Wrists – A katana is powered, partially by your wrist movements. The deeper ones allow you to bring in more power to each cut by firmly grounding your body and bringing in your weight to bear behind each move.Ĭ. The more shallow ones provide the greatest amount of mobility. There are two primary stances: walking stance and L-stance (both pictured below) and each can be shallow or deep depending on style. The positioning of your legs adds power or lends speed to the execution of the technique you are performing. Footwork – Like everything else in martial arts the primary power cell of the armed war machine you become when you hold a katana, is your own body. They also allow you to strike in a different direction without having to lose a lot of time or even appreciably change the positioning of your body.ī. There are four grips in Kenjutsu that allow you to hold the katana in a different way and use it faster to get to the target you want it way easier. The two-handed grip drives the primary motion of the weapon that is then followed through by the arms, shoulders and the rest of the body. A lot of the sword’s power comes from the push-pull action between two hands on the sword’s hilt. Grips – a katana traditionally is a double-handed weapon. There are four more things you need to know to make your swordplay sizzle.Ī. Whether you are working with or against Earth’s gravity.How much distance the katana travels before it hits its intended target.How much of your body weight you can get behind it.The same logic applies to any strike in any direction. How effective a technique depends entirely on how you use your body.Ī downward cut from top to bottom, for instance, is powered by the muscles of the shoulders and the speed at which your arms move and the Earth’s gravity (of course) but it can also be augmented by your bodyweight if you bend your knees and drive it through so that it truly becomes unstoppable. And because your muscles power the weapon, how ‘good’ or ‘bad’ a strike is. You simply can’t wave the katana around without using your muscles. That’s what makes training with a katana fun and also makes you work on your fitness. The use of the katana, in its basics, differs very little from what the ancient Samurai would have practiced and B. Whether you are a practitioner of the purer, formal kata techniques found in Kenjutsu or the more modern style of Kendo or belong to any of the literary hundreds of modern styles of Japanese swordsmanship that came into popularity in the 20th century there are two things which are the same: A. Throw a one-kilogram weight with your entire body and suddenly not only do you have to take into account the way muscles work when they are unbalanced but also how your mind works when your body is augmented in this way.Ī katana is a weapon with a history that dates back almost a thousand years and there is a deep tradition that inevitably has grown around its use. The katana, in keeping with most swords is just over a kilogram in weight (just over a bag of sugar) which doesn’t sound like it’s very much and yet it is sufficient to generate the force necessary to slice through most things. The combination of all this determines style, technique, power, speed and efficiency when faced by one or more opponents. Is it curved or is it straight? Is it a long weapon meant to be used to outfight or a short one that needs your opponent to be within grappling distance? Does it have one edge which requires deft handling when changing directions or two? Is it designed to be used with one hand or does it require both? In function you look at the primary use of the weapon: Is it meant to thrust first or slash? Is it heavy-bladed and used to crash through things or is it razor-thin and meant to cut with precision? The way an edged weapon works is always determined by function and form.
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