by Nicholas Wilson “From youth my heart has been inclined towards (swordsmanship).” –Miyamoto Musashi For as long as I can remember, swords have fascinated me. If there was a movie to watch, a book to read, or a game to play where swords were involved, you had my attention. Martial Read More
I asked my friend Chelsea to measure my height. She asked me why. I didn’t want to tell her. I didn’t want to say, “I want you to measure me in inches, so that I can convert that number to shaku, and figure out how long my first iaito should Read More
When the cold and dry weather drags, on, the shinai become more vulnerable to splits. When you keep training with a shinai that has splits it can be incredibly dangerous. You can get splinters in your fingers or in your eye, and there has even been a reported case of Read More
For wooden swords wood from trees such as the bamboo-leaved oak, the Japanese evergreen oak, and the distylium racemosum have been used. For top quality swords, the Japanese plum tree, ebony, and sunuke have been used. Sunuke refers to the core wood taken from distylium racemosum (isunoki) that has grown Read More
Japanese Red Oak; Akagashi is generally found in the mountain ranges in the west part of Japan and has gotten its name from the fact that the wood has a distinct red hue to it compared to other oak woods. The Japanese red oak can mostly be found growing naturally Read More
“Japanese oak” is a collection of evergreen tall trees, from which long oval green leaves with an elegant luster and uneven edges grow. The Japanese oak is native to many countries in Asia, including Japan, China, Korea, Thailand and Vietnam, having more than 150 varieties. In Japan, the trees can Read More
Even now, deerskin is used for high-quality Kendo equipment. Deerskin dyed in dark blue is used for all parts of the body, and smoked brown skin that is used for the Kote palm. During the hunter-gatherer era, deer were hunted for food, and the skin was naturally used for clothing Read More
The previous article on seppuku was met with a lot of responses, so I would like to write a follow-up. As mentioned, seppuku initially was not something one did to take responsibility for a mistake, but was done in order to follow a deceased master to death or to kill Read More
Miyamoto Musashi is legendary Japanese swordsman known not only to all in Japan but even to many around the world. He has been appeared as the main character in many novels and movies. He is possibly the most well-known swordsman, and the strongest swordsman. He himself wrote in the Gorinsho Read More
The Shinai is commonly viewed as a substitute for the Japanese sword, and while the Japanese sword is regarded as ‘the samurai’s spirit’, so to speak, the Shinai is regarded as ‘the soul of the Kenshi’. The Shinai used in contemporary Kendo is made out of a bamboo split into Read More
