If Historical European Swordsmanship and Japanese Swordsmanship (which is what I assume you mean by 'JSA') are so much alike, why did the two cultures develop different weapons and armors and different ways of handling the weapons? Are you saying that a 15th century katana is the same as a 15th century longsword in the German or Italian tradition? That the two weapons are handled in the same manner? That 15th century Bushi armor was the same as 15th century plate armor? Good luck with that argument.
I suggest you take a close look to some koryu techniques. If you are unfamilliar with the widely used term JSA I suspect you are unfamiliar with many of it's facets. Except for the use of the quillons in HES, most techniques have their equivalent in one style or another (there was a post about it on martial arts planet). As for armor, same thing remains, you seek to defeat the weaker spots (mainly joints like armpits, neck) with thrusts, sometimes in a half swording way, when you are unlucky enough to only have a sword to fight with. Of course both are different, made for different imperatives, but the mechanics are still reasonably close.
2. Interesting that you mention Kyokushin and MT fighters - two groups I respect very much since both groups do indeed "put up - " they are willing to get out and fight.
My point remains, none seeks to prove superiority of his style by doing this. Those that do are deluded. As for sparring between schools, there are groups which are doing this: some Toyama Ryu federation organise competitions with blunt swords in Japan, inviting different styles.
http://www.wklok.com/mylife/2008_06_jap ... Page2.html You should clearly question the way the challenge was put up.
3. I don't ever recall stating, nor does the call for "samurai" ever state, that one style is superior to another. It was simply a call for people to get out there and demonstrate their fighting prowess against someone who would be fighting back instead of doing solo katas or two-person programmed drills.
Never said you stated that, but you clearly said that someone somewhere regularly boast about the superiority of japanese MA. I even quoted you on that and asked you who does it, a question you didn't answer. You seem to elaborate on many misconceptions about JSA, one being that every groups don't spar. Owari kan ryu, for example, teaches sparring before kata.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UN2g-hD_dSw4. "Macho contests on TV?" And you base this on.......? I don't recall ever a call for a WWF standard. Actually, AFAIK, this was to be a history program.
You said in your previous points that it was a demonstration of fighting prowess. Making it an history program (history has nothing to do with things that never happened; in this case it is not history, it's entertainment) doesn't make it more laudable, and if it was the goal, it wasn't understood that way, let me tell you that. If efforts to create links had been made before, the response might had been different. This step was completely ignored and gave a bad impression to a community that is still barely aware of HEMA and what they are supposed to be.
I have drawn mine.
Obviously, and I think that's part of the problem.
?
