Swordsmenship Today

unfortunately, i think ur right, swordmenship is nothing like it was n the principles have changed so much, its sad to think about it rly, it sorta makes my heart hurt, kinda corny but sue me

 

well does have ne thing else to add to the subject at hand, even the most trifles things mite be interesting

 

swordsman ship today is decreasing... which is horrible!!!!!!!!!any one wih me un this, the ppl who are still doing it enjoy it though......im taking it!

 

He he Cheer up Ashika and Kenshin309. Weapons change all the time, its a matter of efficiency. Gun has proved itself to be more efficient. Its lighter, its easy to carry or hide, u dont have to sharpen it every time u kill someone. World is constantly changing and new things get invented. Its is no use to dream about old glory(its our grandpas' job). Past shouldnt be forgotten but we shouldnt live in it. And im sure that to the people you are protecting you are as honourable as a samurai even if you are a simple soldier with a gun. Its all about the things you do for people not about which weapon you choose. The sword has just outlived itself(and its not like we can do anything about it). Theres a reason to why Kenshin decided not to take any disciples, think about it .

 

yah dreaming ill try to cheer up. Its just too modern now adays with gasoline, tv(though the animes ok...) i just wish it was simple. swrods, quarter staffs, nice sticks or even practice swords....throw in some magic ill be happy!!!! just to live quietly in the woods by a creek or water...... THIS IS SOO OF THE SUBJECT...

 

Dreaming, while the gun is more effiecient its not in the ways that you described. guns are very heavy, my brother has an army issue Colt 1911 and it weighs about 6 pounds, my katana weighs only 1.7 pounds. while its easier to hide its also bulky and somewhat unweildy. a sword doesnt need to be sharpened every time you kill someone, on the contrary, notably in Japan, the sword is known for its edge holding properties and for being extremely efficient as a killing weapon.

its true that the world in modern and will always be charging forward, but there will always and forever be a use to dream of the past. Everyone has their preferance. I drive a car, i use the internet, have tons of electronics, but i also carry a sword and spend countless hours practicing with it to become efficient in carrying it. although i do love my electronics (cell phone, PS2, XboX, Ipod, Laptop, etc etc) i also love the old world. And i truly find mixing the two worlds is a good way to retain the past while moving forward in the future.

i esentially live two worlds in one im a normal guy, 19, live at home, drive a fast car, work at a resturant, run a car tuning shop with some friends, love electronics.
in the other side, i live a simpler life, i farm my backyard for vegetables, i do wear traditional Japanese clothing almost all the time, i practice Kenjutsu, Iaijutsu, Kyujutsu, Naginata Jutsu, Tantojutsu, Aikijutsu, i teach Kenjutsu on sunday afternoons at my church during the winter and in my backyard during the summer. i prefer to walk rather than drive.

there is always room in anyones life to live simply and to ignore the passings of life if it is so desired.and there isnt anything wrong with that. its all part of what one wants, and though the world may change there is nothing that says you must change with it.

 

moving words me_dreaming_zzz, n ashika life is not simple but i do believe swords can make it that way. picture if u can, not a prefect world, but a world where weapons of all kinds were thought of as a last defense, that war never again threatened the lives of the people of the world. i believe weapons werent made to b used as meathods of killing but for the idea that they wuld never have to b used. if i may, now i kno this is off subject but i think it'll get my point across, the dragonballs were created for the sole purpose of never to b used, such as the weapons of the world culd b. n now we kno there's a few ppl who practice swordsmenship b/c of the forums but lets think how many ppl r out there who practice it as well, ppl in countries all over the world n if the day arises where we need to use them again let those who practice it stand up n let us protect those who we love.

 

Thats something after you said i really really thought about...Thats the way eveyone should think about weapons...and our world...Your words really made me think and i thank you. :anime:

 

ashika, could u please specify wut u mean? i dont quite understand wut u mean

 

Humanity spawns on conflict and confrontation. throughout our planets history thousands of wars have been fought and millions upon millions died. even in our earliest form did we fight for territory and food and shelter. Times change and we found new ways to kill eachother and new ways to bring torture and horrific forms of killing. We are taught that we must learn from our history, but we also have the grim outlook that history repeats itself no matter how or what we try to change. no matter how we look at this world, there will always be strife and chaos. we stare into our own future when we look to the past and grim circumstances are doomed to repeat their previous course of action. but as we slowly decay what is left of our world we begin to gain the knowledge that our battle against eachother will soon turn to become a battle to save what we know as our homes. history repeats itself, but the world doesnt. it grows old and polluted and we must learn that our selfish battles to rule this planet have caused our very downfall. Time remains but it is slim. weapons will always be here but someday they will be beaten into plowshares as we try to save what little is left of our planet. We must try to stop our useless fighting in hopes of saving our future and our childrens future. strife and conflict only serve to remind us that we have flaws that we can leave behind. everything has a begining but not all things must have an end.

my rant for the evening, simply a reminder that although we dont live in a perfect world, there is much we can do to get it closer to being so.

 

They have the NASW(the National Association of Swordsman Worldwide) now a days, which i happen to me a member of ... So in my opinion swordsman dont walk around the place like they used to but it still a recognized and celebrated tradition (swordsmanship i mean)....

 

bows*, u r rite gensai, history does have a tendency to repeat itself, in fact its doin it rite at this moment, hiro, i wuld like to hear more of this if u dont mind, n i applaud gensai on his words, they hold truth in them but hopefully, we will recognize what we r doing to our planet n stop it before the end comes, though i kno with all my heart that we probably wont. o n ashika, if u can im me at cobraj309, i wuld be much obliged, i wuld like to talk to u more, u seem to have great insight.

 

I really appreciate your comment kenshin. but unfortunatley i cant because i have a different messenger and ... well i tried anyway! lol well what you said .. about knowing with all your heart you know people wont reconise there mistake till to late but you cant help but desperatly hope they do.... to just have a chance ya know? I feel the same way....about many things in the world.....that i just cant accept. so i believe it will even though know they cant and i feel even though they say "one person can change the world" that i just cant and if i did they wouldnt understand... they wouldnt feel the same way i saw it and felt.... (that was a really really long run on sentence)

 

its cool about the messenging, but u still havent replied to my other thread n i still dont understand wut u mean, now i know we have sot of gotten off subject but i think wut we've been talking about does go in hand on wut we have been talking about, though i kinda have to disagre w/ u ashika, i do believe one person can change the world, if that person know his limitations n knows wut he has to do, but yes its tru swordsmenship has diminished but the fact that there r ppl who still practice it n believe in its principles keeps its spirit alive

 

oh, i meant the smaller gun, the ones that policemen are carrying. i heard someone saying that katana is really heavy, and after killing 7-8 people the blade needs sharpening, and it will not cut properly untill u sharpen it(oh well, maybe they lied). But with a gun u can kill many.....

men and their toys...

yeah, sounds like a nice life, almost ideal. However, some of us cannot just live so peacefully and "ignore the passings of life". Many are expected to, or are forced to live the fast paced life and have a chaotic lifestyle with alot of responsibilities. We invent technology to ease our working load. It takes a long time to perfect Kenjutsu, doesnt it? However it taked much less time to learn to use a gun. I love the sword, but the gun just seem so convenient...

 

im sorry you dont understand kenshin. My feeling are jumbled and just spilled out. i dont kno how i can explain them too you when im still trying to come to a decision myself. I thank you for reminding me theres other people than myself still practicing i seemed to have forgot and got all mixed up. Im also srry for getting off topic.

 

life is a choice, everything that we do and say and think is all a choice. everyone has the choice of living a simple life, some may be more pressured to live in society as it stands, but there is nothing that says you must.

Kenjutsu takes many years to learn and is something that is never mastered. Mastery of the sword is a journey that never ends, until death takes us from this world whether by the sword or by the decay of time. every person who picks up a sword will spend their life learning to use it. every duel will teach something new and we will never stop learning what it is to truly wield a sword.

Yes, guns are simple to use and very easy to learn. however, it means that there is no "skill" among those who use guns. anyone can kill with a gun anyone can pick up one and kill someone. its that very reason that guns were hated and outlawed for many many years in Japan. seen as inferior weapons for inferior people.

although i despise such weapons now, i used to love guns. my grandfather had several rifles on his farm and he let me use them when i would visit. My grandfather was an expert marksmen and a hunter. the first time he let me use them he was amazed at my skill. At a distance of over 600 feet i could take the diamond off a playing card. this was the first time i had ever picked up a gun in my life. but none the less i had skill at it. but as time grew i learned more and more about the sword and how thousands of men gave their lives to the pursuit and prefection of the art. im proud of my accomplishments with a sword. ive practiced and dedicated 10 years of my life with the sword, and i will until i die. I believe swordsmenship is honorable, and just. Anyone can pick up a gun and kill someone. but it takes many years and dedication to learn and use a sword.

Convinience is something that this world is far to caught up in. Everyday things are invented to make our life more "convinient". but at the price of our world and our lives. every year billions of dollars are spent in the advancement of our technological industries. new and faster cars are made, planes are made by the thousands, new modes of transportation are invented on a daily basis. everyday new technology becomes a reality to make our lives more convinient. But, you must realize that while our lives are becoming more convinient, they are also becoming more wasted. if we put that money into the medical industry we would have found a way to cure Aids and Cancer by now. i know this is true, you may think that we will never find a way, but we are only limited in financial aid. Why do we spend billions to make our world "convinient", when we could be saving millions of lives? why should those with aids and cancer slowly die while we find ways to get from out homes to our work places faster? we are too caught up in our selfishness that we fail to see what we could be doing to improve this world.



P.S.
The swords that the other person may be talking about are classified as "Gunto". these blades are oil quenched bar stock steel blades. made specifically during World War II to boost the ideal of Bushido during the Pacific theater. these blades were mass produced out of a sheet of steel and were not forged in anyway. being made from a single piece of steel they had to be made thicker to sustain any strength. in general, these blades wiegh between 7 and 9 pounds which is extrememly heavy, rivalling swords made in Europe. These swords are not considered to be true Japanese Swords and are not allowed to be brought into Japan because they represent Japans recent militaristic past.

Most swords, especially those made by expert smiths wiegh between 1.5 to 3 pounds. Most of the swords in my collection weigh about 2 pounds, although my cutting sword weighs about 1.7 pounds which makes it extremely light and fast.

 

the truth is we r like 10 or 15 years ahead of ourselves when it comes to technology. but notice how we're not more advanced in our schools, medicine, or sum other more important factor that we use in our everyday luves. we r so far ahead of ourselves that we lost the reason y were tryin to advance ourselves a long time ago. now the people of the world only care about power, money, n being the top person in a business. there's a few ppl now adays who still hold on to their values, some of them r present at these boards while there's others still out there.

think wut wuld happen if we caught up to ourselves in technology, the power hungry corporate boneheads wuld lose a ton of money, ppl wuld b out of jobs, mass chaos n then we wont have ne money to put where it needs to b. those who practice kenjutsu, or some other type of martial arts n hold true to it n its principles, r the ppl who will b there rdy to restore order, because we never faulterered when it came to our beliefs, yes sometimes the road waverered but we held tru to it even in the darkest hours.

but jus because u dont practice martial arts doesnt mean ur principles arent tru, but those who do jus have a lil clearer view of it because they rely on them heavily when it comes to a lot of their decisions. guns, have turned out to b a factor that helps them make their decisions n unfortunately, it sumtimes leads to a bad result. now i have nothing against guns, hell, i have 2 or 3 around the house n i luv practicing w/ it, im jus more partial to the sword because i chose to live my life by it n ive always had a connection to the past rather than the future.

but thanks to the future we r allowed to discuss these things n understnad them clearer thanks to the views n opinions of those who come here. the future has benefited us in many ways, new medicine, better schooling, but unfortunately, for every good there's a bad. pollution, homeless n jobless ppl, a twisted government n a bunch of other things, but as long as u stick to ur principles n the road u've chosen, i hope ur life is prosperous n that u take every oppurtunity not to jus better urself but the world around u.

now lastly,bows* to gensai, wut he has sed in this forum is quite tru, he's expressed his opinions n he speaks a lot of truth, so have all of u, ur ideas n opinions have made this thread wut it is, this thread was created by me for the purpose to c who studies it n wut the think of it today compared to the past n it has actuall turned out to go much further into the matter then wut i expected n for this i am glad. i believe we r all learning sumthing from this thread n i hope each of u continue to express ur ideas regarding to the subject, that even though swords r a lil outdated, their principles n the forms of martial connected w/ it r still holding strong.

 

if my last post upset ne body, im terribly sry, i do realize there a lot of conflicts in them, but i was jus speaking from my heart, so if i may, let us return to the subjext at hand, swordsmenship, wut has it come to and wut is it like today.

 

ohhh... u havent upset anyone, its just we kinda ran out of ideas :sweat2:

yeah i agree with u on that we could put all the money that we spend on developing new tech to a better use(like finding a cure for AIDS). however, technology flourish because people willingly INVEST in it. People like driving their sports cars,

and love buying tons of electronics . So, people in the developed countries spend alot of money on new playthings, while many people in 3rd world countries die of starvation every day. And not many people donate money for finding a cure for AIDS. technology is important, but only when its used when its really needed, like transportation, medical research, food production etc... You can see so many young people 2 day just staying at home all their free time and playing PS2 or Xbox, if to think of it, we dont really need those things.... People need to get out more and socialize with other ppl. maybe thats the other reason why interest in swordsmanship have decreased, ppl are just too busy with computergames and stuff... Its nice to have a balanced lifestyle, the kind like Hitokiri_Gensai has(well done *gives a sticker* )