3:14 Kawabata Terutaka Sensei! The first headmaster of our school of Ryushin Shouchi Ryu Iaido! THis video of him splitting that helmet is indeed one of his most famous ones :)
This is definitely a superb program about Iaido, I've learned some interesting concepts while watching. And I would like to say that Mr. Bennet is an amazing Iaidoka as well as a Kendoka. Now this is a bit random, but if anyone knows, what is the name of the song that plays at 25:39? It sounds nice, but unfortunately I don't see the songs listed at the end credits on NHK programs like these.
I believe this series aired on a NHK channel aimed at westerners and not native Japanese. So a Native English speaker as accomplished in martial arts as Mr. Bennet is the perfect guest
I'm rather surprised that the instructor got the purpose of the groove wrong. Sure, it sounds cool, but in reality it doesn't make it easier to pull the sword out. The groove mainly serves to reduce the sword's weight, without significantly compromising its structural integrity.
Steve B I am very sure. In bayonets, it removes weight from the front of the rifle (easier to carry and aim), without weakening the bayonet. I think the best evidence comes from swords though: swords like rapiers, Oakeshott XVIa longswords, and Roman gladius, were used mostly for stabbing, yet they had NO fullers (the real word for bloodgrooves) or only very short ones. If fullers were really great for getting your sword out of someone after stabbing him, you'd think these swords had big fullers, yet they didn't. Another thing is that viking era swords had fullers, even though they were used mostly for cutting. Those people certainly didn't have to worry about stabbing someone's belly and getting their sword stuck, yet these swords often had very big and long fullers. This only makes sense once you accept fullers didn't actually make it easier to pull a sword from a wound, but instead, reduced the weight and improved the handling of the blade. I hope this makes my point more credible.
No, the reason most blades have a groove is to make it easier to pull out. Now what you said is an added bonus, but simply reducing the weight isn't worth the risk of changing the structural integrity of the sword. That's why on European longswords that you don't see the groove on still have a very misshapen mid section so as to make the air pockets needed to pull it back out again.
i find it interesting that Japanese TV let foreign practitioners of Japanese martial arts illustrate them for the public, as it is often the case with this program. it surely attest how humble and non-nationalistic Japanese people can be. much respect for this as well.
The Japanese do have a reputation for being nationalistic. I feel that the reason that they're doing this is because this channel's content is geared towards a western audience.
20:40 ....NO NO NO NO NO! This guy...His use of the sword may be good...but his blade knowledge is way off .... The *Hi* ..or *Bo-Hi* has nothing to do with blood letting or preventing the blade from sticking in your opponents body. That is totally incorrect. A *Bo-Hi* is a *Fuller* in the steel or the blade. It is simply a groove literally carved into the blade to help to reduce the weight slightly of heavier sword blades without major sacrifices to its durability. Looking at it in a modern context. It achieves this in much the same way that I-beams in the construction industry reduce the weight of building materials with minimal loss of structural integrity. You will also find these in some modern knives and military fighting knives.
Well yeah, but then not everyone has a particular interest in their nations history. I'm certain there are many 'non swedes' for instance, who are experts in Viking history, and have a lot better in depth knowledge about their history and culture than your average Swede, who only knows what they read in school.
Also the presence of an "expert" in general, no matter the nationality or sex, is treated with utmost respect, because that person gained a higher knowledge than oneself. Just take a look at the Japanese Go-matches that are commented by Michael Redmond. Some people might even say it's because of the two-faced mentality of most Japanese, which forbids them to bring their inner-thoughts to the outside but I guess that's something that only a true Japanese will know and if he knows, he will surely not talk about it. Kind regards, Meta Custom Computers
Main Aerial Most japanese people probably don't know what iaido is or know very much about traditional martial arts. Everybody have heard of kendo since many do it in school clubs. But koryu and more obscure modern martial arts like iaido are not very widely known.
Oscar Nilzen That's true, that's one of the reasons why Esaka-sensei, master of our school in Germany started to open Iaido-schools all over Europe and the US. He feared that Iaido will die in Japan due to the lack of interest. His vision was to transfer Iaido from Japan to Europe in hope that it will return to Japan in some years, which was the reason why some of the ZNIR brought disrespect towards him. But as the direct student of the 20th and 21st Soke Hyakuren-sensei and Torao-sensei, he was empowered to do what he thought was right. But calling Iaido a "modern" martial art is not correct, it's origins lie around the year 1500.
It's true that the origins of iaido are in iaijutsu and kenjutsu of the 1500s but iaido is stil considered a modern martial art. A"Gendai budo". The term iaido did not appear untill 1930s.
Doesn't consider you can use a katana with one hand it's jus heavy for its size and not recommend. Also you could probably use a shield and have the katana function a lot like a messer if we're being real. The weight would simply differ due to design.
@@aaronjacobamadorsalazar1934 Well, Musashi's style isn't the only one that utilizing dual wielding technique, several Italian and Spanish archives also showing Longsword or Rapier paired with parrying dagger "Gauche" or arming sword in combat
Paul - you don't sound like you are of Asian decent. Let me tell you how offensive it is for a person of Caucasian decent to be talking with a fake Asian accent. When they can pronounce the words perfectly fine.
Duy Nguyen Xin Chao jk no but the lady has a Japanese name and the way she says things are how a Japanese person would say things. Maybe she is a westerner who speaks Japanese with family but English everywhere else.
Proton1 You lost 100 bucks cause she is Japanese. Any person who knows Asians should know that. Also I know that the original person who commented is Vietnamese because of he/she last name.
Proton1 Oh no that guy sounds like he is over doing it. If this is a Japanese show with a supposed Japanese announcer, he wouldn't be speaking English. Thank you for showing my this part cause I thought you were really trying to that the host isn't Japanese.
