Question about recently purchased sword

[dvill_iaido]

Can anyone confirm the swordsmith as Ogawa Kunihiku by the signature? I know he as a son (Ogawa Mutsutoshi) who is a active swordsmith. I'll be using this sword for Iaido.

 

 

[Ray Singer]

The sword below was made the same year. The description seems to indicate this was made by Ogawa Kunihiko.

https://ginza.choshuya.co.jp/sale/gj/r2/01/19_kanekuni.php

[mecox]

@dvill_iaido     see this paper on NMB Downloads

 

 

[dvill_iaido]

Thanks for all of the info fellas. Much appreciated!

[Rawa]

How tall are you? 74 for laido? I got this picture to estimate what length is best.

[Toryu2020]

I would clarify METHOD TWO - the tip should just clear the floor if you like a longer sword, it should be about an inch above the floor if you like a shorter sword...

 

-tch

MJER 7 Dan

[dvill_iaido]

My height is 5ft 7.5in I train with Iaito length 2.45shaku, or 74.2cm nagasa. 

[When Necessary]

This quotation from E-Budo.com is the best explanation I've come across for relative blade/body ratio.

(It is from a thread on 'Tsuka length' but I can't access the website anymore to make an attribution to the specific author. Thus, apologies if he/she is reading this.)

 

"Takamura Sensei said to measure a sword for someone, have them hold the sword with the right hand grasping the tsuka right at the edge of the fuchi. Relax the arm. The kissaki should almost touch the floor. For him this meant a 25-26 inch blade. The tsuka should be a half inch from the forearm indention above the elbow. So given his physique this dictated around 11 inches. a ratio of 1:2.5. (He trained in Jikishinkage ryu from the line of Sakakibara, known for longish tsuka's) Lets do the same for me, a whole foot taller than Takamura at 6"2". If I hold a sword just touching the fuchi and relax my arm, a 27" to 28" inch blade almost touches the ground. But my forearm is so long that this formula dictates a 14 inch tsuka. Wow! That changes the ratio to 1:2. Our differing physiques dictate this difference. Takamura cracked up when he realized this! (Resulting in the "Saru Ken" comment) . Keep in mind that if I practised Kage ryu or Toyama ryu this formula would be inappropriate due to the technical requirements of those specific ryu. For Yanagi ryu it works out great!

 

An interesting fact pointed out by Takamura Sensei concerned the phenomonon that about 90% of peoples hands are approximately the same distance from the ground despite a great variance in height. This explains why the average length of a katana in most schools was around 27 inches. Despite my being a whole foot taller than Takamura Sensei, my blade length was within an inch or two of his. Obviously my longer arm length made up the difference which in turn resulted in the longer tsuka when measured by the dictates for his style. There are obvious exceptions in style of swordsmanship and size of practitioner at work here."