I'm no expert here, but I disagree for two reasons.Originally posted by TommyK In terms of the arts I am not an adherent of the sword, but I found the ability of the good captain 'taking out' trained Ninja and even Samurai unbeliveable after training for a few short months. Despite his experience in both the American War Between the States and the Frontier Campaigns, his calvary saber techniques, would be inferior to the sword of a trained Samurai. This is because both his training time with the sword would be minute compared to the Samurai, and his tactics would be oriented more toward western methods, and his expertise would certainly be more with the pistol.
1) Battlefield experience counts more than time doing kata. From FAMOUS BUDOKA OF JAPAN: SEKIUN HARIGAYA FOUNDER OF MUJUSHIN KENJUTSU
by Yoshinori Kono,Aikido Journal #114
http://www.aikidojournal.com/new/art...?ArticleID=294
"Bushi during the Sengoku (warring states) period were constantly on the battlefield, and more of them learned their skills through actual combat experience than by learning the hiden or gokui (secrets and inner teachings) of the various styles and traditions as they do today. In any case, during that time of constant fighting, people had precious little time to learn kenjutsu and the like, and even if they did, they very rarely found it of immediate use on the battlefield; most fought simply relying on luck and their own determination to survive."
There is a study which investigated how long it took to attain MENKYO KAIDEN (license of full transmission of the art) and it found that the time it took was halved for individuals who had been in battle. I'm sorry, but I can't find where I read that.
2) The invincible samurai is more wishful thinking than history. The Mongols walked all over them, and after a slow beginning, the Koreans gave them a hard time when Hideyoshi invaded. When Britain destroyed a coastal town, their landing parties manhandled the vaunted Bushi sword to sword, too. (I’ve read about this in two sources. One is Choshu in the Meiji Restoration by Craig. I think the other source was the historical novel Ryoma by Hillsborough, but I’m not sure.)