Thread: O Sensei bokken
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Old 06-06-2012, 06:13 AM   #8
sorokod
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 841
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Re: O Sensei bokken

Quote:
Gerardo Torres wrote: View Post
I recently read in this post/thread

http://www.aikiweb.com/forums/showpo...0&postcount=38
http://www.aikiweb.com/forums/showth...t=20982&page=2

that in Iwama aikiken they don't treat the sword as a cutting instrument. Perhaps this is just one practitioner's opinion and it's not the general, more authoritative opinion -- I don't know since I'm not an expert in that style. From an "outside" perspective though, I can agree with it seeing how they use the weapon, and how having a "kissaki" (mimicking the real sword) is not that critical. I also read somewhere that the kissaki was removed after a training accident involving somebody's eye...
It is true that in the Iwama weapons system the bokken is generally considered to be a striking weapon. Do you have a reason to believe that at some point, the founder held a different view (say, that the bokken is just an approximation if a shinken) and the change of shape reflects a change in the attitude?

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