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Sword for "left handed Samurai"


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I see we have a few hidari swordsmen on NMB....I for one have never studied swordsmanship (except on 7 Samurai) :lol:

This "left-handed menuki" is an interesting long-running topic and has been discussed in other threads...I must confess that, for no reason other than "ergonomic" evidence, I too always thought that there were right and left "ergonomically placed" menuki. As my interest is mainly in WWII period gendaito, which are almost exclusively mounted in regulation, identical, shingunto koshirae, I concluded that the two different menuki placements were due to the ergonomic needs of the owners (that is, some officers were left-handed).

I just checked my 7 shingunto mounted swords and:

6 are in the original Tachi/traditional "worn edge-down" placement menuki (drawn right-handed and menuki fills "cup" of right hand).

1 is in the Yagyu inspired Gyaku "reversed" position "worn edge-up" placement (drawn right-handed and menuki fills "cup" of right hand).

I suppose the question raised is this, if all aspects of wearing, drawing and use are equal with shingunto mounts, why are the menuki mounted reversed on some examples... could it be that some officers carried sword in right hand and pistol in left hand in combat while some (a few) carried sword in left hand and pistol in right hand in combat?...or is it is personal whim?...maybe there is no answer?

 

I also notice that a wakizashi I own in buke-zukuri koshirae has the Tachi/traditional placement of menuki...indicating that the sword is drawn and used right-handed...how can this be? Isn't there already a long sword in the right hand ? or does it mean that wakizashi are not a fighting weapon, but a supplimentary, utility use blade? I suppose however that swordsmen such as Miyamoto Musashi must have had his wakizashi mounted with its menuki in "reverse" to his daito to enable a good "left" and "right" handed grip when fighting with two swords?...or maybe there is just no meaning in the placement of menuki in any period?

Just a thought,

George.

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Well, I find the placement of menuki moot. Neither hand is over them, but the upper one could possibly stop my right hand from sliding down the tsuka, not that it has happened. Of course I use a 16 inch tsuka and there is a lot of room. As to handedness, although kata are shown righthanded, I have heard practising lefthanded is beneficial. John

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Thank you Jacques. I was beginning to think everyone had forgotten the origins of menuki. In fact there are no hard and fast rules about the placement of menuki on swords after the end of the Momoyama period. Not that anything but the function of covering the mekugi was there to initiate a rule from, even in earlier times.

The swordsmen of Edo and beyond pretty much had them placed wherever they best suited the grip. Some swordsmen actually prefer the menuki beneath the fingers rather than in the palm of the hand, but its all up to personal preference. As others have said, all swordsmen train right handed. Practice with the left hand forward is often encouraged to strengthen the grip of the usually weaker left hand in order to provide a more stable cutting action when the sword is used right hand forward but two handed.

 

As to the gentleman who thinks there were no one armed swordsmen, I actually fought one in a kenjutsu match in Japan. He was plain bloody awesome to watch in action and one of the fastest men on his feet that I have ever met. We got drunk together after the competition and he taught me some of the moves he had developed to compensate for the lack of his left arm. Yes...... he beat me. Embarassingly easily as it happens. I was just not prepared for the speed and the variety of footwork he commanded, and I just didnt adapt my style quickly enough to be any sort of an opponent for him. I would imagine that a samurai could make the same adaptations that this fellow had done to compensate for the lack of an arm.

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  • 1 year later...

Apologies for the thread necro, but just to keep this discussion in one place:

 

Some years ago, a beginner student in our dojo asked a visiting Japanese sensei how to grip, given that they were left-handed. His response: 'Same grip'. Unperturbed, the student asked, 'But what did left-handed samurai do?', to which the sensei thundered: 'There were no left-handed samurai ... We killed them all!'

 

Only after a moment's pause did he let a wry smile cross his face ...

 

Most left-handed kendoka, iaidoka, and aikidoka I have met confirm my own experience, and what someone posted above: being left-handed, but using the 'standard' grip is an advantage, as it's the left hand that does the 'power' work; also, if the sword needs to be used one-handed, the stronger left arm is better suited to being closer to the end of the tsuka, and the weaker right hand is better placed closer to the tsuba.

 

Mark T

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  • 2 weeks later...

To pursue further the discussion re left-handed swordsmen, I have in my collection a pair of mumei fuchi-gashira attributed to Hirata Harunari. On both pieces, against a shakudō, pearskin ishime, are depicted the seven takaramono in exquisitely executed shippō work, using translucent enamels enclosed within gold cloisons. On the ‘back’ of the fuchi, as normally worn, a space has been filled with an image, using gold lacquer. I have always assumed that this modification was to adapt the fuchi for wear on the right-hand side.

 

Please correct me if I am mistaken in this.

 

John L.

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  • 1 month later...

In Europe anyway, swordsmen were encouraged to be right-handed because of consistent castle design when it comes to staircases (and you never know when you'll get to storm the castle). If you stand at the bottom of the stair and look up, most spiral and square-blocked staircases turned clockwise. This means that the defender at the top of the stairs could swing their sword freely, while the attacker, coming up from below, would have the wall interfering with their swing. Only castle I can think of that has a counter-clockwise stair for left-handed defenders is Ferniehirst Castle in Scotland, the seat of Clan Kerr.

 

While I don't know a whole lot about staircases in Japanese architecture, I can imagine having a lefty next to a righty in the line during a charge could result in some issues. Being a lefty myself, I can't even begin to number the times I've bumped elbows with a righty when in close proximity. Also, if you're training a large group of people, it's a lot easier to point out errors and get everyone looking smart when they're all using the same hand.

 

That being said, theoretically a left-handed swordsman would be at an advantage to a right-handed one in single combat, simply because it is far more likely the lefty has fought a lot of righty's and knows how to respond than it is that the righty has fought a lot of leftys. Of course, you could really mess with your opponent and be ambidextrous, which would make the most sense in someone who was doing more than dueling for honor; you never know when your sword arm is going to get disabled.

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Of course, you could really mess with your opponent and be ambidextrous, which would make the most sense in someone who was doing more than dueling for honor; you never know when your sword arm is going to get disabled.

Makes me think of that wonderful swordfight in "The Princess Bride" :lol:

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