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Post by The Librarian on May 22, 2008 18:47:48 GMT -7
by: Valgauder
You've all got the idea of what Honor is. Some of you may in fact already know that honor has never saved not one life, yet it's here anyway. Why should that be so? I proceed to say that "it's all in the way it's looked at."
Religious purposes perhaps. But that's not the purpose of this.
The most honorable and graceful sword arts are by the Japanese and the Chinese (though the Japanese have done much more). There is one form of study that pushes you into a whole slew of techniques; it's called Kendo.
Much of my life was dedicated to studying (though without the aid of a tutor) the arts that Kendo provides. Using the knowledge (some of which is aided by Wikipedia, Dictionary.com and the now down webpage "The mythical forms of Kendo") I gained by reading countless books years ago, I've always worked at developing on the favorite subsector of Kendo of mine;
Muso Shinden-ryu. Roughly, this translates to the Dreamsword Technique. Or skill.
Each one of my characters use a variation of such a technique, mixed with at least one other tech in the vast list. The post I'm writing now (or finished writing by the time you get this) is to explain the art that I covet with my main characters. All three of them use the exact same one...For reaons that are best expressed because I know how to use them best.
Hiten Shindenkatsuragi-ryu.
The technique is versatile, powerful, and quick. By far, much more real than Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu, which is known vastly by Rurouni Kenshin or Samurai X lovers across the world. It's defensive capabilities put to rest the need for armor or shields of any kind; it's offensive abilities make for excellent cutting in split second movements right from the scabbard.
Being that something like that is pretty useful, my characters which can manipulate their own energy will usually focus it into the blade; a dangerous dance of their sword begins with the focused energy, attracting other forms of energy and sucking it into the blade. Kinetic, elemental, whatever form...It goes here, and gets released in...You guessed it. Sonic pulses.
"What are sonic pulses?" Well...Think of it as sound. Take a tuning fork and tap it close to a glass. With the right pitch you'll shatter the glass, and possibly the window approximately five feet from it (true from testing). It is completely silent save for the blast that comes from the slash itself, and the banging afterward...And it can't be seen unless you can see sonic waves (like a Bat might). This makes it the perfect weapon. Thus explains an example of it's defensive and offensive abilities.
That being said...You may have seen variations in many places. All of these things come from the same place, in truth. The variation of converting energy to sonic energy is mine; used promptly in almost every single battle I go into.
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Fenris
Junior Member
Posts: 70
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Post by Fenris on Jul 18, 2008 9:28:20 GMT -7
Technique in swordplay is more subtle than simply saying "I am slashing at his ribs with my sword with blinding speed!!!11!" you must be detailed, simply saying your swordsmanship is the "fastest" or "The best" is not enough you must prove it with the details in your post.
Stance may not seem like it, but it is actually very important for your characters all around defense/offense. When coming up with a stance make sure it makes sense in conjunction with where you could place the blades, and you must also strive to allow flexibility and fluidity with your actions and the placement of your blade, you never known when your opponent is about to make a devious counter.
RL knowledge is your best friend in swordsmanship, and a good melee fighter can adapt hand to hand concepts into his swordplay in order to create a more effective post. You must also learn to make your attacks indirect, make your enemy afraid to attack you by countering his moves with unyielding ferocity, however if you are outclassed in skill or strength, it is better to play an evasive game and wait for an opening so you could score a checkmate. (Similar to chess.)
A basic idea of a counter is as follows. "Character Y slashes horizontally at Character X, character X due to his stance is well situated to counter or 'interupt', as character Y slashes, character X strikes along the momentum of his opponents attack by striking the incoming sword and causing it to overshoot in its trajectory, hopefully causing his opponent to be caught off balance, if successful, the counter would leave an opponent unable to react or defend in time, due to the weight of his strike forcing him to the side and or off balance." Keep in mind a clever fighter can usually adapt to such simple measures, so never fully commit to an attack and always have an escape plan if you can muster one.
Also keep in mind that some attacks are ill suited to be done with certain kinds of swords. Personally I find light blades like Rapiers, and Hand and a half swords to be the most flexible in combat situations. It is also important that you utilize your movements, (IE foot work, and sword strokes.) in order to make you more evasive, and in many situations to bolster your offense, many people can get trapped by their own maneuvers if you know how to deal with them.
Lastly as mentioned before, it pays to get some practical knowledge. Perhaps pick up a manual on martial arts, and then learn to incorporate the concepts into your swordplay. Keep in mind that some schools of martial arts are ill suited for adaptation, however I have found that Bruce Lee's Jeet-kun-do can easily be adapted for swordplay since most of the concepts found in it are based off of traditional fencing.
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Post by The Librarian on Jul 18, 2008 9:57:51 GMT -7
As stated, keep in mind what sword you are using and what can conceivable be done with that weapon.
A rapier is usually a piercing weapon designed for quick thrusts. Sometimes they have a decent cutting end but that is not how they are designed to kill.
A Claymore on the opposite end of the scale is about brute force and not finesse. You don't stab and thrust at your opponent, you chop and try to cut them in half.
The design of the blade can open you up to different techniques as well. Sectioned blades or curved blades have nice spots to catch and perhaps damage your opponents weapon. Wide blades can make improvised shields.
Know the design of the weapon intimately, then you can figure out how to use it.
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Post by Lateralus on Jul 18, 2008 16:46:04 GMT -7
Scythes are extremely versatile weapons, given the ability to gauge the power and intent behind any attack, defense, or counter - really - in the hands of the user. It's all in the mind's eye, my niggas. Sais are fun, too; I used to go Gladius and Sai combo. It's pretty beasty.
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Fenris
Junior Member
Posts: 70
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Post by Fenris on Jul 18, 2008 18:55:05 GMT -7
lol wut? (About scythes)
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Post by orlandu on Jul 18, 2008 22:54:28 GMT -7
I had fun reading the posts. I'd like to add in my own two cents.
I don't know much about the respective honor between oriental swordsplay and European swordsplay, but I do know that in massive king of the hill matches (In Houston), European style normally slaughters the oriental style. We're talking horrible odds, as well. 20 V 10 and sometimes less than 10.
The stylistic differences along with the weight difference in the craft of the swords just makes a bad match up, especially when the orientals are in light armor and the Europeans in their respective more durable armor.
This isn't to say that in a one on one that a man wielding a katana is going to lose to the man with a broad sword. Individual talents still make up a good portion of the advantages and disadvantages.
It is true, however, that a broad or bastard sword could power through a katana. A katana, however, would have much more trouble powering through either of the afore mentioned weapons.
Beyond this, most earopean swords can be used to blugeon alot better than an oriental variety would. They normally offer better hand protection. With the proper manipulation the T in the hilt can be used to disarm opponents. Yes, the sai can do the same, but the length of the blade on a sai makes close combat almost unavoidable for those looking to dispatch their foe rather than get away.
The European variety also cleaves through armor much easier than a katana tip can pierce without breaking. The size and weight attributes to more force. More force equals more work done. I'm not trying to say it'll happen easily with a single blow, but repeated abuse with the larger blade will generally yield better results and less damage to the larger weapon.
Now, on the other hand, the lighter warrior moves with more ease. Slashes are meant to immobilise a person in most cases. Its normally a tactic of evade and punish. When extended, the opponent is vulnerable for the ammount of time they are at momentum's mercy. A quick eye can ascertain the best area to strike at.
These areas when against armored warriors are almost always the back of the knees, the inner elbows, the armpits, the neck, the wrists, and the ankles. A general rule of thumb is; if it bends, the armor there can probably be breeched.
In light armored fights its even better to know anatomy. Where are the vitals and tendons? Aim for joints. Even a messy slash that barely connects can horribly mess a person up who only bares cloth.
I apoligize for my lack of descriptions in favor of oriental weaponry, at the moment Val seems to have begun representation of that end of it.
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Fenris
Junior Member
Posts: 70
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Post by Fenris on Jul 19, 2008 9:41:48 GMT -7
orlandu is perfectly right, european swordsmanship aka Fencing is well suited for going up against kendo, there is a video on youtube showing a fencer vs a kendoka and the fencer decisively beats the kendoka through sheer speed and flexibility, and as mentioned before bruce lee created his martial art partially based on fencing. It makes use of principals that are simple but are hard to perceive unless they are pointed out such as straight thrusts, so when going up against some of the oriental styles they are ill prepared to deal with lunges than as they are with cutting.
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Post by Lateralus on Sept 21, 2008 21:52:10 GMT -7
Oh, scythes. I plan on showin' what I mean in this melee tournament.  |
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Post by atonement on Sept 21, 2008 22:00:48 GMT -7
For the record, I've found Kendo type matches versus European type matches don't work that well, but the Kendo users can hold their own. Sometimes one strike to end the fight. I use both,m and we normally do well. I'm talking in fencing terms of course as I, irl, fence in large bouts in the Ks/Ok area.
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Post by The Librarian on Sept 23, 2008 17:20:20 GMT -7
While we're on the subject of sword styles against one another. Did anyone else know that the sword fighting style in Ultraviolet is based off of Rhythmic Gymnastics?
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Fenris
Junior Member
Posts: 70
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Post by Fenris on Sept 24, 2008 9:30:41 GMT -7
i hated that movie it was just a rip off of aeon flux with some vampirs and some katanas thrown in.
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Fenris
Junior Member
Posts: 70
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Post by Fenris on Feb 1, 2009 11:15:59 GMT -7
Since my last post on here, i have learned a lot more about swordsmanship so im going to add a little extra knowledge. As mentioned before sword types are very important in a fight, a scimitar has different physics from a longsword, a hand and a half sword is a little lighter than a longsword, and a rapier or saber would be no match to parry or block a falchion or claymore. However the physics of each sword type can be invalueble. For instance normally to parry lets say a "katana" with a "rapier" would be inadvisable, however most if not every type of blade has 3 parts. The tip the middle and the hilt. Each one of these portions of the sword is progressively stronger than the other respectively, thus when parrying it is advisable to use the lower portion of your blade against your opponents higher portion. (For example parrying a katana with a rapier, using the hilt of the rapier to make contact against the end or "tip" of the katana. Even with the Rapiers admittedly weaker weight, the leverage and weight of the hilt against the end of the katana would allow one to manipulate the trajectory of the attack in most cases. Of course there are ways around this such as sliding your blade along the other, but it normally forces your opponent to recover buying you time to defend or counter. Also every attack one makes has the potential to leave them open in one way or another, it is up to you to capitalize on your opponents own move. If for instance they are attacking from the right, parrying inward and then thrusting would be a hard move to avoid. keep in mind whenever an opponents arms or legs are compromised you can usually use this to devastating effect.
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baane
New Member
Posts: 40
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Post by baane on Mar 27, 2009 17:48:46 GMT -7
Oh, scythes. I plan on showin' what I mean in this melee tournament. Scythes can be converted into formidable polearms (war scythe.) They are sub-par against other purpose built weapons in their common farming shape, however. |
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Fenris
Junior Member
Posts: 70
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Post by Fenris on Jun 19, 2009 20:08:41 GMT -7
Scythes are not as effective as spears, though and have that extra weight on their end, the curve of the blade also allows you to impede its movement if you can get your blade under it you can generally use a sword to hold it at bay at least momentarily. Im not saying the scythe cant be utilized as an effective weapon however, it just usually tends to be awkward imo.
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baane
New Member
Posts: 40
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Post by baane on Jun 22, 2009 11:40:19 GMT -7
Wolfprince is correct.
The blade being perpendicular to the haft reduces it's range in comparison to other polearms and throws off the balance of the weapon. Since the cutting edge is on the inside of the blade it's just an awkward weapon system and not comparable to, say, a Halberd or a Bill.
As mentioned previously scythes can be modified, and were regularly modified, by reforging the blade to be parallel with the haft. In, and only in, that form is it a viable battlefield weapon system.
That isn’t to say less characters need to use it. It’s a very sinister looking tool and fits the flavor of a fearsome spell caster using it primarily as a foci or symbol of power while still maintaining a secondary weapon that can get around shields. But it’s clearly not primary weapon material suited for a character geared towards hardcore melee combat.
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