[RedDog]

Is kendo one of the most effective sword martial arts?..........if so the katana.

[Tim Chan]

Originally Posted by Team Dragonfire

i've been cutting for years and cutting tatami mats is very, very hard... especially the large ones... lots of time for your blade to turn or your cut to go awry..... do you guys actually own cutting swords or just souvenier type katana?

I have a sharpened practical katana(which is probably more for light than heavy cutting since i managed to dent it accidently hitting my fridge). and an unusuallly heavy chinese broad sword which is not as sharp, but still sharper than any kitchen knives i've seen.

[CowboyPete]

Originally Posted by RedDog

Is kendo one of the most effective sword martial arts?..........if so the katana.

It's hard to say, since there's really no Sword MMA organizations or matches or anything out there.

[kokoro]

Hey guys..

thought I'd chime in here...

I'm not really going to say which is better and get into the discussion, but I do believe ther are some misconseptions about the swords.. how much they weigh... useage and ect...

comparing weights of katana and bastard swords

in actuality.. they weigh about the same and alot of bastard swords weigh less and have the balance point closer the the hilt than on many katanas... this is because as said before.. the emphasis on the katana is the cut..

if you don't believe me.. check these out...

http://angustrimdirect.com/models/unamed_1/unamed_1.htm

http://angustrimdirect.com/models/unamed_7/unamed_7.htm

http://angustrimdirect.com/models/un.../unamed_16.htm

and something to really blow your mind.. a danish two hander.. over 54" in length...

check out the weight.. http://angustrimdirect.com/models/un.../unamed_15.htm

and these are all historicaly accurate weights and designs...

so if you can imagine... you can be very fast and very precise with Euro swords.

heres another link you guys might want to check out and browes... www.thearma.com

specificaly.. this page.. http://www.thearma.org/essays.htm

it also hase many articals relavent to this thread in referance to how much plate armor weighed and if you don't believe me about the swords weight above... there is an article about how much historical swords did weigh..lol..

enjoy and as someone said a long time ago...

self-relization and discovery is a beautiful thing...

Best,

Kokoro


btw.. the katana is the epotime of sword craftsmanship and art... as many historians have agreed upon that it is so... so there...

[Team Dragonfire]

Originally Posted by kokoro

in actuality.. they weigh about the same and alot of bastard swords weigh less and have the balance point closer the the hilt than on many katanas... this is because as said before.. the emphasis on the katana is the cut..

i can't help but think that you are wrong in this.... the type of 'cut' on a katana is not a chop like with a bastard sword or axe, but a slice... a drawing motion. almost like setting it on your target and pushing it away from yourself or drawing it towards yourself to slice through them. the different between the katana and many types of swords is the angles on the blades. katanas would easily get stuck in bones/armor if a cleave type of attack was made with one because the weight is much closer to the hilt than on many other types of swords, such as the bastard sword. i'm not comparing their effectiveness in battle, but this has always been my impression.

[Team Dragonfire]

Originally Posted by CowboyPete

It's hard to say, since there's really no Sword MMA organizations or matches or anything out there.

check out www.goshindo.us for any info on a sword mma organization. sport kenjutsu kobudo or combative sports weaponry allows all styles to compete against one another. i love it, but that's just because my team and i have been taking golds at all the competitions so far.

[CowboyPete]

Originally Posted by Team Dragonfire

i can't help but think that you are wrong in this.... the type of 'cut' on a katana is not a chop like with a bastard sword or axe, but a slice... a drawing motion. almost like setting it on your target and pushing it away from yourself or drawing it towards yourself to slice through them. the different between the katana and many types of swords is the angles on the blades. katanas would easily get stuck in bones/armor if a cleave type of attack was made with one because the weight is much closer to the hilt than on many other types of swords, such as the bastard sword. i'm not comparing their effectiveness in battle, but this has always been my impression.

The ideal placement for the weight for almost every type of western sword is perfectly balanced at the end of the hilt. For reasons of speed, endurance and ease of use this makes the sword better for both offense and defense.

I'm not going to pretend I know exactly how Katanas are weighted but I'll assume that the wieght is somewhat similarly balanced since it's just the best way of doing things.

[kokoro]

Originally Posted by CowboyPete

The ideal placement for the weight for almost every type of western sword is perfectly balanced at the end of the hilt. For reasons of speed, endurance and ease of use this makes the sword better for both offense and defense.

I'm not going to pretend I know exactly how Katanas are weighted but I'll assume that the wieght is somewhat similarly balanced since it's just the best way of doing things.

thats really, really a sweeping statement and is totaly wrong... the problem is personal preferance...

take a nice Albion sword... like this one...http://www.albion-swords.com/swords/...-gaddhjalt.htm

and have different people handle it... some will say... "man... that blade handles sweet!" and others will say... "nah... its ok... a little blade heavy for me.."

you also have to take into account the intended use of the sword... the sword above was made in the 10th and 11th centuries where armor was very rare... so the point of balance for this sword is farther out to help aid in cutting.


I will say this... most Euro hand and a half (bastard sword if you will) blades are balanced between 3.5 to 6 inches out from the front of the gaurd. if its too close to the hilt... it will become to 'whippy' and not have enough mass out on the blade to cut anything... to far out and tip control becomes poor and its hard to manuever.


Originally Posted by kokoro
in actuality.. they weigh about the same and alot of bastard swords weigh less and have the balance point closer the the hilt than on many katanas... this is because as said before.. the emphasis on the katana is the cut..

Originally Posted by Team Dragonfire

i can't help but think that you are wrong in this.... the type of 'cut' on a katana is not a chop like with a bastard sword or axe, but a slice... a drawing motion. almost like setting it on your target and pushing it away from yourself or drawing it towards yourself to slice through them. the different between the katana and many types of swords is the angles on the blades. katanas would easily get stuck in bones/armor if a cleave type of attack was made with one because the weight is much closer to the hilt than on many other types of swords, such as the bastard sword. i'm not comparing their effectiveness in battle, but this has always been my impression.

we are actually saying the same thing... you basicaly agreed with me..lol.. its ok... its like I said above.. now... katanas in general are balanced between 4-7 inches out from the guard... usually farther out than on Euro blades... because as you said yourself... it helps aid in the cut, puts more force into the target... and I knew exactly what I ws saying when I said cut... not chop...

Best,

Kokoro