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hiroyuki
15th May 2004, 06:30
I recently got a japanese sword, 50cm blade length - is it a katana or a wakizachi?- (unsharpened) from a friend and I was practicing happogiri ( as I described in a different post). I noticed that sometimes the swings are sounless, sometimes there is a sharp "swhit" sound and sometimes a very loud air flowing sound. The loud sound, I already noticed it was due to a too much tilt on the sword which was causing the shinogi, not the edge, to "cut" through the air.

I want to know what is the difference between the sounless swing and the one with a sharp "swhit" sound. Is the one with the sharp sound indicating proper swinging technique? Apart from the trust from Chudan, are all the other swings supposed to make this sharp "swhit" sound?

I also noticed that even if I swing the sword with moderate speed, there is still the sharp sound sometimes, I suppose speed is not a factor. So I think it must be swinging technique, isn't it?

Can anyone help me please?

chrismoses
15th May 2004, 19:16
As always, 1) check with your teacher, 2) if you don't have one, find one *before* swinging swords around.

That said, does your sword have bo-hi (a groove cut down the lenth of the sword on both sides)? This groove causes the sword to make more noise as it is swung. Swords without bo-hi will do this as well, but the sound is generally quieter.