Ryuseiken Battodo

Japanese swordfighting

Rawnshah's Blog – June 2008 Archive (6)

Party on 4th of july

I'm throwing a party at our place to watch the fireworks from the pool and leaving an open invitation to all battodo, japanese sword and martial arts students, practitioners and enthusiasts (any school really).







We built the pool to face the panorama of Tucson, especially where they shoot the fireworks from (A-mountain). Here's a shot of what the pool looks like at night. The fireworks shoot off towards the left edge of the… Continue

Added by rawnshah on June 23, 2008 at 11:00am — 3 Comments

Some Videos from 6/7 uploaded

I've uploaded three videos of Bianca, Monica and Steve sempais. Take a look at how you did on June 7th. I slowed down some of it where relevant and left the audio commentary in of tips.The videos and information is for your benefit; don't feel bad about hearing where you can improve.



Specifically, Bianca sempai the right to left kiriage is noticeably off. I think its because your hands are too far apart, so you end up bending your left elbow which then puts your hands past… Continue

Added by rawnshah on June 21, 2008 at 12:43pm — No Comments

Cutting on 6/15

It was a good session last Sunday. We had lots of time doing cuts for each person, and even one shodan cutting test for Andrew Cameron. We taped it again this time and I should probably edit and upload that video when I can find free time. The video camera I have doesn't take shots fast enough. It's pretty standard for most vidcams but what we really need is a high-speed camera that can take many shots per second in burst mode. There's a nice… Continue

Added by rawnshah on June 17, 2008 at 9:00am — No Comments

Other types of cuts

I've developed a bit of fascination with snap cuts. I don't know a better name for it; there probably is one. It is where you swing at full speed but freeze just an inch or so before the goza, guarding the target for a few seconds. From that position, you then snap your wrist quickly to cut through the goza. There's practically no room for any sort of swing and this takes a sharp sword and lots of torque to cut.



I've done it with one full goza from a kesa snap, which is the least… Continue

Added by rawnshah on June 10, 2008 at 11:30am — No Comments

Cutting yesterday and again on 6/15

Cutting went well yesterday in that the black belts got a lot of practice in. With only a few people and four stands, people can get a whole lot more practice in. It really beats the days when we only had one stand and we'd have to move everyone through it one at a time. It's when you get breaks between cutting that you start forgetting what your body was just learning. After all at this level it is more fine adjustments to get, for example, that perfectly flat suihei. With scraps, some folks… Continue

Added by rawnshah on June 9, 2008 at 7:43am — 3 Comments

Another cutting day at the park on 6/8

We're going to keep the momentum going with a weekly cutting session next Sunday at Himmel Park at 9am, east side of park (Treat Ave). I'd like to see the black belts to get good cutting time in.

-rawn

Added by rawnshah on June 4, 2008 at 1:58pm — 1 Comment

Web sites & Resources

Matsuri: A Festival of Japan (2008) - Phoenix, AZ, Feb 23-28, Heritage Square

Battodo Ryuseiken in Japan. Also a partial site in english.



The Kodenkan of Tucson



The UofA Ryuseiken Battodo on the ASUA site



Tameshigiri.com - where we get goza. The ordering and shipping process are given.



Hanwei/Paul Chen swords



The Knighthawk Armoury builds some interesting realistic looking goshinken. They're expensive but they claim to be pretty durable (not yet tested by us).



Folding a Hakama the proper way



Woodall's Custom Workshop makes nice cutting stands for tameshigiri.


© 2024   Created by rawnshah.   Powered by

Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service