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Old 04-21-2006, 11:57 AM
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Dodd Dodd is offline
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Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Sunshine Coast,BC,Canada
Posts: 133
Quote:
Originally Posted by Drac
I wasn't trying to belittle or mystify the technique just use it as an example. Comfort in equipment is an important issue. Both in what little martial arts (I know enough to get hurt if I try to use it) and military a great deal of stress was placed on always working in your full outfit to get to the point of where it was a natural part of you. As for drawing a weapon I can understand your point. In the middle of a battle they would have the weapons they were using out, a second or two of reaching for something can be a second or two longer than you have.

A question, for any who have the answer, was two weapon combat part of that era? I know that among the samurai it wasn't until fairly late in their history. In Europe I know of two-weapon fighting around the Renaissance but not before. If it was a common style that would explain why the handle was upward on a cross body, cross draw sheaths have the handle reversed to fit the hand for the position of the reach.

Keep going Dodd, you got my attention,
Jim
Oh my. I'm sorry if that came out poorly. I never meant to imply that I thought you were belittling anything. What I meant is that in our culture things that seem 'cool' in other cultures are always taken out of context, as our imaginations have to fill in the blanks, or leave them out entirely, taking a small fraction of what we know as a glorified and iconised whole, like a symbol.

I think we're totally on the same page when it comes to training in whatever you normally wear and with whatever gear is acceptable for 'normal wear', to achieve a 'state of naturalness'. That is, in effect the aim of 'martial arts' by and large.

To my knowledge, the school of two sword combat in what I'll assume is classified as feudal Japan was made famous by Mayamoto Mushashi, a well-known Japanese swordsman (to say the least), using a katana (alternate pronunciation of the kanji for 'ni hon to' or 'japanese sword') in one hand and a Wakizashi (Japanese for 'worn on the hip', I hear) in the other.

The HyoHo Niten Ichiryu (two heavens as one school) was developed by Miyamoto Musashi, author of the "Book of Five Rings" (Go Rin no Sho) and one of Japan's most famous swordsmen. The school dates from the early 1600s and its most distinctive feature is its concurrent use of both the long and short swords. The current headmaster of the school is Imai Masayuki judai (10th headmaster). The designated successor is Toshio Iwami. http://www.hyoho.com/inuag.html

The school the link mentions is nearby, and I play with some students from it.
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