Swrod Fighting

[SnoringFrog]

All this makes me want to go do some sword fighting, but there's no one to fight, fighting myself is probably a bad idea. And if there was someone to fight, we'd both probably end up pretty beaten up, the way my friends and I treat each other sometimes.

Of course I have knives, but if I stab someone I'll end up in jail, and that would be worse than...well, maybe not...

Stupid justice system.

I know, all I use mine for is opening packages or cutting string. But thankfully, I've never been in a situation where something that drastic was needed, and I pray I never will.

[Kaligraphic]

Most of my training has been in barehanded fighting, but I've done a bit with swords. I want to find a katana with a longer tsuka, like in the old photos of samurai. Compared to the average katana/iaito I've seen, the old photos seem to indicate a preference for a noticeably longer tsuka, and I do believe I know why. In fact, I see two reasons - first, I notice that I can get a significantly more natural and fluid movement by separating my hands a bit more - but I would never do that in a real fight with a sword like I have, because the tsuka isn't long enough. Basically, the shortness constrains my movements. The second reason is that when holding the sword in one hand, it feels blade-heavy. Now maybe that's just my being used to European styles, but I like the center of mass a little closer to my hand. European swords used a weighted pommel to move the center of mass back, and, lacking a pommel, I think that extending the tsuka would admirably move the center of mass toward the hand, and, thus, toward greater control.

[TurkishMonky]

I haven't had any real training, but i'm commonly seen swinging a five foot wooden broadsword around in my backyard by myself. If i want to battle with my friends, we use foam covered PVC pipe swords (my custom one is called Narsil and is another huge, heavy foam broadsword)

(however, once in brasil me and my brother went at it with real machetes in our hotel room, but not very hard or anything, and we stopped when my machete got a nick in it)

[Madeline]

I'm sorry you experienced that. All I can say is, if I saw some guys chasing you, I would definitely jump in there and whoop some butt!

Haha, thanks Yumie-chan. XD *goes and hides from the wrath of Osaka*

I know, all I use mine for is opening packages or cutting string. But thankfully, I've never been in a situation where something that drastic was needed, and I pray I never will.

Yep, I hope so too!

It's no fun to be around people who want to kill you. Luckily, I am now 3,000 miles away from those wackos. *dances* That is, unless there are a few here that I don't know about...

*huggles neighborhood* Such a nice place! Green grass, blue sky, and lots of cops around. I am so blessed.

[SnoringFrog]

I was recently looking at a few swords and was wondering if ths sword is any good. I don't want to buy a piece of junk.

http://www.marketworks.com/storefrontprofiles/DeluxeSFItemDetail.aspx?sfid=46990&c=0&i=17265475

[Kaligraphic]

For $35 I wouldn't expect too much - plus it's a "reverse-blade" katana, which means that it is likely no more than a prop designed to sell to Rurouni Kenshin fans. Of course, if all you want is a prop, that might be fine, but if you want something to swing around then it wouldn't be as useful. Plus, it's probably a push tang, which means that the metal doesn't go all the way to the back of the hilt. Because of that, the blade could eventually work loose from the hilt, go flying, and hit something expensive (or worse, another person).

If you want a sword to swing around, you might look for a local kendo club - they would probably be able to give you some decent advice.

[c-girl]

>^.^< I have a group of friends that like to do martial art type things. I'm kind of a rookie. >^^<;; I've done a bit of fighting, but it's msotly wrestling type stuff.

[Wise Dragon]

Im a practitioner of Satori-Ryu Sword style. I also study the bo staff and I have a green belt in Shito-ryu Karate. Hardly any kind of master but I love it.

[Destroyer2000]

Hm. I'd like to go up against the master of your little club, and see how well he stands against me. I have my won sword style, that I've made myself after practicing for a long, long time, finding flaws and fixing them, and I have nearly mastered it.

Kiritsukeru no Okami...I've put so much time into it, it would be a shame if it was beaten on the first go around. I have some amount of experience with swords...heck, I even have scars from bo staffs and swords. Armor just slows down and constricts movement anyway. That's why I don't like it...you could say I favor speed over protection.

[Wise Dragon]

Id be carefull if I were you cause whenever you think you have mastered something people stop growing and cant get any stronger because they think they know everyting. Im not saying your weak but Ive seen it happen more times than I can count. That said, the true martial artists will spend there entire lives trying to get stronger and take it to another level. So there is no such thing as "mastery". Not tryin to be a smart alec I just want every one to keep that in mind.

[Dunedan]

Ha ha, thats nothing. I can leap over buildings and kill twenty men with a Hello Kitty backpack.

[Raiden no Kishi]

Well...I can punch you so hard your mother will cry!

I wish to tell a fun story. I was at a friend's house for his birthday, and he and his friends have swords made from PVC pipe, pool noodles, and duct tape. Apparently, it's a major hobby. He's also a Rurouni Kenshin fan, so he mimics some of the moves (he's a Saitou fan, so he uses the Gatotsu techniques a lot). Me, I'm no warrior (I'm a weak little artist man...boy), but I went a few rounds and won them all - even beating my friend. If I had a few more friends down here (many of my friends are long-distance, of the few I have) we'd start a club, but alas no.

That's my pointless story.

.rai//

[rii namuras]

(Myself and my little brother are big in swordfighting. Being big Star Wars fans, we have toy lightsabers rather than real swords, or even wooden ones. He has five or six of the ones with retractable blades, as well as a light-up Obi-Wan from Ep. III (I was suprised at how high the quality was... Usually those light up ones are unbalanced and cheap. This one, though, is very well made.). I had one of the retractable ones, but I left it in Indiana. Now I have one the uber-cool customizable lightsabers. Someday (probably in college, or after, or somewhere around theres.), though, I'm going to get a real one.)

(My little brother is awesome at sword fighting. He's practically professional level. Once, after a speech and debate tournament, the family we were host housing, the Mocks, were getting ready to leave Friday morning. But before they did, the toy lightsabers were brought out, and my little brother and Jarret Mock started fighting. Now, Jarret is, say, five years older than my brother, and a lot taller. My brother beat. Jarret. Up. It was awesome.)

(As for styles, I'm making my own, since there's no dojos around here that do sword fighting stuff. Well. Maybe there is, but I haven't seen any. So I'm just happily sparring my brother and developing my style.)

[Ingemar]

For $35 I wouldn't expect too much - plus it's a "reverse-blade" katana, which means that it is likely no more than a prop designed to sell to Rurouni Kenshin fans. Of course, if all you want is a prop, that might be fine, but if you want something to swing around then it wouldn't be as useful. Plus, it's probably a push tang, which means that the metal doesn't go all the way to the back of the hilt. Because of that, the blade could eventually work loose from the hilt, go flying, and hit something expensive (or worse, another person).

If you want a sword to swing around, you might look for a local kendo club - they would probably be able to give you some decent advice.

There actually is a reverse blade short sword in the Philippines (and perhaps other countries). The sword is meant to be wielded as a pair, so you can make scissors-like attacks (in other words, the edge is actually meant to be USED). The name of the sword literally means "scissors."

[Kaligraphic]

If this thread could talk, it would say "You woke me up for this?"

I mean, it's cool that the Philippines has nice blades, but I don't see the connection between them and a RK prop sword...

[Stephen]

Ha ha, thats nothing. I can leap over buildings and kill twenty men with a Hello Kitty backpack.

That has to be the post of the year for 2005 right there...

[starwarsboy90]

I use a Katana and use traditional Japanese fighting styles and Evlen fighting styles too( for my wooden katana at least). I wield broadswords and short swords as well, so I'm pretty versed with swords, since I've been wielding them since I was very little, it's part of my lineage,lol.

[NeoMikey]

My, my, I really should visit CAA more often...!

Anyways, I know this thread is "old", but I have a question. I have a cheap katana myself which I bought for the novelty factor and also because it was cheap. There's no "schools" around here, and I've checked Google and found nothing...so I was curious if any of you knew of any online guides to teach you how to sword fight, style doesn't matter. Thanks in advance!

[Nightshade X]

Let's see... I have 2 katanas that I got from Chinatown (display and picture posing purposes only), a shinai and wooden broadsword for practice, and my ultimate: Anathros, Sword of the Earth from the Kit Rae collection...

...I desire more.

Anyway, I used to practice almost every weekeind with my friend John, but I don't really have much of a chance to break out the old shinai and bust a move or two. My style's more like the knight's style, but I tend to mix in a bit of fencing that I picked up from... well, I don't know were. I did get pretty good at doing moves without an opponent and stuff, but sometimes, I'm all-defense when it comes to a real sparring match. I want to get better, though.

[CDLviking]

My, my, I really should visit CAA more often...!

Anyways, I know this thread is "old", but I have a question. I have a cheap katana myself which I bought for the novelty factor and also because it was cheap. There's no "schools" around here, and I've checked Google and found nothing...so I was curious if any of you knew of any online guides to teach you how to sword fight, style doesn't matter. Thanks in advance!

Just about the only thing I would use a novelty Katana for is drawing practice. If you really want to practice swordsmanship, get yourself a boken. I also don't recommend teaching oneself, online or otherwise, because it can lead to dangerous habits that may be hard to break.

[Doe Johnson]

I'm not sure most of you would call what I've done swordfighting....but I'll say it anyway...

You fight like dairy farmer!

The people who understood that reference might call it swordfighting....


On another note, I did make my own sword once when I was in middle school. It was basically a flat wooden stick, but I made a face sheath for it and everything. Probably the dinkiest sword I've ever seen in my life - even worse than the little plastic toothpick ones. I'm sure I made it because of Martin's great sword in the Readwall series.

[indyrocker]

when ever I try and spar with a friend of mine with these swords we made freom pvc pope and a water noodle i always seem to weild mine like a polax i tend to do jap and slash alot. tho my experteese is in knife fighting i have started a colection of fighting knives so far i hace a spyderco lum-clad chinese folder and a spyderfly (its a butterfly knife) and i must say i prefer the buterfly knife because it handles more like a fixed blade knife.

[SnoringFrog]

The Chinese folder is a nice knife, my dad's had one or two, and I've grown to like the Spyderfly as well, even though I don't care all that much for butterfly knives. I've got a Spyderco Standered adn Stainless stell Delica myself, as well as a Super Seven with a wave, but that's not a spyderco.

[Kaligraphic]

...these swords we made freom pvc pope and a water noodle...

Somehow I doubt the cardinals would choose a pope made from PVC, but that's just my sneaking suspicion.

[indyrocker]

haha didn't ya know thats why they last a long time and then get brittle at the end. Hah yes i know i goofed o well and pardon my bad joke at least i didnt pull out some of my worst puns.

[CDLviking]

Well, I suppose the pope could have a pvc crosier.