Silver and stepping

[Jaron Bernstein]

"My current training is kenjutsu, so no sparring for me (you know, tradition and all that). I know this means that anything I can write or think has exactly zero value from the ARMA's point of view. I mainly registered to get more detailed explanations of what I was seeing compared to what was said, and Jay Vail and yourself aptly clarified your position as far as I'm concerned. With the hope that it might have been useful to others, I'm bowing out of the discussion..."

You might consider sparring, even if it with practicioners of other weapon arts who are willing to have you swing a bokken at them. Without sparring you really miss a crucial element of any fighting art. IMO that concept applies to all martial arts regardless of their origin.

[RayMcCullough]

What "Martial Art" before 1800 did not spar?

Anyone claiming to practice Martial Arts will have a hard time convincing anyone that they practice Martial Arts if they do not spar. Even if the art they study is a Martial Art.

There are to many Martial Arts out there that are not taught as a Martial Arts. This is true for Eastern and Western M.A.'s. For example Tai chi, 99.9% of the Tai chi schools do not teach it as a Martial Art. There are those in the "WMA community" that do not spar either.

What can be bad also is unrealistic "sparring". Point sparring, tag games, restrictive rule sets, etc.....

[Keith Culbertson]

Yes, the weapon (the weak part moving fast!) reaches target first with all the force of the travelling weapon and body mass and their velocity, then the body and feet are set to support the strong for defense and counterattack with a mastercut if necessary, right? Also, if one chooses to do so, the weapons's first move can be a feint to draw a reaction, then the better strike is set for the attacker---however, if you try to feint with a foot movement, you are committed and slow, open to a counterattack if they are not fooled.