Secrets of the Samurai Sword

Super-Fine Filipino Fighters

A very interesting article for FMA practitioners. 

http://www.tactical-life.com/tactical-knives/super-fine-filipino-fighters/

Posted May 10th, 2009 by Michael Janich & filed under Tactical Knives.

Traditional Filipino Weapons Co. offers true martial artists or collectors the cold steel that truly is bred for battle!

Photography by: Jeff Randall & DEverett Photography

Cold Steel Training Gladius Test vs Cinder block

I have decided to introduce training with ancient weapons, from Roman Gladius, medieval swords, tomahawks and at some point also sabre fencing which is tons of fun, I have never lost a match the year I was training foil fencing, I lost interest as I never lost a match, so I decided to train something that would challenge me and lose. 

That I found in MMA and BJJ, I really did experience to be completely dominated for the first time in my life and feel that I had no living chance, the only reason that I didn’t quit even if I had bent the ribs on both sides, was that I improvised a submission the first day and didn’t know what the hell to do but managed to get a tap out from a more experienced student. Getting pawned for weeks non stop and only when someone new stepped in was the only victories the first 6 months, when I reached the level that I didn’t get submitted before 10 seconds, could defend myself for a round and once in while submit others who had trained at least the same amount of time as me was what made me come for training, but the discovery of having a huge lack of skills was the primary motivator.

There is as far as I know only one DVD on the market for combat with the Gladius, I didn’t like it as it was FMA with a Gladius, nothing wrong with that but it didn’t show me anything new, or had a historical reference which is impossible as there are none for the use of the Gladius in combat from ancient Roman text as far as I know, only that the biggest problem was that some general was concerned with his soldiers using it for slashing instead of stabbing, which kills a lot faster. So it will be using AMOK!™ methodology combined with my previous training with sport fencing, European medieval weapons, to not recreate but to rediscover and innovate how to use it to its best potential, that was the reason for creating the Kratos Combatives Combat Laboratory, to learn by Guided Discovery™ how to fight with ancient weapons that have no use in today’s arsenal of weapons for combat.

The Cold Steel Training Gladius is unbreakable and a relative safe training weapon, I like steel but it cost a lot more and if the gladiators used wooden swords for training, I see no point in using a steel training model. I have broken 4 steel swords, and one of them was a heavy high quality Lancashire sword that was created to be unbreakable as it was very heavy, but it broke when I blocked an attack that was delivered with maximum force and I applied maximum force to match that. So to keep the cost low and safety high, it is IMHO the best choice, as a broken sword depending on the angle does not stop the attack unless one can control and stop before impact and the piece that is broken can fly anywhere and by accident hit some ones eye. But we need proper protection, as look at the video and think what would happen if a slash hit bone.

Cold Steel 88DK Dragonfly Katana Available at KnifeCenter

http://kcoti.com/RAsnQT
Available at KnifeCenter.com.

The classic Japanese battle sword in all its incarnations has been celebrated for centuries, not only for its elegant lines and simple beauty, but also for the technique and skill that went into its construction.

Most swords offered today are interpretive copies of antiquities from feudal Japan. They were made for warrior's of small stature who seldom rose above five and a half feet. As skillfully designed as these swords are, they may not be perfectly suited for the twenty first century warrior, who benefited from contemporary advances in childhood nutrition and healthcare and grew up to be a substantially taller, stronger, and more athletic version of his historical counterpart.

As a way of compensating for this size disparity, Cold Steel has created the Dragonfly Series. These swords feature thicker, wider and heavier blades, which mirror our Emperor Series in respect to heat treatment, polish, quality of furnishings, and attention to detail, but with a few new departures.

Most noticeable are the distinctive teal-green silk cord-wrap and black samé (ray skin) used on the handles and the black iron furniture that bears the dragonfly motif. Also, the polished blades are more strongly curved than our Emperor blades and terminate in a long "iris leaf" point for maximum cutting and slashing potential. Additionally, these swords come with two protective bags. There is a BLUE TRAVEL BAG and an intricately decorative display bag that's made from the finest heavy silk metallic brocade.

Blade Length: 29 1/4"
Overall Length: 40 3/4"
Steel: 1055 Carbon
Weight: 37.1 oz.
Handle: 10 1/4" Samé (Ray Skin) Handle w/ Teal Green Cord with Brass Menuki
Scabbard: Black Lacquered Wood Scabbard

Saint Maurice of Turin EUR€ 1720

This is my absolute favourite sword, it’s beautiful and an exact replica of the original, its balanced perfectly, I loved to have the possibility to swing with it and try how it feels to hold one of the most beautiful historical swords.

http://www.albion-europe.com/swords/swords-by-productline/museum/model.aspx?model=21 

The Brescia Spadona  EUR€ 1950

This one is also perfectly balanced, I was so lucky that I was allowed to swing the original sword at an Italian museum, and also try to swing and stab with ancient swords and daggers. One of the best trips I have been on, helping a friend who owns Albion Europe translate business deals for him in Italy. 

http://www.albion-europe.com/swords/swords-by-produActline/museaum/model.aspx?model=24

Sanatan Shastar Vidiya Martial Arts Festival Clip 3

Here Nidar Singh Nihang demonstrates swordsmanship against multiple enemies. This clip shows the skill in ability to engage yet not strike and maintain full control of the sword. Do not try this at home.

Sword meets mask

I have always liked the videos from The Real Gladiatores on youtube, these guys are so good at fencing it can be seen, no need to be an expert to see the quality of their historical correct fencing techniques. I have seen many videos with other groups that are not at this level from every part of the western world, this is correct on many levels, technical, historical and most likely their training method is pretty good to reach this level.

One of the biggest problems with historical European martial arts (HEMA) is that with the introductions of firearms, the needs for the use of swords diminished to a level were it only existed as a sport with foil and sabre fencing.

Having a broken line and not a continuous heritage, there IMO only few good sources to learn from, The Real Gladiatores, EHCG Sieniawski & Sons, ACT and other groups, the serious problem is that anyone can appoint himself as an expert after reading a few books. They have no one but themselves to judge how good they are, but as the interest has evolved dramatically there are more persons who can judge the quality.

A self-appointed expert who has published one book or more are then suddenly the super experts with authority, forgetting that Paladin Press, Loompanics, Turtle press and other publisher, many times have no interest if the book is filled with real or false information, Paladin Press went downhill after loosing the trial against them for publishing the Hitman book, now many of their books are worthless and as DVD are superior product than books with martial art, they are going to loose money on that market unless they have a competitive price to diminish the huge amount of illegal downloading.

Katana Fail

Oldie but goodie, I have watched this so many times and it’s still funny.

Some long sword fencing pieces after Danzig & Ringeck

300 Spartan Warrior Replica Sword - $29.99