Research and Discussion Forums

True, although one should expect better from a supposedly historical article on a major fencing website. I've seen a lot of nonsense passing itself off as history on the web -- and not just about swords for that matter. But writing that swords weighed 50-70lbs is a particularly egregious butchering...

So the internet spewed forth another plagiarist, liar, and/or idiot talking about swords. It's nothing we haven't seen before.

The belief that any sword (longsword, schiavona, rapier, doesn't matter) can and should be used as if it were a katana. Standing in "movie guard." Forgetting about the point, the false edge, the quillions, the pommel, or any other "secondary" part of the weapon under stress. This...

I may be wrong but I don't think *every* samurai was a highly trained swordsmen and/or archer. Likewise for knights. IIRC the samurai were originally valued more for their skill with the bow and the spear. It wasn't until later that the katana became fetishized. Of course, that brings us back to th...

I'm in Rochester, NY for the summer and possibly the fall. Are there any ARMA members and/or study groups in the area?

-Daniel Cooper-Vince

Honestly, I think many of those people aren't interested in samurai or martial arts of any kind for that matter. They're interested in Real Ultimate Power, which of course doesn't exist. They're not going to let that stop them though.

True, though I would guess the added bulk is more for impressing the audience than anything else.

But it's a lightsabre...er...katana!
Given that the later period katana were really designed for fighting unarmored opponents, might not a rapier be a fairer fight? I'm not sure I want to bring up that issue either.

Thank you very much.

-Daniel Vince

Let me introduce myself first. My name is Daniel Vince. For the past several months I've been practicing the longsword (mainly following Ringeck) on my own, first with a dowel and later with a waster. First question: I was wondering if there were anyone in the NYC area willing to work with me. Obvio...