Toryu2020

Just a question - if it were mine I should want to be able to remount in future. Not a comment on your choices... -t

but is that "reversable"?? -t

try customjapanesecalligraphy.com -t

If you're on Facebook - you cannot do better than Jonathan Maples. -t

Jacques Please read into the Iga wars under Oda Nobunaga - spy clans? Yes? Deadly Black Pajamas? No...

I wish someone had offered me this in my 20's, regardless of language I woulda been sooo there! -t

PAZ - Looking very much forward to enjoying your efforts. You mustn't feel lonely, with this new inter webs thing, many more people will find you and you will find your people! (Wasn't like this for us geezers ) Both my Iai teachers were passionate about swords - many, many teachers I have met over the years have little or no interest or display the same tired misconceptions we often encounter here in the West. Yes I am talking Japanese Sensei. If you have the passion, you have to bring it into the conversation and get those kids talking ("Oh there he goes, he's go off again") you may be seen as the sword nut but it the way to find others. Blog away man those conversations will be welcome! -t

There may be other factors for a sword to go Juyo but if we accept that the workmanship has to be there then this is enough of a sample for me to accept that a Chujo-saku smith can indeed have a really good day! And the statement stands. -tch

What are the mounts Mark? Any evidence that this nakago was altered - looks like you have a place name, a family name (Ono) but no first name - on the ura the Michi? may be the start of the owners name? now cut off? -t

"Kofax takes the mound, the crowd are on the edge of their seats, Williams steps up, he looks ready to fight, first pitch comes across, "STRIKE!", not looking good for the batter, each player takes his set and here comes the second pitch, "STRIKE!", I am thinking Williams will need another strategy but wait, he takes the same set, Kofax fires, the ball is struck!, a high fly ball over centerfield, over everyone's head, over the banner on the centerfield wall, and the banner reads!?! Support your local sword club!!"

Thank you for clarifying - very interesting piece. I would put a lot of faith in the attribution from Tenrai as he is my teacher's grandfather and is actually the first person to put the Hon'Ami system of kantei as we know it into print. Looking forward to the reveal but I do have to say I totally disagree with the following statement; "The real purpose of kantei as we all know for the organizer is to have no risk o-sensei cosplay while embarrassing everyone else." We can argue about that elsewhere... -t

Alex is a very cool dude, practised with him in Katsuura. I have his Musashi book in my reading queue...

Hankei is a good guess.

Can we at least know the period?

So right time period wrong road haha! I am going with Chogi - and I would like to see the yakitsume if that is possible...

Alex - we do Zoom Kantei and welcome Brazilians, Canadiens and even Brits!

Good stuff ! I have no real plans Ken - just wanted to create a space where folks could talk about MA, using live blades and god forbid antiques! without getting yelled at. I am not limited to swords so why should this spot be? Have at it guys this can be whatever it wants to be no moderators here... -t

I would say Kaneuji himself - and would ask, is this ippon Kantei or?

WOW! I can't believe some of the stuff I'm reading. First off Riv - I was in the Boy Scouts and a lot of my early childhood friends were Catholic, I never witnessed any abuse. I lived in Japan for five years, specifically to study swords, I went to four Kantei-kai a month and visited many collectors in their homes, I never witnessed the abuse you describe. I say again I am sorry this happened to you, we welcome your "controversy", I think if you reach out we can help you gain a positive experience with the society right here in your backyard. I am not sure some of y'all understand the two kinds of Kantei, based on above comments. I like Jaques, even tho I'm not following this suriage thread, I like Jussi, and Like them both I try to do a little sword study every day. If youre going to play hardball in the big leagues you need to train like Ichiro, if you just wanna play sandlot that's great but don't hate on the Big Leaguers. Shijo Kantei or paper Kantei is the exercise where you look at oshigata and based on the descrition of the sword try to determine who made it. This requires you to learn the vocabulary and the various styles of hamon. It teaches you how to describe jigane in words but doesn't do much to teach you jigane. Therefor someone who studies from the magazine may in fact have a difficult time with Kantei in hand, even tho he hits the correct answer each month in the magazine. Kantei from photos is a fools errand. In hand Kantei is the best way to learn shape, size, weight, curve, jigane and hamon. It is the way swords have been taught to students for generations. My teacher is a sword polisher in the 24th generation of his family business - lots of technological changes over those generations but the game of Kantei has changed little. Remember the artists are all pretty much dead, there is no more work coming from Masamune, so the material we need to learn is pretty much static. There are new tools available to us and exciting things are happening, I believe all this new technology will help. However having been raised in the old school, I have a deep appreciation for it and do not see it getting replaced only enhanced. (forgot to add; studying jigane is pattern recognition, something happens subconsciously that helps you to recognize origins, BUT you need to see 1000's of blades for this to be meaningful...) There are guys who recognize swords in hand that cannot navigate the Shijo Kantei - cause they don't have the vocabulary or they don't understand the game. The game. Kantei is a game, it was an entertainment for courtiers that became entertainment for warrior that is now an entertaining game for us. If you don't play you don't understand the rules and the tricks and the skills and it might be easy to criticize others who do or those who don't. In Shijo Kantei they use certain expressions for certain schools or certain artists, when you understand this you will come to "hear" the hints that the teacher is giving you. In in hand Kantei there are certain conventions, usually five swords, usually one is very old and very special, sometimes that sword is in the number one spot, sometimes it is in the number five spot. Since it is a teaching tool they like to focus on textbook examples (studying gimei, gibutsu, flaws, rust, and oddball swords does not teach you what you need to know) sometimes, sometimes they will throw in a one-off piece by a smith that looks little like their usual work, but in this case there is almost always jigane, hamon, or something that is typical of the artist and if you spot it you get the correct answer. Wrong answers are more Fun! The judges hints when you pout in a wrong bid help you to see the sword in the same way he does, it teaches you what is appreciated and what should be emphasized. If all youre interested in is the points, and seeing your name in the magazine, you are selling yourself short. Are you a "connoisseur" - the connoisseur's book is organized in a very specific way. This is the way you need to organize your thoughts on swords. I like to think of it as circles - the major areas of production are larger circle with more artists, more influence, more production and longer history. Understanding where these centers are, in time and in place, helps to assign any given sword to its proper spot. The closer you are to the center of the circle the clearer the influence and the clearer the work. Therefore there are swords that cannot be categorized. this is not the fault of the shinsa team - there were country smiths, lying between the large centers of production that didn't produce work that was clearly from any given tradition. They could still be good swords but just can't be assigned to any one group or artists. This is why Bungo Takada and Kai Mihara are popular pigeon holes they lie between major centers of production and show influence from outside - if the sword is kinda "in-between" then maybe it is from one of these in-between schools. We have a sword show and shinsa, here in the U.S., next weekend! Come on out y'all and see how it works. Come see me for an insiders view. Buy me a beer and I could go on ranting like this for days. Organizations are in flux, the hobby is in flux, the community is evolving, the generations are changing, but organizations are NOT OBSOLETE!! Support your local sword club! -tch

Rimbo - Buddhist Wheel of Law...

Part of the leaf - not part of the acorn...

It is an acorn, mho, as you can see others more clearly delineated, think of the stems as lying on the ground in a jumble, one on top of the other. I think then you'll see the artist has lots of room to include or omit parts, which we as viewers can fill in with our minds eye... -tch

A new area for us "sword swingers" to discuss, weapons, hoplology, martial traditions, famous swordsmen and techniques. I am a member of various other forums on the same subject, as I am sure many of yall are. Still I do not mind revisiting old ideas, since this is our favorite subject and the study of sword and culture is the warrior way! -tch Shichi-Dan MJER

I second the vote for a "Warrior Class" thread - And Peter et al - I repeat; "The NCJSC does monthly Zoom Kantei, all participants have up to two weeks to submit bids for feedback from the judges and then all are lead thru a multi-choice quiz (ala NBTHK/AB) on the day of the meeting" The more folks that participate the better these classes will get, so again support your local sword club! -tch

And I was thinking it was just me And my sweat was somehow corrosive!