Posts: 1,307 Location: Hong Kong
Thu 30 Apr, 2015 11:34 pm
Not only did he get me many times before I could react, he also hit lethal spots more often than I did in the spear fight. He has previous training in naginata so that benefited him.
We chose the flexible shafts for the spear because it's safer to thrust and hit someone with, when the shaft can flex to dissipate the impact force.
Here are some photos of the day and among them were some marks left on my student by the spear shaft's hitting.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.659265540884418.1073741832.122410021236642&type=1
He was also very good in fighting against the spear. The best I've seen so far.
Our swordfight was the best of the year too. :D
Jean Thibodeau wrote: |
Lancelot Chan wrote: |
I've sparred with Takara Takanashi from Japan yesterday, a master of Niten Ichi Ryu, Shinkage ryu and 關口流. If you want to watch, PM me. :) Videos only for friends.
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I viewed the videos and there are some very interesting things.
In the first one against your student, he sort of neutralized the spear"s advantage by rushing in and taking control of the spear enough to get past the point a good amount of the time, but the spear's advantage still seems to be an important factor in even in the hands of a less experienced fighter.
When master Takara Takanashie is using the spear your student can't defend and counter attack with the sword with the same level of effectiveness.
In the test cutting I can see that wet newspaper is a lot more difficult than the mats, I think it's mostly a question of getting the sword moving fast rather than trying to power the sword through the cutting target.
You do make it look easy, and I guessing that anyone trying to cut wet newspaper rolls the first time would be surprised at how difficult it can be if they are used to cutting some other kind of target.
The last video clip with both of you using the spears you may average the same amount of kills, but he does seem to get in many times before you can even react. He also grabs your spear to immobilize it and then finish you off using the spear one handed.
The great flexibility to the bouting spear shafts do affect the bouts a great deal I think: In some ways the extreme flexibility makes blocking and controlling the adversary's spear more difficult to pin down as it can whip around and bounce off a good parry. I think that this can be an advantage or a disadvantage, someone choosing a very flexible spear shaft would learn to use it's flexibility to advantage, but a much stiffer spear shaft would change the way some techniques succeed or fail.
A spear fight where one person is using a flexible spear shaft against someone using a stiffer shaft would be an interesting variable and each fighter should know how to adapt their weapon's characteristics to fighting a weapon reacting to parries in a very different way. |