My Swords

[AnimeSpirit]

Originally Posted by Isaac-Saxxon

Come on Anime we think your sword is cool but it is hard not to laugh a little at the post Do you ever chop up watermelons with it ?
Isaac

Not watermelons, but cutting demos are normally done with small fruits and vegetables. A person would throw the target at the swordsman who would slice in the air. My favorite targets: apples and potatoes. I like using them because they split easy, do not fragment, can easily be thrown by nearly anyone, and do not squirt juice that can blind you in mid-swing. Someone with a decent blade may even slice through a 2x4 as well. There are also some other fun targets to try, but you gotta be careful with some of them.

For example:

• Balloon (strike with the edge, not the tip)
• Thick bamboo (this is fairly easy)
• Glass bottle (slicing it, NOT shattering it)
• Elastic hooking cord (slice the thick rubber cord)

[rhertz]

Here are some pictures of my katana, well, my son's katana actually. But he lets me hold it when I want. I took these pictures while he was at school. hehehe The last picture clearly shows the hamon created by the forging technique. Oh, it's a Paul Chen Practical Pro Katana which is the second to cheapest in the line. Still cool though.

[Pocahontas]

Originally Posted by AnimeSpirit

Not watermelons, but cutting demos are normally done with small fruits and vegetables. A person would throw the target at the swordsman who would slice in the air. My favorite targets: apples and potatoes. I like using them because they split easy, do not fragment, can easily be thrown by nearly anyone, and do not squirt juice that can blind you in mid-swing. Someone with a decent blade may even slice through a 2x4 as well. There are also some other fun targets to try, but you gotta be careful with some of them.

For example:

• Balloon (strike with the edge, not the tip)
• Thick bamboo (this is fairly easy)
• Glass bottle (slicing it, NOT shattering it)
• Elastic hooking cord (slice the thick rubber cord)

Forgive my ignorance but do you mean one of your swords will slice through a glass bottle and cut it in two without shattering?? Now that's a serious blade!!

[AnimeSpirit]

Originally Posted by Pocahontas

Forgive my ignorance but do you mean one of your swords will slice through a glass bottle and cut it in two without shattering?? Now that's a serious blade!!

Yes, that's exactly what I mean, but I'm not saying that I can do that. My strike isn't fast enough and I don't have a decent enough blade for that kind of use. I also don't have the proper equipment for doing that exercise safely. Most guys who do it have a tripod built with a small rubber-jaw vice at the top to hold the bottle in place while they strike it. It takes a very good sword and a very fast strike. It also takes some accuracy skill too because the best place on your sword to strike the glass bottle is just below the yokote (see diagram). At this point, your blade is moving the fastest and there is less danger of the bottle skipping off of your kissaki.

The key is to develop a strike that eliminates ALL "cut resistance" in your blade when you swing it. In other words, you must develop a swing where the blade passes straight through the target and doesn't slow down even a little. It takes a delicate balance of both speed and strength to do this properly.

The balloon exercise is fun too and I've heard some kendo teachers use it on their students to build a faster swing. What you do there is attempt to pop one or more balloons with your typical swing. You're not allowed to thrust your blade because popping them with kissaki is far too easy. Some teachers will even check your blade to ensure it's not serrated.

I like using balloons for shuriken-jutsu (throwing knives) more. That's more fun for me and my accuracy isn't too bad.