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[TAC]

In regards to the kangaroo, it would not suprise me to see someone attack one with a sword, i've seen guys tackle them unarmed, once from on foot, and once from the back of a motorbike. I saw the same crazy bastard take down an emu from his bike aswell. Its quite a sight!

I gotta say, that's really stupid. The whole thing is really a waste of time. We all chimed in when the homeless guys was randomly attacked and killed with bats and recently there was uspet here in England when youth just jumped on a guy in the street and killed him for fun as they filmed the event on a camera-phone. It's even more rediculous when the victim is an animal, don't ya think? Just a display of machismo... at the cost of harming something/somebody else. Sorry, but i got better things to do (like do real training with other human beings?)

[Nick Hughes]

Sharif,

I don't hunt unless I'm going to eat what I'm shooting at..and I've always had an aversion to calling hiding in a tree stand shooting a deer coming to a salt block "sport."  In fact I argued with a big fat taxi driver who tried to tell me shooting prairie dogs was a great "sport."

I said sport involves two or more competitors going after the same objective and playing by an agreed upon set of rules and both sides having just as good a chace of winning.  (I even offered him a ride out to the woods and a chance to hunt one another over a square mile marked out but he didn't think that was a very "sporting idea."

Having said all that kangaroos in Australia are a vermin  (think GIANT bunny rabbits) that eat all the herbiage and turn vast tracks of Australia into dust bowls.  They also breed like...well bunny rabbits, and so they are culled all the time. 

It's not a demonstration of machismo to go out and kill them...it is a necessary evil and if you've ever been to the outback and seen the havoc they wreak you'd see why it's necessary.

N

[aus-man]

couldn't have said it better ninor, the animals we kill are always used for something, they are not killed for the sake of it. We do not torture them, and we do not kill them for a laugh. I would never use dogs or traps to hunt, cause like ninor said, that ain't huntin.

Sharif, you ever seen what vermin the size of a man numbering in their hundreds can do to the land around them? And around here that means your livelihood is in danger! So you kill them, and feed your dog!

And it means i get to use my rifle against a target that will fight back and rip you into little pieces if you don't do it properly!

[TAC]

hmmm... fair one. Can't argue with that. But i must say that there are quicker deaths out there than by flailing katana (like a double tap in the head) or by the pummeling fists of some redneck (or Australian equivelant if there is such a thing) who has just jumped off the back of his bike.
It's doing things like that that I don't see the point of. I'd hunt to eat too, just like any animal. I'm quite into wilderness survival. But vermin or not (for me) I don't feel that any animal deserves to be played with. Just as you or I go about our daily taks like going to work or going to the store, we don't expect somebody to radomly kill us as we do these things for the sake or our families. I mean, we work to earn money to buy the food for our families, right? (for the sake of continued life). And so, it's the same deal as the rabbit, koyote, kangaroo or possum scavanges and hunts in order to live and feed it's offspring. If it gets outa control and they need culling, that's a shame but hey, it can be done in a humane way. But, using katanas and beatin the suckers up? Naaah... that sucks.

Peace

Sharif

[aus-man]

I think we're basically agreeing on the principle of this topic, but understand that the roos taken in that way were done due to a lack of firearms and a need to cull, before they culled our dog or us defending our dog. Had an emu in our property once that attacked me because i couldn't herd it away, my dog tried chasing it down as soon as it attacked and would have been torn up without a doubt, so i let it chase me instead then doubled back and rammed it with my quad, didn't like doing it but i guarantee you it could've gutted me faster than you can do a front kick. It got finished humanely. Ain't natural selection a bitch!!

[TAC]

Cool. Sorry for taking it off topic by the way, just had to jump in on that post. Should have been a seperate thread really.
But as for the katana and SDMS - what Ninor said was perfect. I've made a lot of the single stick stuff work with the shorter katana (wakizashi) it's just a matter of getting used to the weight distribution - it's more like using a baseball bat with one hand than an arnis stick. And also realizing that impacting with a wakizashi in a bat-like way will never have that samurai cut-somebody-in-half kind of effect. It would be more like getting clunked with a stick that makes you bleed a lot than deep penetration. It's all about the 'pulling motion' Ninor talked about.

Sharif

[Nick Hughes]

Sharif,

Just a quick clarification re the katana and the roo (god, wouldn't that be a good title for a book? ) Steve thought he was being humane...he assumed that with one stroke of his trusty katana he'd behead it cleanly and quickly.  He was totally gobsmacked when he saw what happened and it was finished off quickly thereafter with gunfire.

N

[hog]

If I'm not mistaken, there is a dojo at the U. of Ga. that teaches Kashima Shin Ryu.  The instructor is Dr. Karl Friday and the art is extremely traditional.  They teach kenjutsu as well as other arts integral to their school.

I'm sure the practice of the tradition is subject to the desire of the individual, but the techniques are still there.  I'm not sure of a schedule or cost and it may be quite a commute as I am not familiar with Ga.  Anyway, just a thought if you are serious about learning kenjutsu.

[Professor]

If I'm not mistaken, there is a dojo at the U. of Ga. that teaches Kashima Shin Ryu.  The instructor is Dr. Karl Friday and the art is extremely traditional.  They teach kenjutsu as well as other arts integral to their school.

I'm sure the practice of the tradition is subject to the desire of the individual, but the techniques are still there.  I'm not sure of a schedule or cost and it may be quite a commute as I am not familiar with Ga.  Anyway, just a thought if you are serious about learning kenjutsu.

Welcome to the nuthouse.

[hog]

Thank you very much Professor.  I think I just may fit in.

[Kentbob]

If I'm not mistaken, there is a dojo at the U. of Ga. that teaches Kashima Shin Ryu.  The instructor is Dr. Karl Friday and the art is extremely traditional.  They teach kenjutsu as well as other arts integral to their school.

I'm sure the practice of the tradition is subject to the desire of the individual, but the techniques are still there.  I'm not sure of a schedule or cost and it may be quite a commute as I am not familiar with Ga.  Anyway, just a thought if you are serious about learning kenjutsu.

   Thanks, Hog.

kent

[D. McLemore]

 
   I realize that I'm a little late commenting on this one...I agree much with what has been said.  I suppose there are some realities of the Katana that pop up during these discussions that you need to be aware of. Here is my 2 cents for what it's worth.

   1. Kendo is a Sport. Unless you have an exceptional teacher like I had, you will not get much on how to cut with those classes. The strikes are probably more useful with a stick than an actual sword.

    2. If test cutting is not part of any program of instruction, you'll be missing something. I know of only a few schools that do this well. It takes a lot of time and most instructors want to place the focus on techniques and kata.

    3.  To truly learn the Katana, your going to have to devote some time to training with a "Real" instructor that has a background in one of the classical Ryu. Even then you'll need to be sure your not enrolled in one of the 'White Boy Samurai" courses that is more about dressing up and cutting the air.  Just be careful who you train with. Many martial arts schools that teach the weapon do it as an adjunct to their existing empty hand POI and really just have a light background.

    4.  The Katana is really a nasty weapon that can be used at range and in close but unfortunately today their are very few Katanas on the market the even come close to the original balance and feel of the real weapon.  Most of these are made by stock reduction and are blade heavy. They are fine to train with for strength and endurance but they ain't the real thing.  I have three of these.  Two have become wall hangers and the 3rd is a beat up piece that I use only for cutting. I've had to repair the handle three time because I messed up on the technique.  Obata's video (out of print now) and book Chrimson Steel and he has another book which the name escapes me that will give you a good picture of how to cut with the Katana.  You may have trouble finding these.

    5. Can the Katana be used with Hoch's material ?  I've had some success with the application of the DMS system to the katana.   I found that the straight bladed Korean swords with shorter blades are best suited.  I've moved away from the katana and now focus on the straight bladed Korean sword (even doing a book on it). There are some sites on the net that also teach this, but they are usually TKD affiliated with it. You might want to check these out.

    6.  Finally, I believe that the Long Swords Techniques of the Medieval period particularly those called 'Half Swording' are more applicable and useful with the DMS. Lots of on line videos on this .

   I suppose that is about it. To be frank, I've found that most of Hoch's material be it stick, empty hand, and ground had applications to any of the weapons that I taught at The School of Two Swords.  Yep! even Kendo.

You guys take care
Best
Dwight

Jerry Van Cook?  You still out there?

[Kentbob]

   I realize that I'm a little late commenting on this one...I agree much with what has been said.  I suppose there are some realities of the Katana that pop up during these discussions that you need to be aware of. Here is my 2 cents for what it's worth.

   1. Kendo is a Sport. Unless you have an exceptional teacher like I had, you will not get much on how to cut with those classes. The strikes are probably more useful with a stick than an actual sword.

    2. If test cutting is not part of any program of instruction, you'll be missing something. I know of only a few schools that do this well. It takes a lot of time and most instructors want to place the focus on techniques and kata.

    3.  To truly learn the Katana, your going to have to devote some time to training with a "Real" instructor that has a background in one of the classical Ryu. Even then you'll need to be sure your not enrolled in one of the 'White Boy Samurai" courses that is more about dressing up and cutting the air.  Just be careful who you train with. Many martial arts schools that teach the weapon do it as an adjunct to their existing empty hand POI and really just have a light background.

    4.  The Katana is really a nasty weapon that can be used at range and in close but unfortunately today their are very few Katanas on the market the even come close to the original balance and feel of the real weapon.  Most of these are made by stock reduction and are blade heavy. They are fine to train with for strength and endurance but they ain't the real thing.  I have three of these.  Two have become wall hangers and the 3rd is a beat up piece that I use only for cutting. I've had to repair the handle three time because I messed up on the technique.  Obata's video (out of print now) and book Chrimson Steel and he has another book which the name escapes me that will give you a good picture of how to cut with the Katana.  You may have trouble finding these.

    5. Can the Katana be used with Hoch's material ?  I've had some success with the application of the DMS system to the katana.   I found that the straight bladed Korean swords with shorter blades are best suited.  I've moved away from the katana and now focus on the straight bladed Korean sword (even doing a book on it). There are some sites on the net that also teach this, but they are usually TKD affiliated with it. You might want to check these out.

    6.  Finally, I believe that the Long Swords Techniques of the Medieval period particularly those called 'Half Swording' are more applicable and useful with the DMS. Lots of on line videos on this .

   I suppose that is about it. To be frank, I've found that most of Hoch's material be it stick, empty hand, and ground had applications to any of the weapons that I taught at The School of Two Swords.  Yep! even Kendo.

You guys take care
Best
Dwight

  Thank you for the input, Mr. McLemore.  Very insightful, and very much appreciated.


Kent

Jerry Van Cook?  You still out there?