Product Review: Japanese sword, tanto

In my opinion there are two sorts of sword collectors: the display artist and the appreciator.

I'm not saying the 'appreciator' doesn't also display and enjoy the aesthetic of their swords but there is a distinct difference between the appreciation of swords for their intrinsic, historical value and the appreciation of swords for only how they look hung on the wall.


I was approached by Swords of The East to write up a product review and as my initial interaction with James at SOTE was very good I thought…why not! SOTE sells all manner of swords, katana and tanto as well as other historical replicas. James has a very professional manner and I was impressed with his customer service. He kept me up to date with the whole delivery process and I received it when he said, although I had a nasty surtax surprise of 35 Euro-bucks to pay for the delivery to Brussels. Ho-hum.

For a glossary of sword parts follow here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_sword#Anatomy

And so to the tanto. This musashi ceremonial tanto is delivered in a cloth bag within an ornate box and includes a with a jade ornament with tassel. The tanto itself certainly seems to have all the right features on it such as a hamon and yokote but it just doesn't feel the real deal to me. The blade isn't quite straight (although it does fit snugly into the saya) and the proportions of the tanto handle and the blade don't appeal to me with the tanto blade seeming too thin to me. Furthermore the shitodome fitting (where the hole on the side of the scabbard is) is not of the highest quality. In short this is a modern, Chinese made display tanto and not my cup of tea. I would put the money for this towards something more expensive but authentic.

The positive side to this, though, is that when you buy this tanto from SOTE you'll get good service and frankly, a piece of kit at a reasonable price. It's pretty and those people looking for an ornate 'hanger' probably won't be disappointed at all.

Last night a groin guard saved my life!

I took a good solid kick in the lower abdomen tonight so I'm glad that I consider the box or groin guard as an essential part of my kit. Don't enter a dojo without one.

Having said that I suppose some arts which are based less on striking or kicking might just recommend using an elastic support without the hard plastic cup as this might nip a little.

Shorinji kempo is both hard and soft style so hitting and kicking is pre-requisite so I really need the cup.

I've always worn knee pads too (volley ball ones are more than adequate) and lately have taken to wearing small ones for my elbows too).

I prefer the comfort to the body 'conditioning' approach...

Am I getting old?

Goodbye old dogi

Goodbye old dogi,

you were good to me, until

you split in training.

Hitting stuff

Our Tang Soo Do lesson last week was pretty high tempo as Master C obviously wanted us to burn off some of those Christmas calories. Joy...!

So we started off with some bruising shuttle run combinations which had us all gasping for breath and followed that up with some stretching. After this we then started hitting stuff which is always satisfactory: focus pads and bagwork was the order of the day. In kempo pairwork is essential and this is very good for seeing how bodies interact and work and feeling where to strike but you can't, obviously, go at it full pelt or you'd soon run out of training partners. It's good to thwack a bag occasionally to get feedback as to how a full power kick feels.

There is other martial arts equipment that can be used too. Paddles give a good focus workout for turning and spinning kicks: strikes that aren't possibly as powerful but require a degree of skill and accuracy when turning. Straight kicks and punches are much better done on a shield or heavyweight held bag. In fact we have a pretty old shield which has softened somewhat so it has a good feel to it without crumpling your hands into a bag of bones!

On that note: I do seem to be having some trouble with my wrists these days and I think it's the increased training I've been doing at Shorinji kempo. Lots of juho techniques attack the wrists and hands (from grabs and holds by the opponent) and mine seem to be especially vulnerable. I'll have to see how things progress but am worried that it might cause long term damage.

Then again, I worry too much!

Iai-hiza hurts. It's Official!

Anyone familiar with iai will know that kneeling in seiza for long periods hurts like hell. Yes ok we all use knee pads but it still hurts the thighs (we can train that) and the joints of the knees, ankles and feet. Once we reach the fourth of the seitei iai kata, tsuka-ate, we reach a whole new level of pain. That pain is called iai-hiza.

Iai hiza is a seated position whereby the left leg is bent under oneself with the shin on the floor and the heel on your bum-hole (more or less) while the right foot rests on the floor with the leg bent upward. Ouch.

So when you're kneeling there wondering why, as a gaijin, you're even bothering to try to master this very Japanese martial art, you can rest assured that it's not your *fault* that it hurts. And it'll probably always hurt because we're just built differently. That's right we have different sized (and proportioned) lower legs! It's official too : I found this article called 'Anthropometric Comparison between Japanese and Caucasian American Male University Students' by Yasuto Nakanishi and Vincent Nethery. Their broad conculsion is that there are clear anthropometric differences between Japanese and Caucasian American males particularly Japanese having shorting standing height (ok I could've guessed that) and longer trunk to standing ratio. In a nutshell this means less in the leg department. Japanese calves are shorter but more importantly for iai-hiza their calf to height ratio is less than their American male counterparts. Hey presto: Japanese can sit more easily in iai-hiza (hey it was invented by them) while my gaijin lower legs protrude into my bum and stop me from sitting correctly.

Of course there are other issues too which I assume are common such as joint pain but at least we can know why we feel that pain in the ass.

Aw quit griping and keep practicing...

Ref: Anthropometric Comparison between Japanese and Caucasian

American Male University Students

Yasuto Nakanishi and Vincent Nethery

Department of Science, Kobe University.