rawnshah's Page

It might have just been an off-day for folks but from what I saw last weekend, all the candidates for the next black belt level, myself included, do not seem ready for their next test. As cutting criteria again, you need to be proficient in those cuts, which to me means you should be able to do it not just once or twice but pretty much on command 60-90% of the time.

You should not have to think through the cuts but you can certainly do it at a careful pace (slow in between cuts). The worst is w… Continue

I purchased some sharpening stones from Nihonzashi to try out. They have a fairly large selection of stones from 100 to 8000 grit. This is based on the Japanese grit system, and all the stones are from Japan I believe. I only purchased a 1000/6000 combo stone, and a 3000 grit one, which are better for maintenance not hard core repair. The Japanese grit system is not the same as the US one (quite different actually). There is a conversion chart that I saw somewhere but you will need to be careful… Continue

I'm considering another cutting day on Sat the 24th starting around 9am at Himmel park. It usually goes on till noon. I need responses from people on who can attend and how much goza you need.

We have goza again. As before goza is $6 for a full piece/ $3 for half piece. I plan to cut about 9 goza myself and may have students from the high school class too, so I simply can't soak it all and bring it all in my car. (one plastic tub only fits about 16 before it breaks). For Andrew C and Andrew D,… Continue

I have the new Peg sharpener in and have been making some pegs. Basically, it's cheaper in the long run than buying pre-made pegs for our cutting stand. I went out to Home Depot, got four 1" dowels and had them cut down to size, so now we have 16 possible pegs.

It works like a big pencil sharpener essentially. B… Continue

Another myth from many movies: Swords should make "Zing!" sound when you draw them from the sheath.

Perhaps for other swords, but this is generally a bad idea for Japanese swords.

First, most, perhaps all, sayas are made from wood (or wood on the inside). Some have metal or horn fittings at the koiguchi (the opening entry point for the sword), but that is mostly or entirely on the outside. So there is not really any other metal on the inside to make that metallic ringing/zing noise. Wha… Continue