Do you ever get tired of the samuri sword?
- Thread starter bdcjacko
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I'm bothered by it, but then again, I just like for kids who see that try to use one in real life, or a substitute for it that in now way is a katana.
... would like to see some more bastard broadsword love though...
... would like to see some more bastard broadsword love though...
I was watching Riverworld again the other day(if you haven't seen it and don't want SPOILED, don't read this!).
I just love the scene where Tomeo cuts loose and starts slaughtering the conquistadors.
Then my friend, who's not only ex-military, but a history buff and teacher, pointed out all the chainmail the "spainards" were wearing. "That kind of armor was specifically made to stop things like katana's - cutting and slicing weapons. This isn't very realistic."
Naturally, I had to throw something at him.
Then my friend, who's not only ex-military, but a history buff and teacher, pointed out all the chainmail the "spainards" were wearing. "That kind of armor was specifically made to stop things like katana's - cutting and slicing weapons. This isn't very realistic."
Naturally, I had to throw something at him.
Just to define: kenjutsu = something I do that legitimately allows me to swing a sword around and call it character buildingbdcjacko said:
tsuba = the guard on a katana
saya = well, you know
Ironically, the most realistic portrayal I can think of off the top of my head was from Samurai Champloo (the first encounter between Mugen & Jin in ep 1, a lot of swinging and dodging), and then there's Sword of the Stranger, granted neither of the two would fight like that in reality, but what impressed me was the sword damage.
And now that I think on it... someone go swing a no-dachi, go on, I dare you!
Bullets are mostly lead (which is very soft) with a thin jacket of some steel alloy, so I wouldn't be surprised if any other well made sword could split bullets as wellHankMan said:
Lets see a katana face off against that >
(If you dont get a good grasp of the swords size from the pic, its about that guys height, that guy is roughly 6ft 5)
But yes Im quite sick of all the fanbois bragging about how superior the katana is to every weapon ever made, its a fucking curved piece of metal
Worth the read, as always, if only to show at least someone knows what he's talking about.BobDobolina said:
I am a little bit tired of how over prevalent it is, HOWEVER. I can provide to you a real and practical explanation as too WHY boiled down into a couple of points.
1) Armour, or lack thereof. see feudal japan had a bit of a problem, they didn't have that much high quality metal (compared to europe where you couldn't spit without hitting the stuff) as a result the stuff they did have they would use very carefully which resulted in a very high quality blade. It also ment that chainmail didn't really exist and full plate was beyond their scope of imagination. as such the katana was designed as a slashing weapon not a bashing or stabbing one... why is this relevant? most movies that have katana's "out of context" are in modern settings, and how often do you see someone walking around in full plate.
2) So why not a European blade then? While I do love european blades and for pure cutting power on an unarmored opponent they are about equal. so why no love for the claymore? Well, weight for one. european blades tend to be quite a bit heavier with few exceptions (that I will get too in a second) and harkening back to point one they where designed this way to crush armour. now since as mentioned these out of context sittuations will 9/10 have us against an unarmoured opponent... which would you choose? a big heavy sword or a light fast one when both will be just as effective?
3) The rapier and its cousins, now here is a group of European swords that are lighter and faster. so why are they not as popular. well here it starts to boil down to fighting aesthetics tbh, rapiers where invented in a time where having SOME armour still was a possible issue, as such they are stabbing and thrusting weapons so they could slip between the cracks etc. why is this an issue though, well it has to do with the visuals. stabbing and thrusting may be fine for actual fighting but it simply doesn't read as well on camera as the large arching swings of a katana do. not for todays big action sequences at least (See the fights of the princess bride or any of the eroll flynn movies for examples of how it CAN work really well)
4) Scimitars and other swords from the near east. "terrorists use em" unfortunately there is still a large blanket animosity towards anything even remotely arabic in alot of western nations so these swords sadly shall remain strictly in the hands of bad guys for the time being.
5) Sabres... PIRATES! This sword has been so strongly associated in the publics mind as being the "pirate sword" that you put it in the hand of ANYONE and that is what they will instantly think of them being... so unless the character IS a pirate, or at least thinks he is, your not gonna be seeing him use it.
So, to wrap things up why is the katana the most over used sword out there? well it comes down too a combination of societal pressure, cinematic aesthetics, and pure practicality.
Edited for qualifications:
18 years martial arts training in ju-juitsu and bu-juitsu
5 years of teaching in said arts
certification in instruction of european weapons
4 years film industry experience.
1) Armour, or lack thereof. see feudal japan had a bit of a problem, they didn't have that much high quality metal (compared to europe where you couldn't spit without hitting the stuff) as a result the stuff they did have they would use very carefully which resulted in a very high quality blade. It also ment that chainmail didn't really exist and full plate was beyond their scope of imagination. as such the katana was designed as a slashing weapon not a bashing or stabbing one... why is this relevant? most movies that have katana's "out of context" are in modern settings, and how often do you see someone walking around in full plate.
2) So why not a European blade then? While I do love european blades and for pure cutting power on an unarmored opponent they are about equal. so why no love for the claymore? Well, weight for one. european blades tend to be quite a bit heavier with few exceptions (that I will get too in a second) and harkening back to point one they where designed this way to crush armour. now since as mentioned these out of context sittuations will 9/10 have us against an unarmoured opponent... which would you choose? a big heavy sword or a light fast one when both will be just as effective?
3) The rapier and its cousins, now here is a group of European swords that are lighter and faster. so why are they not as popular. well here it starts to boil down to fighting aesthetics tbh, rapiers where invented in a time where having SOME armour still was a possible issue, as such they are stabbing and thrusting weapons so they could slip between the cracks etc. why is this an issue though, well it has to do with the visuals. stabbing and thrusting may be fine for actual fighting but it simply doesn't read as well on camera as the large arching swings of a katana do. not for todays big action sequences at least (See the fights of the princess bride or any of the eroll flynn movies for examples of how it CAN work really well)
4) Scimitars and other swords from the near east. "terrorists use em" unfortunately there is still a large blanket animosity towards anything even remotely arabic in alot of western nations so these swords sadly shall remain strictly in the hands of bad guys for the time being.
5) Sabres... PIRATES! This sword has been so strongly associated in the publics mind as being the "pirate sword" that you put it in the hand of ANYONE and that is what they will instantly think of them being... so unless the character IS a pirate, or at least thinks he is, your not gonna be seeing him use it.
So, to wrap things up why is the katana the most over used sword out there? well it comes down too a combination of societal pressure, cinematic aesthetics, and pure practicality.
Edited for qualifications:
18 years martial arts training in ju-juitsu and bu-juitsu
5 years of teaching in said arts
certification in instruction of european weapons
4 years film industry experience.
Nah get a Kilij instead of a scimitar. Similar way of working but with a weighted top. Well it kinda is a scimitar actually.SckizoBoy said:
OT: I just want more variety of sword. Usually it is a katana. If it is a Western Sword it is almost always a Rapier. If it is Arab it is always a scimitar. Native tribes always use spears. Please vary it up a little.
I'm a fan of the [a href="http://www.xyfos.com/images/PaulChen/Practical%20Ninjato.jpg"]Ninjato[/a] myself. (It's more commonly known as the ninja sword)
I'll take the swift sword used by a stealthy assassin of death over a slower weapon used by warriors weighed down in armor any day
I'll take the swift sword used by a stealthy assassin of death over a slower weapon used by warriors weighed down in armor any day