Iaito or shinken?

[Bruce Mitchell]

When I was studying MSR, we were told that an iaito was fine, but that you should start saving for a shinken as soon as you start iaido. The consensus was the sooner you trained with shinken the better.

Of course, when I started training in the early '90's (not all that long ago), there were no paul chen blades out there and most folks at the dojo I was at were paying $800. min. for an iaito. The few students who did have shinken had WW2 blades of varying quality that either had traditional mounts or had been remounted.

[sirius1906]

still using my first iaito. probably won't go to shinken until yondan.

[satsumaruma]

The mega- bucks that Jonty earns Tim - he should buy you two.

And offer himself up for you to practice Tameshigiri. (I suggest fooling him, by reverting to your Iaito - it would hurt a shitload more)

[chidokan]

hmmm.... real cutting.... on a moving target... (he'd be running away so that counts as moving)

The technical question is, of course, whether or not Jonty's skull is too thick to cut through. And if I did, would I hit a vital spot?

[John Tee]

hmmm.... real cutting.... on a moving target... (he'd be running away so that counts as moving)

:

Well at least we would see how good your oi kaze is Tim

[rottunpunk]

And offer himself up for you to practice Tameshigiri. (I suggest fooling him, by reverting to your Iaito - it would hurt a shitload more)

thats a bit mean.
i dont dislike mr johnty

[Nukitsuke]

Back on topic please.

[John Tee]

Back on topic please.

Good call. Sats has a way of making things personal.Typcial short man syndrome. Shaku envy.

[Maro]

I've just recieved my new Dynasty Forge 1095 Daimyo - mostly for tameshigiri but it's weight distribution and bohi make kata more enjoyable than my Wind and Thunder.

Whilst not perfect, it has much more "Flow" to the tsuka as opposed to Hanwei blades.

[Nukitsuke]

So, for people who do tameshigiri, are there many using non-japanese made shinken? Paul Chen etc? Maybe I'm just spoiled, but I have no experience with blades made outside of Japan, and I guess I would be afraid of bad quality, breakage, etc. After reading about stainless blades, etc I don't know which makers to trust.

Any suggestions on non-japanese made, high-quality blades for tameshigiri? Say for less than $3000?

[I_am_Cthulhu]

One place to start searching is Bugei.com - they flog a lot of American-made blades that I hear are pretty good.

[Maro]

I think a Bugei or Chen would feel strange to you after Japanese blades. (Bugei are made in China also). The Tsuka on them are straight with now flow. That put me off buying one.

[I_am_Cthulhu]

I use Chen cutters and I have to say that even though there is a massive difference to nihonto, it doesn't bother me as my iai to tameshigiri ratio is about 50:1. I would not spend more than a few hundred quid on a cutter for this reason.

How about Howard Clark's stuff?

[satsumaruma]

Two things.

Jonty is fine and I don't dislike him either.

I don't actually make things personal - I just think far too many people get all po faced about martial arts and I think it is too serious to take seriously.

Every single Sensei I have come across ( and that includes Jujitsu, Aikido and Judo as well as Kendo, Jodo and Iai - I have tried all these one time or other) none of those that were any good took it TOO seriously. They enjoyed it - hence why they give up every single second of their valuable spare time to improve themselves and help others.

Way too many 'Ninjas' about.

[John Tee]

Two things.

I just think far too many people get all po faced about martial arts and I think it is too serious to take seriously.

.

I'm afraid that is a tautology.