Quote:
Dave Humm wrote:
As a student of iai and aiki I am often amused at the 'reverance' placed on a bit of wood by aikidoists with no formal training with a skinken or iaito.
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Hi Dave,
There can be a lot of overkill there, but likewise it can be a bit tricky sometimes. The bokken is a training weapon substituting for the real thing, therefore it has to be respected as much as a real ken, and treated almost as if it is a real ken. There are certain moves that uke will only really respond to if a real blade is cutting your way, obviously we can't do that so uke needs to instill that it is a real blade in their mind and react believing it is a real blade, otherwise they will just stand there looking at a piece of wood brushing against their body, thus defeating the purpose of practicing those particular techniques.
I know I've digressed ever so slightly, but a bokken still needs to be treated with respect.
rgds
Bryan