill.

Just wanted to say that I thought that the ending sequence of the film was excellent - the fact that they had built up the other guy so much, and that we had seen a "fight to a standstill" in the practice session, yet when the chips were down it was all over so quickly... A welcome change from the regrettable standard fare where the good guy has to get beaten to a pulp and then makes an unbelievable recovery and comeback (spider man vs green goblin, indiana jones once per movie, Syl Stallone too frequently for words etc).

Cheers

 

[Wolffenjugend]

I've been told if the blade is longer than the width of your palm (approximately), the cops will stop you. 9 inches is way longer than that.

You've probably never been bothered when practicing with your sword b/c no one bothered to complain. Once that happens, things will change. Wielding a weapon in a public space (especially a park) is illegal. If you accidentally injure someone, whoever operates the park is responsible. And for that reason you'll be asked to stop. I doubt you'd be charged with anything though.

 

[Bulldogc]

I'm unsure as to the forum this should be in, so I'm putting it in General. I've seen in a couple places, notably the movie Equilibrium, a katana wielded in a strange way. The hilt is held so that, if your hand is held straight in front of you, horizontal, the blade projects out to you right. Basically, the sword is held upside-down. It seems like this wouldn't work; your reach would suffer greatly and you wouldn't be able to brace the blade with your thumb. A few tests with my bros and some sticks seems to bear this out, So, any real martial artists: does it work? I'm thinkin' no, but stranger things have happened.

ru sure it was a katana in the movie and not a watchi(sp??) i know knives and other short slashing weapons are held in this mannor(brased against the arm) so they can be uses for guards followed by a quick slash the the midboddy after a parry

 

[Darklone]

Congratulations to Barsoomcore for the longest and most eloquent answer and Dogbrain for the shortest one... but still fitting

I've seen some guys try this move (sometimes against me), but it only really makes sense with a greatsword when you change to "quarterstaffmode"... or as Dogbrain mentioned: Against noobs.

 

[jerichothebard]

All those comments on knives and sticks are spot on, but I feel compelled to point out that in Canada (and I suspect in the USA, as well), large bladed weapons are perfectly legal to carry around.

ummm... maybe, but I sincerely doubt it. They might be legal to own, but not carry. In California, at least, you would be busted for brandishing a deadly weapon if you were carrying it, or carrying concealed if it was sheathed. And yes, I'm dead serious.

 

[comrade raoul]

Mm. Kurosawa's sword work is always very, very good. There's a spectacular spear fight in The Hidden Fortress and of course The Seven Samurai is full of all kinds of good stuff.

That spear fight is probably my favorite action sequence in any movie I've ever seen. Thanks for reminding me of it.

 

[Rackhir]

It could be that the down style of holding the blade is the swordfighting equivalent of holding your pistol sideways when firing it. A really stupid idea in real life that looks cool when shown in the movies/TV and since it shows up in the movies/TV people start imitating it in real life.

 

[Mercule]

ummm... maybe, but I sincerely doubt it. They might be legal to own, but not carry. In California, at least, you would be busted for brandishing a deadly weapon if you were carrying it, or carrying concealed if it was sheathed. And yes, I'm dead serious.

I think he's pretty much correct for Iowa. I know that you can walk around with a revolver slung on your hip just fine, but one in the glovebox is no good. At least, that's how it was when I was a kid.

Caveat: Some (maybe most) cities have laws against this sort of thing, but that's purely a local issue. Also, most stores would probably use that whole "right to refuse service" thing.

I grew up rural, though, so I didn't have to deal with all that. We often had a pistol with us. I doesn't happen very often (read: maybe 2-3 times in my life between my dad and me), but you only have to run into one p.o.ed 'possum while taking out a dead tree to view the pistol as a necessity.

 

[Dogbrain]

However, having done a fair amount of fencing in college, I can attest that the foil and epee, and therefore by extension the rapier, all use a thumb-aligned grip. Middle and index fingers hold the sword, while pinky and ring finger provide point control.

There is very little that one can transfer from "college fencing" to the use of the rapier. Did you use an Italian hilt on your foils and epees? How did you hold your dagger in your college fencing?

The average weight of the 167 rapiers for which I have data is 2.75 pounds. I have never met an experienced fencer who allowed his epee to weigh more than 500g, if at all possible. The average length of the rapiers is 45.75 inches (vs 43" for a F-L student epee), with average blade lengths of 41.75 inches (vs 34.5" for a F-L student epee). Those few inches make quite a difference, especially given how they are distributed on the weapon. You DID use a ricasso in your college fencing days, right--after all, nearly all rapiers had a ricasso--which formed part of how it was held, and, unlike in the use of the modern Italian grip, the forefinger usually looped THROUGH the loops, around the ricasso (forefinger and middle finger in the Spanish style) rather than being outside the loop. While you do happen to accidentally be correct in that thumb control is used in some styles of rapier, it is NOT true that "pinky and ring finger" provide point control. Control must be done by HOLDING the weapon in the PALM of your hand--it's too heavy to do it any other way.