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Message: <blockquote data-quote="barsoomcore" data-source="post: 1659565" data-attributes="member: 812">Yep, that's exactly what I'd do.I'm not saying that a Japanese swordsman wouldn't know how to handle a thrust -- the katana is an excellent thrusting weapon, and knowing how to use the curve of the blade (and how to flip the blade, or, as you described, pull the angle of a cut and get past a careless block) is critical to katana use.It's the lunge that I think constitutes the biggest opportunity of the rapier wielder. Not many Japanese forms feature such an extension of the body -- with a katana it would be extraordinarily dangerous (and mostly ineffective) -- and I expect that a kendoka would be unlikely to expect such an attack and could be caught off guard by the rapier user. The lunge drastically increases (to use the Japanese term) ma-ai -- the "one-step" distance of mutual danger. Someone used to katana would be likely, I think, to consider themselves out of range and thus leave themselves open to a full-extension lunge.But knowing about the lunge, with my katana I'd do exactly what led suggested. Or I might not even wait for the attack -- I suspect a charge, with the strong of the katana driving the rapier out of line and sliding up straight at the throat, would force the rapier guy to scramble backwards. I don't see any obvious counter for him if I keep moving fast enough to prevent him from disengaging and counter-thrusting, and I'm pretty sure that even if he does I'm going to slice his throat open in a thoroughly fatal manner.Exactly true. When you learn kendo (or at least when I learned kendo) you don't get taught any parries whatsoever. The best defense is killing the other guy before he gets a shot at you. I think there was a realisation that surviving (rather than winning) a fight was as much luck as anything else. And since you can't systemize luck, most Japanese combat thought abandoned the idea of trying to alive, and worked on killing no matter what.Off-Topic: led, is it wrong that I think you look like Sam Jackson? <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /></blockquote>

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