Daisho in Obi

[samuraix966]

During the Tokugawa era samurai wore a daisho (long sword and short sword) in their obi. This was a symbol of their status. The daito was used in street/open field combat and the wakizashi was used for indoor combat.

What I'm wondering is how effective this pair of sword is? That is why I tried to simulate what fighting with a daisho must have been like :smiley: (assuming that you fight with one sword and leave the other in your obi)

When in chudan with the daito, the pommel of the wakizashi protrudes out and touches the left arm. When in jodan and going for men, it's difficult to follow through because you'll just end up jabbing your arm on the hilt of the wakizashi. And how are you supposed to do noto properly?! The choices are to pull the mouth of the saya above the wakizashi or pull the saya in front of you, forcing you to bend forward at an extreme angle.

Anyways, it is weird in my opinion to run around with 5 pounds on your left side.

[KendokaJim]

I'm not sure that chudan was the kamae of choice for samurai in a duel. It may have been quite a bit different from modern kendo because kenjutsu ryu seem to have varying kamae.

[Hai_hai]

In combat, the samurai carried one sword. If I'm wrong, let me know.

[johnnyv145]

I just read an interesting book called "Fighting Arts Of The Samurai".
The author goes into pretty good detail about different weapons and their strategic use on the battle field. He states that during combat the average samurai carried up to 3 different swords on his person as well as a bow or spear. The most interesting sword was called a battle sword it is over 5 ft in length from kissaki to end of tsuka. There are several pics showing this weapon and its use.

[shred_lord]

That would be a No-Dachi. The biggest ever was something like 10' long! :surprise: