Hi,

yes it is, it educates self-coordination, psychomotricity, and it is beautiful when properly executed...

it helps a person to focus... release his mind... think of nothing... be one with the katana, or the bokken, treat it as a material continuation of your body... it is very mental in fact... unlike Kendo, which is very competitive...

www.kingstonkendo.org/FTOKArt.pdf

This link is specifically about Kendo, but Kenjutsu is far more rich, remember that after the Restoration, in the late 19th Century, the Emperor Meiji abolished the Samurai class, and former Samurai resented this.

They were considered superior warriors, and they were angry about this, seing their former previleges removed. So, former schools ( Dojo ) of Kenjutsu were closed by Imperial edict, so as to avoid the mastery of the Katana to be used by disgruntled people. So there was an attempt to maintain these schools, and Kendo was created, as a form that incorporated only the gentle techniques, not the martial ones.

Kenjutsu teaching was reborn during the Taishô period, and has expanded considerably during the Showa period, with the progressive gaining of national conscience of the Empire of Greater Japan, Dai Nippon Teikoku, in the early years of the 20th century.

I spend my free time reading scam biz opportunities on Backape, Craigslist and etc

Hi BrianL

This is what i call Kenjutsu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5pEYRGbodA

And this is what i call Kendo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3Cvc...eature=related


Kendo is much more synthetic than Kenjutsu... thechniques in Kenjutsu are more extensive...

Yeah, now that's what I'm talking about. That's real sword fighting ! Fencing is lame compared to that.

EDIT: One possible mistake I do see ... aren't you supposed to block with the back of the katana ... otherwise you ruin the blade.

In a training situation yes... but not in a real fight... we are talking different time scales here...

Edit : But then again, in a training situation one uses the Bokken or the Shinai, so, no blades involved... one only does this for the sake of technical perfectionism...
Nowadays, Katana or Wakizashi are only for Kata ( forms demontration )

If I'm not playing with %&%$ computers, which seems to take up most of my time, I've got a few hobbies. Though I have quit a few lately....I figured that collecting CPUs was a stupid hobby for me, I spend to much time with the darn things already.

Aside from the usual stuff that most people list (music, hanging out with friends, etc.) I still ride whenever I can (bicycles, not those filthy internal combustion engine motorbikes). Walking, or better yet hiking/guerilla camping, do some gardening (ye gawds I feel old when I say that) and lots of reading. Plus the occasional bit of cannabis LOL.

I'm hoping that I can afford a new neck for my guitar sooner or later, I miss playing. But my budget is streched as far as it can go now......

But but but....I dont see any wire, barbed or plain, let alone posts, star pickets or tensioners. Its just a couple of guys playing with swords!

This is what I call fencing-

http://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/p...um/4288046.jpg

Surely you're not saying that that is more realistic than the sword fight in Rob Roy?

Of course I´m not...

You picked a YouTube video giving an example of the technique, i just picke any video of Youtube with a Kenjustu Combat... regrettably this is the contrary to the epitome of Tenshin Shoden
Katori Shinto Ryu...


You see, Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu is not very a very "spectacular" style, because it was fouded on the premises of the conditions of a real battlefield scenario... :

1.) Both warriors would be using armors... so the main thrusting attacks would be against the dead angles of the hinges... not again surfaces protected by steel plate.

2.) since both would be using armor, with an increased weight of say, 20-35 Kg, the "principle of Least action" prevails... no extra expenditure of energy in unnecessary ( nonetheless spectacular techniques ), and absolutely, no jumping during a combat...

3.) since the ground is rather irregular in a battlefield, most techniques are performed at a very low stance ( low center og gravity for the body ), this ensures proper balance, and more stability in contact... in fact this is one of the most distictive features of Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu, when compared to ... say.. Kashima Shinden Jikishinkage Ryu, or Hyoho Niten Ichi Ryu...

BRGDS

Alex

http://www.nitenichiryu.jp/niten.htm

Thank you Alex for your explanations!