Bokken=Katana??

[Charles Mahan]

Was it a taser or a bean bag launcher? I didn't forget, just left it out for brevity. It was a very educational video. I'm glad they found a way to avoid just shooting him. Too many cops would shoot first and then figure out what they could have done later.

 

[Aruden]

What's that vid, i'm interested in it, i'd like to see it!
Well I'm located in Paris , of course there must be more schools and arts, but the main 2 are aikido and karate. I have to make some more research. I may take Aikido or Iaido classes (nearby my JKD gym there are Iaido classes i figured out, but i dunno if it is a good class). For now i'm very busy between my JKD training and my work which is very tiring.

 

[Charles Mahan]

I have no idea where you could find that video online. I saw it on TV several years ago.

Would that be Paris, France? There are other towns and cities named Paris. Paris, Texas for instance. If it's Paris, France, I'd suggest asking over at http://www.kendo-world.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=3 There are a number of Brits in that forum who know the regional training environement pretty well. If it's Paris, Tx your closest options are in Denton, and Dallas.

 

[DavidCC]

Don't forget Paris, Missouri. It's not far from Mexico, Mo.

 

[stickarts]

We use the bokken to teach 18 draws before graduating to trying it with a real blade.
We also teach a bokken kata and several basic defenses.
Although we use it primarily as a more safe way to learn swords, I can see where is can be used as a weapon as well.

 

[Aruden]

It's Paris,France LOL.I'm a frog.......
Well I'm going to try your website out, and stickarts I would like to hear more about what you're doing, how you do it, what kata do you teach etc...
Thanks

 

[Charles Mahan]

Well you would do well to check over at Kendo World then. Closest I can get you is Belgium. A quick search of the Kendo World forums turned up http://www.budo11.net/ I cannot vouch for them, but you can always post questions at the Kendo World forums for anyone who has experience with this dojo.

 

[Jimi]

Some Traditional japanese arts has kenjutsu as part of their training.
Example in one art they start with bokken to train basics of swords, then they train with Iaito (not sharp training sword, maybe like the one your friend has) and later they move to sharp katanas.
Then again other traditional arts trains mostly with wooden weapons.

In aikido there are few pair drills (?practises) and few katas. Of course this depends about teacher.

Iaido is art of concerned with drawing the blade and cutting in the same motion.

And ofcourse legends says that Musashi used bokkens because he was so good that he didnt need real katanas.

Great reference, I heard that Musashi took up the Bokken because he felt the Katana killed too easily from his skill level. I also heard he returned to using the Katana because he then felt the Bokken left too many opponents painfully broken. I guess he felt the Katana was a more mercifull tool. Glad to see some people have heard similar info on such things. PEACE

 

[Charles Mahan]

I don't practie HNIR, but my understanding is that late in life Musashi took to the bokuto and never went back. To this day it is the bokuto is the weapon of choice for HNIR. If anyone wants to know for sure, head over to http://www.e-budo.com and ask the moderator of the Sword Arts forum. Hyakutake-sensei studies HNIR in Japan under the current leader of the system.

 

[melj7077]

The bokken is a weapon that is a stand in for a sword or katana. When you train in bokken you treat it with the same respect you treat your katana.

I remember a story I read about a swordsman who was to fight a duel. It may have been Musashi but I can't remember. Anyway, the duel would be against a swordsman who would wield a live blade. The other swordsman would use a bokken which he spent the evening before carving.

The dule occurred. The swordsman with the live blade managed to slice off the headband of the bokken user but the bokken user smashed the swordsman's skull.

Sounds like a weapon to me.

In the iaido I study you use the katana for the wazas but you use the bokken for the katatchis or sparring techniques. Apparently the katachis are recent additions and were used to give kendo students a feel of using swords.

 

[Swordlady]

The bokken is a weapon that is a stand in for a sword or katana. When you train in bokken you treat it with the same respect you treat your katana.

I remember a story I read about a swordsman who was to fight a duel. It may have been Musashi but I can't remember. Anyway, the duel would be against a swordsman who would wield a live blade. The other swordsman would use a bokken which he spent the evening before carving.

The dule occurred. The swordsman with the live blade managed to slice off the headband of the bokken user but the bokken user smashed the swordsman's skull.

Sounds like a weapon to me.

In the iaido I study you use the katana for the wazas but you use the bokken for the katatchis or sparring techniques. Apparently the katachis are recent additions and were used to give kendo students a feel of using swords.

Yes, the swordsman in question was indeed Miyamoto Musashi. He killed Sasaki Kojiro in a duel, using a bokken he carved from an oar.

Bokken are used as training tools, but they are still weapons which can inflict injury. It doesn't take that much force to break a bone with a blow from a bokken. Safety first!

 

[ManOfVirtues]

And yes, you can still hurt yourself with an unsharpened sword - if you're not careful.

I know this all to well. Preparing with my Bujinkan group for an upcoming demonstrtion (I have over 2 years of experience training in Iaido). I was doing a form and ran a dull blade through the sleeve of my gi. It happens. I was lucky enough not to cut myself (or worse).

Suprising enough most samurai of the day could not afford steel blades. Most times they carried the equivilant of bokken into battle.

If your serious about learning good luck to you.

 

[pgsmith]

Many people don't think of the danger of a properly swung iaito either. It is dismissed as not being dangerous since it is aluminum alloy and unsharpened. I was at a Toyama ryu Tai Kai several years ago, and a gentleman grabbed his iaito instead of his shinken (they matched, another dumb idea!) to cut dodan (straight downward cut into double mat targets). Even though he bent the heck out of his iaito, he still scored in the middle of the pack with his cut.

Suprising enough most samurai of the day could not afford steel blades. Most times they carried the equivilant of bokken into battle.

This is something that I've never heard before. Where did you get this piece of information from? I would be very interested in reading this source.

Thanks!

 

[ManOfVirtues]

That was told to me directly from my Kendo / Iaito Sensai (Master Steve Sasaki). I wish I could quote a direct reading resource.

This is exactly as he told me ...

The Majority of samurai where no more the pesants. The glamor depicited in film and history is that of men from wealth. Think about it, who could afford to pay someone to convey thier deeds as a warrior to paper.
Very few could afford the high cost of steel blades. So those that had them either where wealthy enough to afford one, Had a master that provided his weapon for him, or came across it in battle on the body of a fallen soldier.