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Swords were dropped from the Japanese military in the early 1960's when it was discovered they were useless against giant radioactive monsters which have formed the primary threat to Japan in the...

Thank you for the reply Ellis, it certainly makes sense the way you put it. While in Europe most of the "civil service" work was performed by people outside the warrior caste, in fact clerics, I was...

Since sword arts are no longer used in actual combat as intended, I don't see how any progression of the arts are truly possible, at least in a manner that could be demonstrated as such. If we change...

You may quote me on this, it is wisdom and truth straight from the mouths of the gods and saints:

If it loads from the back, it's a sissy gun.

Scott, I haven't had so much fun reading a post in a long time. One of my earliest passions has been cooking. I believe when you were here for the embu you got a chance to taste some of my teriyaki...

What a fantastic post Ellis, thank you. I'd like to discuss all of it, but the piece quoted above kind of struck a chord with me. So I'd like to make a few comments and see what the general public...

James,

Charles is my senior at the dojo where I train, he's impressed me from the first time I met him with his dedication and good sense. So, obviosuly I'm not an unbiased observer here but I'd...

Well we did do some seiza for warm ups, but it was the tatahiza that did my knees in. I've just started that, and my knees aren't used to bending that much. As I'd mentioned before, if it hadn't been...

My God. I've made it into Scott Irey's sig line. My reputation is now complete. If you need me I'll be in the corner resting on my laurels. :D

An excellent post Scott, and I agree completely...

I think what's happened here Dan, is that past issues, misunderstandings and arguments have been churned together and the resulting backlash caught some innocent bystanders. I'm not accusing anyone...

I didn't want to quote the whole post her due to length issues, please forgive the editing:

Now Dan, I believe that this post was inflammatory and arrogant in the extreme. You are doing exactly...

Well at this point in time, I draw very slowly and I perform noto very slowly. This has no relationship to how it should be done, but is a measure of my personal experience and confidence. I've...

I would think that aggresiveness is a factor that would depend almost entirely on the practitioner rather than the school although I would admit some schools may take a more aggresive posture than...

I have read this thread with growing alarm and concern. I'm saddened to see the tone taken by people who all share a love of the same thing. It's broken down into name calling that, naturally, is...

About the only documented "walk and draw" gunfight of the Hollywood variety, was the fight between Wild Bill Hickok and Dave Tutt in Springfield, Missouri on July 21, 1865. By witness accounts the...

I'm not about to try and answer the historical question of why we practice iaido in seiza, but I had a big lesson in the practical reason for practicing iai in seiza tonight.

I had my first...

Nope, nobody, not even indirectly, EXCEPT people who sit around polishing their swords, hoping someone will try to break into their house so they can show their skills. Which frankly, isn't really a...

Way back in the past Charles, as I'm sure you know, I was a professional soldier. A light weapons infantryman and not a bad one I think. When I trained, I trained with the understanding that these...

That is interesting David, but it didn't answer the question, I asked why and you told me who instead.



David,

I hope nowhere in my text I challenged your experience, or even suggested that...

It sounds like they put a lot of kenjutsu people to shame as well. It's not a question of kenjutsu vs iai as much as it's about a couple people who put an exceptional amount of work into their art...

The difference I see in the training curriculum you've used as examples and swordsmanship, is that the Japanese Police training and the Marine training are part of what I would call "living" systems....

Thank you Paul.

I write such long rambling posts sometimes that I wonder if the message gets lost. Remind me to buy you whatever you're drinking when we ever get a chance to meet. There are just...

I see that you are evidently acquainted with the teachings of a great number of schools of swordsmanship and are prepared to talk about the strengths and weaknesses of each. Obviously you are more...

I'm going to toss in an opinion here that basically says in effect, you're dead wrong (smile) I'll try and support it as best I can and see where the discussion leads. See my original post for my...

On another note, I had the good fortune to meet and learn from Warren Stanley-Sensei last October during the second annual Texas Enbu in Denton. I formed an extremely high opinion of him while...