Bradenn
27th February 2003, 11:15
I just watched the videos of the 2001 Daikmoyosai in Japan (Gyokko Ryu).
My first thought was "What the hell are people wearing???". I saw purple gi's, bright green tabi and loads of bandanas. I know that fine feathers don't make fine birds, but purple gi? Reminded me of the American Ninja films where there were yellow, blue, and red uniforms!
Now banadanas look cool, especially if you're a gang member in LA or a biker. I have worn one myself when trying to stop my bald head getting sunburned on summer hols :-). But for Budo training in Japan???
Second thing I noticed was that the 5th dan test looked different. In this tape, Hatsumi-sensei stopped the sword around the person's head level which meant that they just needed to move their head out the way. In past videos I have seen, he really whacks down and the sword ended up close to if not hitting the floor. The candidate had to move the whole body and sometimes roll to avoid being hit.
Now I am nowhere near 5th dan and I would probably fail the test either way if I did it now. Kudos to those who passed. But did anyone else notice this difference?
My first thought was "What the hell are people wearing???". I saw purple gi's, bright green tabi and loads of bandanas. I know that fine feathers don't make fine birds, but purple gi? Reminded me of the American Ninja films where there were yellow, blue, and red uniforms!
Now banadanas look cool, especially if you're a gang member in LA or a biker. I have worn one myself when trying to stop my bald head getting sunburned on summer hols :-). But for Budo training in Japan???
Second thing I noticed was that the 5th dan test looked different. In this tape, Hatsumi-sensei stopped the sword around the person's head level which meant that they just needed to move their head out the way. In past videos I have seen, he really whacks down and the sword ended up close to if not hitting the floor. The candidate had to move the whole body and sometimes roll to avoid being hit.
Now I am nowhere near 5th dan and I would probably fail the test either way if I did it now. Kudos to those who passed. But did anyone else notice this difference?