View Single Post
Old 04-16-2007, 09:08 AM   #15
Chuck Clark
 
Chuck Clark's Avatar
Dojo: Jiyushinkan
Location: Monroe, Washington
Join Date: Jun 2000
Posts: 1,134
United_States
Offline
Re: Live tanto in grading

Quote:
Chuck Clark wrote: View Post
If you're doing tanto dori with a live blade and no one gets cut...it just means that either the person with the tanto isn't really trying to cut or they aren't knowledgeable with a knife.
From someone that has been practicing for a very long time (54 years) and has several scars from sharp instruments in real combative situations on my hands (along with a couple of other places) and have cut other folks... I will reaffirm:

"If you're doing tanto dori with a live blade and no one gets cut...it just means that either the person with the tanto isn't really trying to cut or they aren't knowledgeable with a knife."

If you ain't getting cut (symbolically) with your training tool a significant number of times during each training period you are not doing it properly. If it is kata geiko and you know which attack, etc. is coming, it is, of course, easier to succeed against realistic skillful attacks, but if you're doing free form tanto (or for god's sake... a katana or any sharp implement of similar length) randori or jiyu kumite and you're not getting cut a lot... you are deluding yourself to put it mildly.

I'll add... if you're not always looking for training partners that put you at risk and are really trying to cause you problems that you need to learn to solve within appropriate levels of force and speed for the abilities of the trainees then you're wasting your time.

Rant mode off.

Chuck Clark
Jiyushinkai Aikibudo
www.jiyushinkai.org
  Reply With Quote