Not only does this sort of thing reflect badly on martial arts, to the uneducated masses, but it influences, adversely, the thinking of the conservative political parties. We had a guy stand in the middle of one of our major intersections with a replica claymore sword. He waved it at people and when the police approached he got quite violent. That was a little over a year and a half ago. About 6 or 7 months ago the state government, brought in a law that says the only "tool" I can use for martial arts training, without paying A$2000 for a license, is a cylindrical wooden stick with flat ends. It probably wouldn't be too bad, as I could use my schools weapons for training, but this ridiculous law even extends to a display set of katana I have in my lounge room. The key word here is display. These swords are so blunt, it would be like hitting someone with a very skinny baseball bat. The best part is, the fact that in my garage is a tool that I use in my yard when the bamboo starts to take over. It is a 2.5 foot long, razor sharp machete. I don't need a license, as it is not a weapon, but I reckon I could do more damage with it if I was so inclined.
Anyhoo that's my crying done.
--Dave:soapbox:
