Warrior TV Shows

There are some new shows out that are pretty interesting. History Channel is showing "Warriors" on Thursday night. (http://www.history.com/minisites/warriors) It follows a Green Beret who participates in the study of a particular warrior culture. He finds modern experts in that culture who teach him the weapons and tactics of those warriors. Very interesting.
Tuesday night on Spike TV we have "Deadliest Warriors". (http://www.spike.com/show/31082) It matches up two different warrior cultures and using modern technology, decides which warrior would win. All very subjective of course but fun to watch none the less.
Pitting ancient warriors or even "super heroes" against each other has been an hobby of many. Even video games are into it and the possabilities are endless. My youngest son would grill me constantly over who would win between the Hulk and Spiderman, the Preditor and a Ninja, etc. After each discussion, I would explain that despite the powers of each, it's the individual skill of the fighter that usually wins the fight. Fun to talk about. I'm still waiting for the holo deck to actually try it out!

Reclaiming the Blade

As you can see, I've put in a link to a DVD called "Reclaiming the Blade"
Reclaiming the Blade celebrates the culture and craft of swords and the Hollywood legends and academic warriors who wield them. The film explores the Medieval and Renaissance blade; a profound and beautiful object handcrafted by master artisans of old. Today, much of the history of the sword remains cloaked under a shadow of legend. Reclaiming the Blade highlights today’s cinematic tribute to the beauty and necessity of the sword through films such as Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Chronicles of Narnia and The Pirates of the Caribbean. If you pre-order, you can get a free T-shirt! I've ordered mine - you should too!

Miles Spiritium

A friend of mine from the dojo has started an interesting blog that is martial arts related. I would highly recommend checking it out and reading his posts. Kerry is a godan (5th Dan) in Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu and is very skilled with a wonderful understanding of taijutsu. Check it out at http://milesspiritium.blogspot.com/

Why I study the martial path.

I was talking with Mark, one of the group, and he was telling me about when he first started making knives. He was working with an experienced knife maker who asked Mark why he was getting into the art. Mark expalained that it was something he'd always felt drawn to - as if it was a calling. I feel that way about the martial arts. When I first saw Karate, I was a geeky 12 year old who was more into reading than anything else. The movement fascinated me and I started training with Mr. Kanahele. From then on, wherever I moved, I found someone to train with. It is a calling and a way of life. It can be difficult to weave training into the real world of family, work, church and all the other responsabilities that are part of life. I just can't imagine not training. I train and I teach. I feel everyone should be able to defend themselves and others who need their help. I like the quote by Robert Humphrey and used by many in the Bujinkan:
Wherever I go, everyone is a little bit safer because I am there.
Wherever I am, anyone in need has a friend.
Whenever I return home, everyone is happy I am there.

Why do you do what you do? My wifes calling is to be a doctor. She knew this from childhood. Are you doing what you are called to do? If not, why not?

Three Days after Surgery

The weather was nice and as long as I kept the sling on, my shoulder didn't hurt, so I figured why not have class?

We had a good turn out although they came at different times. Aaron Miller shows up early so he can get some practice in before he goes to work. A visiting missionary, Elder Huntbach, was his workout partner.

I use the padded swords especially for beginners so they can learn proper form and if they hit too hard, no damage to their partner. We're working on getting protective headgear and even armor. While we're working on getting the appropiate fencing gear, I've been looking at using moto-cross helmets and armor. My neighbor is a welder and we're going to make a wire mesh to fit where a visor would be on a normal helmet. If that works, we can strengthen the helmet with ABS strips and even make a neck apron. One of our group is looking at making suits of armor from ABS.

One of our regulars, Scott Hathaway and a visiting friend were working with bokens (wood samurai swords) and got a little sidetracked on what I was teaching the rest of the class. Here you see the results of no headgear. Just a little ding on the forehead but it could have been worse. Proper protection and good control are very important! One step at a time, next class I think we'll review the pell and controlled strikes.

Post-op

Today I had surgery on my left shoulder, consequences of an injury five years ago. http://orthopedics.about.com/cs/generalshoulder/a/slap.htm I tore the labrum where the biceps tendon connects. The county (LA County-my employer) finally approved the repair since it wasn't getting better. Luckily, the injury was on the job so I'm taking two weeks to recover. Maybe tomorrow I'll type with two hands! While waiting for approval, I was trying to build up my shoulders with Clubbells and circular strenght training. http://www.rmaxinternational.com/home/ I even entered the first RMAX fitness challenge. The exercises were helping a lot but I still had trouble with pushing out or in. Shortly after I finished the fitness challenge, I was injured at work again. This time with a sternoclavicular dislocation. http://www.orthogate.org/patient-education/shoulder/sternoclavicular-joint-problems.html My right clavicle came off my sternum! I felt like my warrenty had expired! After two surgeries, that was repaired. When I'm done with rehab for the latest surgery, I'll start up with the clubbells again. A lot of the movements are great for sword work training.
I won't be using a sword for a few weeks but I can still supervise the training.

Some of the group

These are a couple of pictures we took last Saturday. So far we don't have an inside place to practice so we do it in the driveway of my place. It was about 34 degrees when we started. You can see the snow on the mountains to the South of us. We have the Duncan clan with Mark and his sons Adam and Josh. They are holding nylon wasters from The Dwarven Smithy. (http://www.emerytelcom.net/users/blhunt/sales.htm) More about them later. Aaron Miller and I are playing with the two padded swords I'd finished that morning.

Padded longswords

Okay, here's another padded sword. This one is a long sword, patterned after a real one I have using approximately the same dimensions. Like the previous sword we use 3/4" schedule 40 PVC. For this one, you'll need: one 4' - 3/4" PVC and two 5" lengths of 3/4" PVC, one 4' -3/4" wood dowel, one 3/4" quad connecter and two 3/4" caps, 37" of pipe insulation, one chair leg cap, duct tape, electrical tape and sports wrap.

Cut the 4' PVC into two parts. The long end is 36" and the short end is 12". If you like the handle longer, start with a longer piece of PVC!
I used PVC cement to glue the vertical pieces into the quad connector. Put the caps on the ends of the 5" pieces and put them in the vertical holes. I didn't glue them in because it was a tight fit and if they break it will be easier to replace them.

I spray painted the cross hilt because I didn't want them white. All I had was green, your choice may vary! Put the insulation on using the same method as in the previous sword. Slide the wood dowel into the PVC. You'll find that there is now about a 1" space at the end. You can use a short piece of wood to make up the difference or even metal to help with the balance. Put the chair leg cap on and you're ready to tape. I find that if I overlap the duct tape it helps hold the insulation in place. Up one side and down the other, then repeat. Two passes will cover it well.

Use the electrical tape around the overlapped duct tape just above the cross hilt. You can use the electrical tape to wrap the handle or go to a sporting goods store and buy some sports wrap, the kind you'd use on a tennis racket handle. It makes for a very nice grip. And there you go, another training sword! Make sure you wear safety goggles at least, better to wear head protection as well. Have fun!

Musings about affiliation

When I first decided to start a training group with my friends, I figured it would be a good idea to become affiliated with an established organization. The one we had heard about the most was ARMA. We sent in a group application and waited to be approved. In our group we have another martial artist with many years of kung fu experience who has been studying kenjutsu and kendo. Another member was a competition fencer (epee and saber) in college. I've got 40 years of martial arts and have taught for 25 years. We thought we'd be a good fit but after many months I recieved this note: "At this time we feel it in all our interests for you to proceed on your own path in your historical fencing pursuits. Please continue to enjoy our free online public materials and resources. Thanks for your interest. Best of luck to you in your endeavors." Their online stuff is very useful but I was hoping to be able to implament their youth program. Soooo, we kept training on our own, mostly working from the book "The Swordsman's Companion" by Guy Windsor. It's very well written and has helped us alot. We're still thinking of joining an organization, maybe The Tattershall School http://tattershall.discoperta.com// or Schola Saint George http://www.scholasaintgeorge.org/joomla_new/. In the meantime we're having fun training and learning. It's all good!

Sportswords

Another training tool I had from another martial art is the Sportswords. I'm not sure the company is still around, I couldn't find it on the internet. After awhile the original insides broke and I've had to fix them. I'm going to show you how I do it so you can make your own.
This is a previously repaired sportsword. It's 36" in overall length with the tsuka or handle being 13" and the "blade" being 23".

Here you can see what I use to repair the broken one. I have a 36" 3/4" PVC and a 36" wood dowel that slides inside. Then I use pipe insulation cut 24"

At the end of the insulation I pinch the ends together and use duct tape to seal it.

Then I pinch the other sides in and tape again. This give a rounded, padded end to the sword.


Next I slide the cloth cover over the insulation. You can use duct tape. Then I put the tsuba or guard on. Sportswords had their own made but you can use a large rubber washer or anything else that will fit.


Last I wrap the handle. You can use electrical tape, hockey tape or the wrap they use on tennis rackets. Last I put on the kashira or pommel. This one is a rubber chair leg tip.