# Sword test



## PhotonGuy (Oct 14, 2014)

Here is a video of a sword test, I don't know if its a good test.


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## Dirty Dog (Oct 14, 2014)

I know you won't get this, but I'm going to say it (again) anyway.

That's not a test of the sword. It's a test of the person, if anything.


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## PhotonGuy (Oct 14, 2014)

So another words somebody whose really good with swords can get the same result using a junk sword.


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## Xue Sheng (Oct 14, 2014)

No.... it is simply not a sword test

Although there are many things I do not agree with Scott M. Rodell on, he does "test" swords and is rather good at it. There is another guy out there whose name escapes me at the moment but he also does a darn good job of testing swords


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## Dirty Dog (Oct 14, 2014)

Anybody with a steady hand and a grinder could put an edge on a flat piece of metal and make it cut well. Once. Maybe a few times.


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## donald1 (Oct 14, 2014)

Like dd said,  it wasn't really a test,  though imo nice clean cut,  but ultimately for a test one cut won't be good enough to prove if it's a good sword


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## Chris Parker (Oct 15, 2014)

PhotonGuy said:


> Here is a video of a sword test, I don't know if its a good test.



As mentioned, it's not a test of a sword&#8230; 

I've asked you this before, but can you let me know what you think this is testing? When you answer, I'll explain what tameshigiri is actually about&#8230; including the history, and how what is done now is not what was done "then".



Dirty Dog said:


> I know you won't get this, but I'm going to say it (again) anyway.
> 
> That's not a test of the sword. It's a test of the person, if anything.



Honestly, it's not a test of the person, either&#8230; if it was, it was a desperate fail.



PhotonGuy said:


> So another words somebody whose really good with swords can get the same result using a junk sword.



Well, the first thing you'd need to qualify that statement is an example of someone who's really good with swords&#8230; there aren't any shown in this clip&#8230;.


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## donald1 (Oct 15, 2014)

What would a test look like?  Would he be doing several different things different things (reason why asking,  just curious...)


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## pgsmith (Oct 15, 2014)

I can't watch the clip from here at work, but the title of it tells me pretty much what it's about. Cutting through a bunch of mats means three things ... one, you have a very sharp edge on your sword, two, you have a narrow profile that allows for easier cutting of soft targets, and three, you have good alignment between the sword and your swing (hasuji). Only one of those things is involved in either a good sword or good swordsmanship. To actual sword practitioners, cutting things is NOT the objective. As one of my Japanese instructors was fond of saying, any idiot with a machete can cut mats better than we can. The objective is to cut correctly, and learn the things that test cutting (tameshigiri) can teach you to further your swordsmanship.



donald1 said:


> What would a test look like? Would he be doing several different things different things (reason why asking, just curious...)




Here's an example of someone testing themselves in tameshigiri. Sang Kim is the dojo cho of the Byakkokan dojo in New York, and teaches Toyama ryu. He's also the President of the U.S. Federation of Battodo. Please notice when you watch this clip where his body and sword is in relation to his target at all times. This is a Battodo Renmei cutting pattern called Rai Mei, wherein the practitioner makes a rising cut in the middle of the target, cuts the top portion before it falls, and then cuts the bottom standing portion. All cuts should occur within 1 second. I can't see the video from work but, knowing Sang, he has nailed the pattern. 

Rai mei! - YouTube


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## Xue Sheng (Oct 15, 2014)

Want to know about swords....go here


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## PhotonGuy (Oct 20, 2014)

Dirty Dog said:


>


Please don't facepalm me.


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## Dirty Dog (Oct 21, 2014)

PhotonGuy said:


> Please don't facepalm me.



If you stop posting facepalm-worthy stuff, I wouldn't. 


Sent from an old fashioned 300 baud acoustic modem by whistling into the handset. Really.


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## elder999 (Oct 21, 2014)

PhotonGuy said:


> Please don't facepalm me.




:lfao:


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