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Hrm.

If it's physical conditioning you want, I'd suggest doing suburi with your iaitou. Watch a kendou class, see what suburi they do, try to imitate it with your iaitou. It's a challenge,...

That he is, going by the title of the video.

Quoth Marc MacYoung:


(Link)

I think that the neon lights all around were gaudy.

But as for the video replay... I like it. Not for the benefit of the referees during the match, of course; more for the benefit of the...

Just think about such a katana breaking. Very expensive loss, and that's assuming that the broken piece of blade doesn't end up lodged in someone's skull.
(That is, unless someone thinks to use a...

Whoah.
In a kendou context, there are "tachi no kata" as opposed to "kodachi no kata", as in, "kata of the longsword" as opposed to "kata of the shortsword". In Japanese, "太刀の形" and "小太刀の形". cf here...

I have various dreams of isshu-jiai with Naginata/yari/juudou folks. I have yet to realise any of them though.

Thank you for your replies.

I have come to assume that the most comfortable way to wear daishou for iai is the one visible here. I searched for more videos of iai with daishou, but came up with...

That's more or less how "kote nuki katate-men" was described in the Official Guide. What does the "han" refer to, here?

I think that the title is pretty self-explanatory, but do let me explain.

At some point, I wondered what it would feel like to perform iai waza whilst wearing both swords in one's belt. It was...

I'd think it'd be his/her fault iff s/he has had opportunity to prepare him/herself against joudan and neglected it. There is, however, the very real possibility that s/he might not be prepared for...

I think it's BadAss. It took me much thought to realise.

(Native English speakers and their slang..)

In the absence of one, I've found that the saya can serve pretty well for the same purpose. It's an exercise I've done numerous times... but I can't persuade the rest of the class to try it. Oh well.

Uh, why would your sensei let you wield a weapon if you're angry and not calm?

Urm... I can't be 100% sure of the translation, but my dictionary calls it "calico". In any event, it's a cheap cotton fabric, that rips along the weave with characteristic ease.

Really, though, I...

Personally I bought a sheet of fabric and cut it up into 100 * 33 strips. I really prefer to use those, as they're much more absorbent than the usual ultra-thin tenugui.

..."overweight sword"? Did you mean "suburitou"? If so, let me give you this very recent thread wherein there was precisely this very same discussion.

(My own iaitou is kind of overweight, or at...

I'd used one in the olden days. It wasn't anything special.

What did help me strengthen my arms, though, was my iaitou. It's a Chinese-made blade (this one; check out the blow-out model in the...

It's bad that we can expect shikai at a mudansha tournament. If only we could also correspondingly see bankai at the koudansha divisions...

Big thanks to ryoma, lsrfbt and Beth for giving us input on a matter they've experienced first-hand.

One more thing I thought of: Most guitars are made for right-handed people, so lots of...

Before continuing, please read this: http://kenshi247.net/blog/2009/12/07/sinister-swordsmanship/

Now: I've tried doing iai left-handedly. And there's an issue there... both the saya (the...

I used to do all my shopping from them; I can attest to the quality of all their products, with the sole exception of one particular bag whose strap rips too easily, but which is still worth the...

The same question has been asked before. See the ensuing discussion for yourself.

I also recall reading here about an influential kumdoga that sexually assaulted a woman... I'm really really hoping it does not become a trend.

Says there the girl was 16 at the time (=last...

That's quite the dilemma...
On the one hand, if it's formal, having visible bruises might be a no-go. On the other hand, if they're visible, everyone will know it's no big deal, and it's not...