jerichothebard
First Post
Pretty much spot on.barsoomcore said: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.
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
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