Most of my video games have swords and such weapons, any here actually train with weapons ? I have done cutting practice with sharp katana's and have trained in Aikido and Kenjustsu which includes working with wood weapons. If you've seen the movie "Last Samurai" you will know about wood weapon training. I've done this since 2005, previously I've trained in Tai Chi (Kung Fu) sword and saber but this is solo form practice since 1979, Aikido is training with partners.

What does it mean to be Samurai, to devote yourself utterly to a set of moral principals.
To seek a stillness of our mind, and to master the Way of the Sword.








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I have 3+ years of Kendo training under a teacher and have gone to multiple tournaments (never gotten first place, but I've gotten 2nd a couple times) I started taking lessons because I am an avid anime watcher and I thought it was fairly interesting, and have since enjoyed it very much and take it very seriously.

Honestly, I haven't. I haven't met anybody who does either. I'd be interested to know more about it, though.

Kendo is cool, I have a tournament shinai (see attached photo). The shinai I bought for more speed training, with bokken (hardwood katana)you are more careful since there's no protection.

the_casualty, if your interested such training I would recommend looking into some Aikido if there's any clubs in your area, Aikido clubs have classes for all ages. Kendo can be expensive because of the cost of equiptment such as armour. We do some Kenjutsu weapons in our group, it's a bit more aggressive than the Aikido style.






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I train myself in my own form of self defense every day. This works extremely well way better than any of the other stuff that I have heard taught, it is a mix of all different kinds of style and it flows from one to the other easily. I am still working on perfecting it but as of right now I can still take down opponents that are about two times the size of me and trained also.

I did a Russian style of fighting called Systema, my trainer was more MMA, half crippled me haha! had to quit.

I've been wanting to do Kendo for soooo long now. But alas I be too poor and live in nowheres ville.

I haven't at all. I know no one who even wants to learn about that kind of fighting. It would be really cool , though, if someone out here would train me

I am currently training in Muay Thai and the art of Grappling, not getting that far it seems but with practice and much patience i shall see results

The way of the sword? Practice! better an hour every day than 5 on one.

Being Doing Kali, Escrima, RCS for years and I know that after a break I feel pretty useless, but the best way is to actually spar and spar with another person, this is the true way of learning and testing what one has learnt.

We used to take our tops off (not underwear!) and use felt tip pens instead of knives, swords etc, then see at the end of a session just how messed up we would have been! very scary!!!

the next thing we would do is live training, believe me all the big guys soon backed down when confronted with a real weapon! it so easy to become over confident when only playing with training knives, the only dude who took on the teacher had so many mars bars that you knew he had been in lots of fights and he waded in took a nick on his forearm and took the knife, we were like super impressed.

To truly win, the Samurai used to meditate upon death every day, well it gave them an edge.

Against a sword I would use a chain! like a ninja!

as for the best martial art, Muay Thai for fitness and Grapping for street as all fights end on the floor.

Best way to win a fight, well unless you are a ninja assassin and sneak up on some dude while they are on the toilet and kill them, the best way is to start and end the fight, in other words don't fight a person at all, to maximise your chances of winning you have to make the first strike and Philipino style keep hitting (or cutting) until they don't get up, this method has been tested and tested (animal day style) and works best for real situations, if they touch your gate twice, despite warnings, then it is up to you how much you wish the situation to continue, do you really want to give the guy a third chance). Noone plays fair in this game!

Done some Kendo, putting on the gear is awesome and tires you out so quickly, all you can here is 'gong gong gong' as the sticks smashes you on the head 'gong'

okay, thats enough Totts for now, great thread, can't wait for my next visit.

The way of the sword is the easiest part to being a samurai, and almost everyone here has told you to go practice Kendo. This is true enough, but you'll also want to practice in Chumbara and Iato. The former is mostly just hitting the opponent with whatever form or style you want, in a sortof mock experiment to see what works. The latter is practicing to make sure the first strike is going to be the one that ends it.

However, Samurai weren't just about the swords. They had "Bushido", which is the samurai way of life. It was sort of a set of laws that applied to samurai, that also dictated their lives occasionally.

Samurai also didn't just practice with swords, they had spears and bows like every other medieval soldier did. Except the Samurai's Yumi bow is a bit more lethal than any other bow. 7ft tall, and it has one hellofan aim.

Finally, the last part of becoming a samurai is learning an art form. Whether it be calligraphy, origami, poetry, painting, or any other form of expression; the idea was to make the samurai not just a killing machine that was to be feared by all, but a refined model citizen as well.

I've trained in American Kenpo Karate. I've done XMA forms with Bo Staff, Kamas, or Nunchuks. Each of the three tend to be fairly different. XMA is more for show than fighting, but it's still fun.

I've learned some basic Krav Maga gun and knife defenses from the same instructors. Mike Lee Kanarek (major Krav Maga guy) was a guest instructor once. He taught us how to spar with knives. If you have trained in Krav Maga, you should know who Mike Lee is. He's a scary guy to say the least.

I also learned how to fight with either one or two Arnis Sticks from a different guest instructor.

I've learned a good mix of American Kenpo, Muay Thai, Krav Maga, and Haganah hand to hand fighting techniques too.

billythekidmonster: You might like Krav Maga. It's based entirely on using your strengths against your opponent's weaknesses. It might make your personal defense techniques a bit more refined and help conserve your energy in case you get a strong opponent or more than one person at once.