Recreation Sword Style

1st off I don't know of that many sword styles.
And would like to know a good one to start with (any japanese style would be good)

And I don't know if this is a real style (if it's not real forgive me and don;t be to harse whin repliying), but I thjnk it would be cool to learn the Hitsin-Misguruge(hope I spelled that right )
from Rurouni Kenshin.

 

I love the Katana.
Sleek, sharp, long and DEADLY.
Just the way I like em.
Whee.

 

_
its spelled Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryu
(is that a real style? Cool if it is...)

lol I would learn that...

 

I can't give names on fighting styles ... but I can make a suggestion. The old rapier/main gauche pairing is a cool style. It's one of the most difficult fencing styles to master, but it's both offensive and defensive at the same time (and potentially in the same motion at the same instant). I think that one comes from France (largely by the name "main gauche", or "left hand"), if that matters at all.

 

yes i believe i read something about Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu i believe it is a real sword style and it would be cool to learn.

 

hehe well heres a post i can do a lot of damage in ^_^x;;;

anyway Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu is supposedly a real style although no ones really sure...the time and the main idea of the style points to the fact that it may be true although it may not have been done with a katana rather a tachi. anyway...as for real styles theres only one survivng style of Iai-jutsu called Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryuu. as for my style ive actually combined aspects of Musashi Miyamoto's Nitou Ryuu with some chinese swordsmenship. japanese swordsmenship is one of the most deadly styles of swordsmenship in the world...it has many strong points although it is quite almost "choppy" but in the same respect very fluid. however by combining it with the fluidness of chinese tai-chi swordsmenship makes for a incredibly dangerous style of swordsmenship. matching the lightness and edge of nihontou as well as the quick cuts and quick drawing *battou* points matched with a harmounious fluid motions of taichi it becomes an incredible style.

as for the real styles that still exist heres a list of KENJUTSU styles:
Abe Ryu
Yagyu Shinkage Ryu
Niten Ichi Ryu
Mugai Ryu
Jigen Ryu
Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu
Omori Ryu
Katori Shinto Ryu
Kashima Shinto Ryu
Suio Ryu
Muso Shinden Ryu
Maniwa Nen Ryu
Takenouchi Ryu
Yagyu Shingan Ryu
Tatsumi Ryu
Shinkage Ryu
Muraku Ryu
Jikishinkage Ryu
Hoki Ryu
Ono-ha Itto Ryu
Hokushin Ryu
Nakanishi-ha Itto Ryu
Tamiya Ryu
Shindo Munen Ryu
Itto Ryu

Katori Shinto, Tatsumi and Shindo Munen Ryu are the oldest styles of Iaijutsu that still exist.
oh yeah heres a completely pointless but informative explination of the japanese sword that i typed up a while ago

The first sword were imported to japan. they were made of steel and had chinese workmanship and chinese koshirae*. the first sword of purely japanese design came in 646 AD. they were still called Kara Tachi** they came in two ways. the first having black laquered fittings for actual combat and decorative for ceremonies. Rayskin was used to wrap the handles from time to time but was only used for all swords during the Heian Era (794-1185) most swords of this period were called Kazari Tachi*** or Hoso Tachi**** the sword style was already adjusting to Japanese tastes and styles. as time passed they became simpler and became known as Efu Tachi, and were used by imperial gaurds during the Edo period.
* sword fittings...and old word a more modern word "toso" is used which means sword furniture
** Chinese Tachi
*** Decorative Tachi
**** Narrow Tachi

later came the Uchigatana which had is predecessors in the Heian Era. this sword was worn edge up thrust through the obi. it looked alot like the previous tachi although it had no Obitori so was called Handachi or half tachi, this particular style never went our of style for the next 300 years.

The Momoyama Era saw flashy Koshirae ususally with a red laquered saya *scabard* and kanagu in gold. however this was in response to the Tensho Era's sombre mountings of black laquered saya and and same *rayskin*.

Finally in the Edo Period Tokugawa Ieyasu moved the capital to Edo. many swordsmiths moved their shops there as well. in this period the wearing of a wakizashi and katana became the standard swords for a samurai.
a samurai had to wear duty attaire while on duty this consisted of kataginu *winged shoulders* and hakama *split skirt trousers*. while the court members wore Hitatare court attire with and Eboshi hat and a wakizashi at their hip. however these swords were quite impractical in that they had no mekugi to fasten the tsuka to the tang so therefore it couldnt be used as a weapon this was perhaps to show because of their high position they had no need to use it. also it was a serious offense to draw a sword in front of the Shogun or at any court.
commoners werent allowed to carry swords of any length although rich merchants often sported fancy tantos to show off their wealth.
then on July 18 Shoho 2 (1645) the ban of swords were lightened. a commoner could wear a sword under 1.8 shaku if one obtained a permit to do so. this enabled travellers on the Tokaido road to arm themselves against bandits and it also allowed the chief of Police to are the Okappiki, the non-samurai police.
then in the year 1871 the ban was totally lifted any one of any class could wear a sword of any length or wear their hair Chonmage or Samurai Topknot. Kirisute Gomen was also prohibited. this was the unpunished slaying of non-samurai for an real or imagined insult. then on January 1, 1877 the decree that only the military and police were allowed to carry swords was put out. it was during this period that many samurai took their beloved blades and stuck them in a walking stick inorder to carry their swords with them.
after this most swords were designed after french and german military sabers. only swords from world war 2 would see the renaissense of japanese design.

 

WOW! That's a-lot of sword styles, Thanks for the info. Hitokiri_Gensai.

 

anytime, japanese swords and swordsmenship is one of my hobbies...been studying it for the last 7 years...so if youd like to know anything just tell me...

 

7 year, man I'm 18 I fill to old to start learning now.. What.. no I don't LOL!!
Any-way in your opinion whuch would be the best(or the easyist) to start with. And what would be a good plase to good learn (other then Japan..lol).

 

depends on what youd like to learn. for basic sword information as in studying the sword itself, i would check to see if there are any sword clubs in your town. http://www.geocities.com/alchemyst/nihonto.htm is an excellent place for swords and has many links to other pages. as for studying nihon kenjutsu...find the north american kendo federations homepage and go from there...there are many fake schools out there so becareful. I, myself taught myself kenjutsu through reading many books from japan on kenjutsu written by master swordsmen like Musashi Miyamoto. oh btw im only 16. so your not too old...most people actually start in their late 20's early 30's...

 

im quite biased to the japanese sword and its styles but this is quite a style...many think that by watching matces using this style is what gave Musashi Miyamoto the idea for his Nitou Ryuu. eitherway its a completely deadly style which he perfected. as my bias for the japanese sword i think its because of the techniques used to make the sword. in england most swords as tempered from a single piece of steel. with the katana there are several grades of steel used. a harder steel is used for the "outer" part while the core and the "mune" or the back of the sword is a softer steel. there for the edge takes on a hardness somewhere around a 60 on the rockwell scale making an incredibly hard edge that wont chip. the back of the sword measures somewhere around a 40 on teh rockwell scale making the sword able to bend and absorb shock. also the steel is folded so that the grain of the steel is meshed together creating a super strong steel. so...this is quite a superior weapon in my oppinion atleast.

 

Being A metal worker Something you said does not add up.. The Steal used For a Katana is a few different grades meshed together from the folding yes. But it is the Tempering of the front and back is what sets the Hardness of the blade. And because of this tempering the center will always be softer in the center of the blade.. Not because of the grades of steal used, but the folding and tempering.

At Work ive seen tempered Steal Broken in two and its almost like the core of a Tree. you can see where the temper begins and ends.

For anyone interesting in general sword blacksmithing here is a site with some brief details.

http://wtimmins.tripod.com/lore/swords.html

KaMe

 

eh...sorry that was mis worded...ergh stupid flu...im still kind of out of it...anyway...yeah sorry...a katana is built on the fact that there are two or three distinctive strengths of steel used...there are actually quite a few styles.

"maru" is a single piece of hard steel.

"kobuse" is a soft core the leads to the "mune" while the harder steel wraps around the front

"honsanmai" is a soft "mune" with a hard "ha" and medium shinogi-ji

"shihozume" is a soft core medium sides and back and a hard edge

"makuri" is a soft core surrounded on all sides by a hard outer shell

"wariha tetsu" is a medium core and back with a hard edge

"gomai" is a hard edge and sides with a soft core and a hard piece stuck in the core

"soshu kitae" is the most complex lamination style a soft core with a hard back soft sides with a hard shell over that and a hard edge

maru is the poorest lamination style and many blades made for ashigaru are found made this way. the famous swordsmith masamune was known to use the "soshu kitae" style of lamination. the most common lamination is the honsanmai. soft steel is known as shigane, medium is known as kawagane and hard steel is known as hagane.