Legit or not?

[Charuzu]

Looking around Youtube I found this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZ5-mZQo1vQ#Skh_mQ7IWoo)video which as far as I could tell looks just fine. Although Looking in his Profile he has Goshindo in their with the site "SamuraiSports" (http://www.samuraisports.com) (which I know has been discussed here before but I cant find the thread) along with One (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU0L8mgytCU&feature=user) or Two (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPrh5c6XMjI&feature=user) other questionable videos.

PS - Regardless I am very annoyed with his statement that:

"At no point in time do I visualize a human as a target nor does any legitimate JSA teach such a misguided thought."Since I was told to visualize a human opponent is both RyuSeiKen Batto-do and Seitei Iaido. :pirate:

[Anonymous]

I've also been told to visualize a human target when practicing...

[Jiyoui]

There seems to be a never ending supply of this....

[Kenzan]

Sunflower Katana.............:confused2

[Kaoru]

Looking around Youtube I found this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZ5-mZQo1vQ#Skh_mQ7IWoo)video which as far as I could tell looks just fine. Although Looking in his Profile he has Goshindo in their with the site "SamuraiSports" (http://www.samuraisports.com) (which I know has been discussed here before but I cant find the thread) along with One (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU0L8mgytCU&feature=user) or Two (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPrh5c6XMjI&feature=user) other questionable videos.

PS - Regardless I am very annoyed with his statement that:
Since I was told to visualize a human opponent is both RyuSeiKen Batto-do and Seitei Iaido. :pirate:

Looks a little wierd to me. His chudan is held out really far, and it was low a couple times I thought and he's not relaxed. His shoulders were even slanted a little funny in one clip. The first one it was, I think. And, I've never seen a real iaidoka sheath the sword, take their hand off the tsuka and then put their hand back on the end of the tsuka like that, and then remove it a second time. He did that every time. It's as if he thought it might fall out or something.

Also, I want to know, isn't a person supposed to do chiburi after a cut, or is that not always done? And, is what he was doing even a type of chiburi?

It would be interesting to hear what some of the experienced iaidoka here say. I want to know if I'm just seeing things or what... I just thought it looked a little funny. Can't comment on the cutting, as I know nothing about that.

Kaoru

[Kaoru]

Sunflower Katana.............:confused2

Don't you mean Sunflower Samurai? ;)

Kaoru

P.S. From Samurai Champloo for anyone who doesn't get it.

[Allan Yee]

And, I've never seen a real iaidoka sheath the sword, take their hand off the tsuka and then put their hand back on the end of the tsuka like that, and then remove it a second time. He did that every time. It's as if he thought it might fall out or something.

Also, I want to know, isn't a person supposed to do chiburi after a cut, or is that not always done? And, is what he was doing even a type of chiburi?

It would be interesting to hear what some of the experienced iaidoka here say. I want to know if I'm just seeing things or what... I just thought it looked a little funny. Can't comment on the cutting, as I know nothing about that.

Kaoru

Hmm, the Samurai Sports website (http://www.samuraisports.com/goshindo/index.html) says "Goshindo incorporates Toyama Iaido into the aforesaid system." If I recall correctly, Toyama Ryu was based on Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu, and that's probably where the stroke the tsuka and grasp the tsuka-gashira after noto business came from.

The chiburi looks like the small chiburi found in ZenKenRen Soete-tsuki; much less dramatic than the more familiar O-chiburi. I'll dig around Youtube and see if I can find any representative examples.

Allan
(Not an experienced iaidoka but for what it's worth)

[Allan Yee]

Okay, for the non-Iaido folks, courtesy of Youtube, the ZNKR Seitei Iai Soete-tsuki (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OiB6SjWTDs) compare the chiburi with the yoko-chiburi of Tsuka-ate (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_edHyZG3JI) & Morote-tsuki (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wvPoNeoTZg).

And also a couple of MJER kata, Mae (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_2GGkXMqTE) & Migi (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx20tiH-mzo) showing O-chiburi and the post-noto tsuka-gashira grip.

And finally, an old post (http://forums.swordforum.com/showpost.php?p=86807&postcount=12) from the Sword Forum International recounting one poster's encounter with Samurai Sports.

Legit or not? Well, I think the Samurai Sports website (linked in previous post) suffers from an unfortunate schizophrenia in that the sport part has to appeal to the karate-moms looking for a safe and fun place to enroll their kids (we're not teaching your kids to become serial killers!) and this makes the traditional side look less serious. If they had separate websites or at least a cleaner distinction between the two, they might raise fewer eyebrows.

Not that you have to be a serial killer to be serious...

Allan
(who has difficulty visualizing his opponent but is working on it)

[Allan Yee]

Bah! Missed edit window for last post.

For completeness sake, here's some Toyama Ryu (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPRrjM2PPh8) video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFp45RqO7GQ) from other practitioners.

Allan

[Fred27]

Taken from the youtube comments on the above clip:


"Would you mind sharing your style and dojo?"

I am a licensed instructor for both the World Kum Do Association (Master Jun, Jong-Keun instructor) & the All Japan Goshindo Federation (Dana Abbott shihan instructor). Since I have menkyo (license to teach), I have my own school located in Clemson, SC. Please visit my FaceBook page for more info.

Thank you

[pgsmith]

To answer the question "Legit or not?" requires the question ... what do you consider legit? I've talked with Tom Urso numerous times, and he seems to have a pretty good head on his shoulders. In watching the video, he seems to cut fairly well. You can tell that Dana Abbott is his teacher due to some of the glaring Toyama ryu mistakes that are made, but I don't know that this makes him not legit. Personally, I don't care for the way he's been taught to cut, but that's just my opinion.

[Ignatz]

Seems a little tense to me but what do I know.

[Manuka]

I've also been told to visualize a human target when practicing...
Even more so, to maintain zanshin at all times during practice, from Reiho to sitting, always be prepared.

Looking at the utube, what struck me most was where he was making contact with the sword, not monouchi, he was cutting way up the blade. If for real he was well with shoto distance for an opponent's response. So looks like Iai who does NOT also practice Kendo.

Chiburi, even yoko chiburi was not well defined.

Noto is a lot different from what we are taught. zanshin-awareness/readiness we have a delay before starting noto but no (seemingly) long pause when half sheathed. The noto looked similar to Eishin.

I am a beginner, and it is easy to be perfect from an armchair. Just because I can see errors does not mean I can do better, or even as well. Hence no utube from me in the foreseeable future.


His chudan is held out really far,
Kaoru
Kaoru - with boken or Iaito the tsuba would be in the same place as if holding a shinai in chudan.As a shinai has a longer tsuka, this does appear to be furthur out

[Fred27]

And here we have...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMap8NvA4VA (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMap8NvA4VA)
...I dunno you tell me? :confused2:eek:

[Mr. T.]

hahahahaha, the amazing emo scam-you-fly in action

You just made my day :D

[pgsmith]

Seems a little tense to me but what do I know.
Spot on John. He also uses way too much body, but those sort of things are in how you're taught. If you're never told that you shouldn't be so tense, or shouldn't have that much body movement, you never know to correct it. This is why I said I didn't care for the way he was taught. Of course, the fact that I don't care for his teacher probably has a bit of an influence also. :)

[absenteekendoka]

And here we have...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMap8NvA4VA (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMap8NvA4VA)
...I dunno you tell me? :confused2:eek:

Damn! another fine product "removed by user" :) cant they just let us mock them a moment longer?

[Fred27]

Damn! another fine product "removed by user" :) cant they just let us mock them a moment longer?

Actually its the same video that chidokan posted (http://www.kendo-world.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17365) a few hours after I posted the video in here :)