Thread: Why no tsuba?
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Old 02-24-2012, 08:38 AM   #213
graham christian
Dojo: golden center aikido-highgate
Location: london
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 2,697
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Re: Why no tsuba?

Quote:
Dan Harden wrote: View Post
This is astonishing, from a first year student...okay, but from an Aikido teacher in 2012? Amazing.

Graham
You don't get a Katana (and by the way, other than children no one calls the various forms of Japanese swords Samurai swords anymore) and then magically know something about it's use. The shear hubris of that is beyond the pale. Nor does being a Japanese Shihan in some art or other qualify you to use one. There are plenty of children who pick them up as well as people like this who all think they know how to use one to.
It was interesting to see yet again the type of sword work in that video as it reminded me of the Shihan meeting in Japan where one of them said in front of Doshu "We have to stop doing these types of displays. There are real swordsmen in the audience and they are laughing at us." And two other Shihan thanked the guy who said it for taking the risk.
It was bad enough back then to embarrass yourself in a public demo, worse now to an international audience.
One Koryu Menkyo I know once muttered "It's too bad we arent living in an age where you actually had to use them. Then they'd all be dead and we wouldn't have to worry about them passing along that nonsense to other people."

Chris, doesn't this take you back to the Iai and Aikido list era when so many were getting their first (non shihan filtered information) education?
i'm astonished that your astonished. I'm also astonished by your continuous reference to things that never happened. Never done a sword demo, never shown one either.

I'm also astonished by your use of comparisons to sword arts missing the only point that matters, Aikido or any Aikiken is of itself and nothing to do with them. When people do in order to put down then it merely shows me their lack of understanding of Aikido.

Regards.G.