Baka Gaijin

Takes a while to download, but worth the wait Old Bean. https://www.city.hag...photo/bakumatsu1.jpg https://www.city.hag...ingakusha/photo.html Putting this on the visit list for October November!!!!!

猿でさえ木から落ちます。

Looks like the flowering head of a type of bullrush....

Ganbatte!!!!!!

"Yes, it could be a perfect shape for skulduggery." I've come across the term "Hiden Buki" in respect of weapons concealed in everyday objects. There are a number of Koryū who have this within their tradition, notably Hōten-ryū (法典流) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hōten-ryū

Was it originally in this Koshirae or in a fan perhaps? The eyes have it...............

Good afternoon John The late Donn F Draeger wrote about its complexities. https://en.wikipedia...wiki/Donn_F._Draeger Check out: Classical Budo Classical Bujutsu Modern Budo and Bujutsu

Then one could always adopt the principle of the thumb and index finger replacing the Tsuba to enforce Maai 間合い and encourage Riai 理 合. The operative Kiai being Ouch!!!, Tish!! or an Anglo Saxon Expletive using four letters, if Maai is mistaken.

Usual forms for a standard Bokuto used by many Gendai Budo schools https://tozandoshop....ections/bokuto-tsuba More https://www.ninecirc...uba-dome-for-bokken/

A Different view by Hokusai https://ukiyo-e.org/...c226711#&gid=1&pid=1 And one by Kuniyoshi https://ukiyo-e.org/.../bm/AN00695755_001_l

Probably, but you would have to do the 100 man Kumite three days in a row in order to be considered sincere enough to learn it!!!! Also Colin's point about pilgrims brings up Carmen Blacker's "The Catalpa Bow" an excellent study of Misogi and obscure Shamanistic practices .

Thats a really cool idea. Roben, not to be confused with Robun, which is a totally different Bowl of Miso.

When the force of the water is pounding down upon your head from on high, you don't want a dead sheep to come cascading down..... Actually happened in the 70's to a group of Welsh Kyokushin Karateka training under the Sgwd yr Eira. Real OSU!!!! Here's what it looks like today: http://www.ooooyama.com/taki.html

Should look like this As Piers says, there are issues with the paper and the foxing. Removal of the foxing would be expensive. However it is a really interesting study, and I am interested in what the items that look like extra long Bokuto are, and how they relate to Misogi 禊. Two are being carried up the steps and the other held onto under the waterfall.

Also five element theory ( Gogyou 五行 )

Cheers John, Thankyou for posting. One of the best demonstrations and explanations I have seen. I have a suspicion there may be an old school Makiwara somewhere off camera.

Also have a look at the Inome piercings they look like "Love Hearts" not Boars eyes 猪目. I am drawn to the opinion of enthusiastic Hobbyist or Chinese manufacture.

This does not look old. The majority of "Helmet Breakers" that I have seen on the market over the years look to be Meiji Tourist items, in a few, (On close inspection) the points are malformed, almost blunted, indicating soft iron stock being used.

Maybe for Mogi To?

Here's an example of a Tsuba showing the nine lines:

Ah, cheers for that, PNSS. I’d like to find out more about this Kuji Kamon if I make it out of here. OooH Matron!!!!!

Good morning, I recently discovered an extremely interesting Jingasa, which is currently with London dealer Malcolm Fairley. As I do not have permission to display the image, I will supply the link to his website: https://www.malcolmf...ered-leather-jingasa One of the Kamon (Maru Ni Kuji??) is a representation of the Kuji grid used in the esoteric practices contained within Shingon Mikkyo, and adopted by a range of Martial Traditions in Japan, of both Ancient and Modern persuasion. We also have this Talismanic aspect of nine lines in the Kaga Habaki. I was told that some stone masons would carve the Kuji grid on stones at important compass points for castle construction. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuji-in#:~:text=Kuji no in (Hand seals of the Nine Syllables),-The Kuji-in&text=Kuji-kan (nine syllable visualization,the related incantations (mantra).

Here's another in the series. It really looks like the artist had observed practical swordsmanship tenouchi rather than fancy Kabuki style.

Hi Jon, It looks to be correct.

Good morning Old Bean "Was Genta left-handed or ambidextrous, I wonder?" He is holding in the correct manner, he's just let go of the right hand to give himself a cut advantage to the femoral artery area of his hapless chum's Sune. Perhaps try it with a stick next time you are kitted up, and you'll see how much distance you obtain by doing so.