Middle Aged Martial Arts...

[SteyrAUG]

So one of the few benefits of the economy grinding my business into a fine powder is that I have some more free time on my hands.

I try and train a few nights a week with my regular crew but it's hard to run an injury free session. I simply cannot do targets, drills or spar long enough for maximum benefit. I run out of gas too soon and if I push it too hard I'm not recovered by the next training session.

Basically I'm now more of a mall walker than a speed runner.

So in the off time I began to do some low intensity, longer duration training. Especially during the day when the sun is going down. One of the things I've found is weapons training is especially beneficial.

Weapons function as small weights and require a great deal of coordination in many cases. They are also interesting and challenging enough to fill an hour of practice without being completely spent.

So a couple weeks ago I started drilling with the three sectional. Decided to do some video for self evaluation to help my progress. It's been a few years since I used it regularly and you can tell. Couple flubs and slips here and there. But at least I'm not killing myself with it.

Anyway I though you guys might enjoy, or at least find amusing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YljXl...v1CkHA&index=2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8MpU...v1CkHA&index=1

[Campbell]

Staff work looked pretty good, and looked like a decent cardio hit as well. My only weapon experience was a little sport kendo from a hard-ass Korean. Spent alot of years in judo, with a healthy mix of hapkido/jujitsu. At 47 the sparring has caught up with me and I'm pretty much done except going thru the motions.

[SteyrAUG]

Staff work looked pretty good, and looked like a decent cardio hit as well. My only weapon experience was a little sport kendo from a hard-ass Korean. Spent alot of years in judo, with a healthy mix of hapkido/jujitsu. At 47 the sparring has caught up with me and I'm pretty much done except going thru the motions.

I can do almost a full 3 minutes of Randori.

[Ed L.]

Middle aged guys, and guys and gals of all ages, gotta know their limitations.

It's great to go hard and accomplish a lot, and we can all admire those people--I certainly do.

But on a practical level, getting injured sucks and can screw up your life and ability work and earn a living and can have a serious economic impact on you. That point was driven home to me when I busted a leg in BJJ. I later saw people with all sorts of injuries when I was rehabbing the leg in physical therapy. These injuries came either from sports or exercise or from overdoing sports or exercise.

I see it with friends who screw themselves up working out too hard.

Anyway . . . I've actually come to appreciate things like you are doing in the video, though I don't want any weapons like Nunchakus or three sided staffs in my house for safety reasons

Speaking of weapons from the far East, I have an old WWII Gunto Sword which I took off a shelf and decided it would be nice to have a shorter sword of that type. I know there are a class of shorter Japanese swords called Wakazashi, but don't know one from the other, and am hesitant to start messing with them and spending the money. I mean it's not like something I need like another firearm . . .

[Itsahak]

At 41, when I'm in Muay Thai, I still spar, but very sparingly and never full contact anymore. In my Gracie Jiu Jistu classes, I'll roll for an hour running 10 minute rounds. For my MMA classes, I will only spar with certain students that can keep their head.

[SteyrAUG]

Speaking of weapons from the far East, I have an old WWII Gunto Sword which I took off a shelf and decided it would be nice to have a shorter sword of that type. I know there are a class of shorter Japanese swords called Wakazashi, but don't know one from the other, and am hesitant to start messing with them and spending the money. I mean it's not like something I need like another firearm . . .

If you ever decide you don't want it, PM me and we can go 15 emails haggling over price.

When discussing genuine Nihonto (pre Meiji Japanese swords) they are referred to as Katana and Wakazashi or Daito and Shoto and the matched pair are known as Daisho. There are also things like Tachi and Dai Katana, Aikuchi, Tanto, etc. but I don't want to write a book.

Japanese military blades (not considered true Nihonto) are typically 1937 vintage and come in flavors like Army Officer, Army Non Commissioned Officer, Navy Officer, etc. Most were mass produced by factories or marginally talented smiths. As these were intended for the military they weren't made in matched pairs as a "daisho" would be one of the least practical things a WWII Japanese soldier could do. Some Aikuchi and Tanto are known to exist from the same 1937 period.

Of course one always has to be wary of what looks like a WWII Gunto but some Navy Officer replaced the factory blade with Granpa Inami's priceless Masamune blade.

If you want quality swords suitable for use, that would make a nice display and don't start at prices like 25,000 take a look at CAS Hanwei.

Be very careful about ideas like starting to collect genuine Nihonto, it's the sort of thing that keeps the big suits at Sony broke. It's probably cheaper to collect vintage Mercedes sports cars. Single blades often start at 5 figures and exceptional blades can go into six figure territory pretty easy.

Guntos, Shin Guntos, etc. used to be cheap to collect. When I was fencing we used to buy them in the $50-100 range all day long. At Kendo tournaments we had a guy that literally had them in a metal garbage can with a sign that said "$65 You Pick." Generally they had busted up fittings and furniture and it would cost you another $100 to get a replacement Tsuka and Saya (Handle and Scabbard) made so it was a little more expensive then buying the top quality Stainless models from Dolans, but you had a real Japanese blade of WWII vintage.

This was a common practice in my Iai club. Sometimes they also had small chips or broken tips and the blade would have to be reshaped and polished but since they weren't collectable it wasn't terribly expensive. Of course now any WWII blade, even with many flaws, can be seen with price tags of $500-1000 on it. People assume every Japanese sword is valuable and these days they have a value as a WWII collectible.

[TheJRK]

I've been doing iaido and kendo since 2001... I've lost track of the number of times someone has shown up to iaido practice with a "QVC Katana". Then they get mad/insulted when I hand them a bokken and tell them to practice with it until told otherwise. They tell me they want to use a "real sword" and I tell them they can't afford the real thing.

[Ed L.]

If you ever decide you don't want it, PM me and we can go 15 emails haggling over price.

I think I will hang onto the gunto for now.

It has a wierd release mechanism at the bottom of the grip that makes it less comfortable to hold. Here is a photo of the relevant part:





I bought it from a Mr. Miagi-like Asian guy at a militaria show 10 or 20 years ago.

I pick it up from time to time and muse that it would be fun to have a shorter Japanese style sword. But I realize that the price of admission for a half decent one is more than I can justify for myself given my level of interest. I've been hit with some unexpected expenses over the last 8 months so I am more careful about spending money. And I'm certainly not about to buy the sword equivalent of a Highpoint just to have one.

If you want quality swords suitable for use, that would make a nice display and don't start at prices like 25,000 take a look at CAS Hanwei.

Thanks. I appreciate the tip and the mini Japanese Sword history that you posted.

Be very careful about ideas like starting to collect genuine Nihonto, it's the sort of thing that keeps the big suits at Sony broke. It's probably cheaper to collect vintage Mercedes sports cars. Single blades often start at 5 figures and exceptional blades can go into six figure territory pretty easy.

I can appreciate what they see in this, but that's completely out of my league. Firearms is an expensive enough hobby for me.

[SteyrAUG]

I think I will hang onto the gunto for now.

It has a wierd release mechanism at the bottom of the grip that makes it less comfortable to hold. Here is a photo of the relevant part:





I bought it from a Mr. Miagi-like Asian guy at a militaria show 10 or 20 years ago.

I pick it up from time to time and muse that it would be fun to have a shorter Japanese style sword. But I realize that the price of admission for a half decent one is more than I can justify for myself given my level of interest. I've been hit with some unexpected expenses over the last 8 months so I am more careful about spending money. And I'm certainly not about to buy the sword equivalent of a Highpoint just to have one.

Non Commission Officer Sword. Metal handle is a dead giveaway. And yeah the safety latch is a pain in the ass. The officer version had a smaller push button release in the collar under the guard. Basically it prevented your sword from flying out in front of you and impaling you as you ran for cover under fire or dove into foxholes. If the Japanese commit seppuku they want it to be done on purpose.

Your sword would have been worth about $50 back in the day to anyone wanting to make a drawing sword. But now as a WWII collectable they can command prices in the $400 and up range. Yours actually seems to be in excellent condition.

I can appreciate what they see in this, but that's completely out of my league. Firearms is an expensive enough hobby for me.

One of my instructors inherited part of a family collection going back to about 1200 AD. We're talking a few hundred original swords mostly from the 1500-1700s. He had a single blade that was appraised at around $250,000 and that was back in the 80s. And we aren't just talking paper value, several Japanese collectors made actual offers. The scary part is his cousin had an even larger collection and he got most of the really important swords.

[SteyrAUG]

I've been doing iaido and kendo since 2001... I've lost track of the number of times someone has shown up to iaido practice with a "QVC Katana". Then they get mad/insulted when I hand them a bokken and tell them to practice with it until told otherwise. They tell me they want to use a "real sword" and I tell them they can't afford the real thing.

Always the mark of a good instructor. Half tang 440 stainless blades with shitty tempers and plastic handles put everyone in the room at risk.

My favorites are always the new guy who has a dragon head handle with fake rubies for eyes. Can't get enough of those.