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Zen Beikoku Bujutsu Kyokai
                 全米国武術協会
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USAMA BLOG

Raising the standards of the martial arts

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Why The Katana Has A Curve

11/25/2016

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Author: Bret Gordon
PictureSamurai with tachi
Notice they were carried blade down
After listening to a ridiculous analysis of the katana and its efficiency, making the case that the curve of the blade isn't significant enough to offer any measurable cutting advantages and therefore it's merely for aesthetics, I felt it necessary to clarify what truly makes the katana a force to be reckoned with. In order to do so, we'll have to explore how it came to be. When one thinks of a Samurai, the image of a mighty warrior cutting down an opponent in a single stroke can't be helped but there's so much more.

The Samurai as we think of them originally developed as horse soldiers, cavalry. Those who fought on foot, ashigaru, can technically be classified as members of the Samurai class but that's a discussion for another day.
 Now, the katana (originally called uchigatana) didn't come into existence until just about the 15th century (circa the 1390s specifically). It's predecessor, the tachi, was effectively a cavalry saber and was developed sometime between 900 and 1100AD. Curved blades were far more efficient than the straight swords of the ashigaru when wielded on horseback, where the curve of the blade adds considerably to the downward force of the cutting motion. Therefore, on a cavalry dominated battlefield, it only made sense to have a significantly curved blade (the tachi also had a proportionally long handle to counterbalance the sword for one-handed use).


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Beyond The Dojo

11/23/2016

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Author: Carol Mitchell
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There have been many articles written regarding martial arts and being a martial artist.  There have been discussions regarding what technique works, and what is traditional and what is not. To add to the mix are the disagreements of age, and the color of a belt. What does this all mean in the scheme of things? From the outside, the discussions seem to be petty, and useless. It is like children on the playground trying to "one up" someone else. I feel that some in the martial arts community are missing the point.

I started martial arts in my late 30's. Like everyone who begins, I had my own personal reasons to start. My son was involved and I thought it would be easy enough for me to do the same thing. Karate was my first experience into martial arts. I moved into Aikido for a number of reasons, and I made it to black belt. Great right? It took all that time for me to understand what my instructor said to me about moving through the ranks, “A black belt is mastering the basics.”  Being a white belt again. It is what you do after that black belt that refines what you learned and you expand upon it.


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Resurrecting The Dead

11/11/2016

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Author: Bret Gordon
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No, I'm not talking about zombie martial artists (though there are numerous old timers who may have died, and no one told them, still kicking around - pun intended). This article actually refers to Historical European Martial Arts, known as HEMA for short. When you think of the term "martial arts," everyone instinctively envisions an Asian martial art of some nature. However, it appears that Europe throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance had an abundance of codified martial systems very reminiscent of what we find from the same era in China and Japan. Indeed, these have been left for us to resurrect in numerous manuals and treatises, the earliest being MS I.33 from around the year 1300 detailing the use of sword and buckler (a small, one-handed shield measuring about 12 inches). 

For those who know me personally, in addition to my martial arts endeavors I am a living historian as well as Civil War reenactor. My love of history is what has driven me throughout my training, and is the reason I spend many sleepless nights researching everything I can on numerous systems. That's what coffee is for, right? So when I heard about the chance to study HEMA, of which many systems actually pre-date Japanese koryu arts, I was totally geeked. But something's not right.


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How To Judge The Efficiency Of A Martial Art

11/9/2016

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Author: Bret Gordon
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The hiatus is over! As you probably have noticed, I haven't posted anything over the past six weeks. Instead, I've spent my time researching various trends in the martial arts community which has culminated in this article. It seems the cool thing to do is share videos of various practitioners to different forums, where subsequently they are torn apart by MMA fanatics and other simple-minded meat heads. Without referencing any specific video, I can already tell you the comments go something like this:

"That would never work in the street!"
"Try that on a resisting opponent!"
"If it was so good, why isn't it used in the cage?"

And so on. We all know the type, and unfortunately we've thrown the baby out with the bath water as many legitimate practitioners have been lumped in with the trash. Now, I must give credit where it's due and I will say that the growth of Mixed Martial Arts has forced a lot of practitioners to step up and increase the efficiency of their training. As I've said before, every martial art has the potential to be combatively effective and it all comes down to the training methods. But what about arts that cannot be adapted to the cage? If you truly want to know how effective a martial art is, instead of judging it on how you wish to apply it, you must look at it through the parameters of what it was created for. Every art has a purpose, and as long as it meets that original purpose, it's an effective martial art regardless of whether or not you can apply it to another scenario. Surely you wouldn't judge the efficiency of Kyujutsu by the archer's ability to punch and kick, right? The same logic must apply to all martial arts.


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