samurai sword

Posted By admin on March 31, 2010

ORIGINAL OLD ANTIQUE 1800′s KNIGHTS TEMPLAR MASONIC COMMANDERY SWORD W/SCABBARD

$599.99

19th Century Antique Pewter Quart Tankard – Chester & CC Sword Stamp.

$33.17

Kensei: Sword Saint by Chris Pizzo

I guess every kid, regardless of where they are from, at one time or another bangs a couple of sticks together and pretends he’s a swordsman.

Back in my ‘hood, I was always Zorro, my buddy Scott was always Robin Hood, and my buddy Larry was always Lancelot. Then Max showed up.

A Japanese boy by way of California, Max came out to play wielding 2 pieces cut from a broomstick. We were amazed. After all, who the heck uses 2 swords? Zorro needs his free hand for his whip, Lancelot his shield, and Robin Hood his bow…this 2 sword thing was blasphemous!

Even worse, Max began to call himself Musashi and insisted on wearing his bathrobe as we trekked through the woods.

Now as a kid you just don’t ask too many questions or for explanations (from other kids at least). We liked Max, so we just accepted his “weirdness”, and went on with our adventures as usual.

Fast forward 15 years to when I made the changeover from Korean Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido, to Japanese Karate, Judo, and Jujutsu. And wouldn’t you know it? That very first day, Sensei began class with a quote from “The Book of Five Rings” – The premier text of Japanese philosophy on close-combat written by…Miyamoto Musashi! (I almost shit my pants as I quickly pieced everything together)

Musashi was born in 1584 in the village of Miyamoto in Southern Japan. His father Hirata Munisai was a renowned samurai and considered by many to be the best swordsmen in Japan at the time.

Musashi started his warrior career early in life with a dual against a samurai named Arima Kihei. The samurai had posted an open challenge for any takers and Musashi signed up to fight the warrior.

Musashi’s uncle, hearing that his 13 year old nephew had volunteered to fight to the death ran to prevent the fight. Musashi did not want to back down and entered the ring to fight Kihei armed only with a bokken – a wooden training sword. When the bigger, older, and more experienced samurai charged, Musashi dodged, grabbed, and brutally threw the man to the ground and beat him to death with his stick.

He would go on to win over 60 duals defeating or killing all that came before him in combat regardless of weapon. His challengers would use staffs, swords, and a variety of other weapons while he would use his katana or bokken. While many samurai used only their katanas, Musashi pioneered two-sword combat by using his wakizashi and katana together.
Eventually he would be honored with the rank of Kensei or “Sword Saint” because so many believed his swordsmanship to be perfect. When he later penned his philosophy of combat in “The Book of the Five Rings”, he would attain literary immortality as countless martial artists, scholars, and executives would hang on his every word for generations to come.

Musashi would eventually pass on his valuable knowledge to his sons and students. A skilled artist, poet, architect, and businessman, Musashi felt every day was a day to learn, create, and live to the fullest. And that was his strategy for a good life.

Now what’s pretty funny about Musashi (and why little Japanese boys love him), is that he was about as unconventional a Samurai as you could get.

The man rarely bathed, shaved, or washed his clothes. So good a swordsmen was he, that Musashi eventually completely stopped using a katana and would just use whatever was on hand to beat his opponents to death…a tree branch, a rake, even a boat paddle.

He would use other strange and “dishonorable” tactics as well…Showing up hours late to a dual to anger his prim and proper opponent…Showing up an hour earlier, hiding in the bush, then jumping out and immediately killing the unsuspecting fool who agreed to fight him…using horse stirrups as brass knuckles…and even attacking, running away, attacking, running away, and attacking again!

Scholars still to this day debate on whether Musashi did all these “crazy” things to toy with his opponents, test various strategy, and if these tactics were the very reason no one could beat him not his swordplay.

That’s all well and good for the bookworms, but as “men of action” similar to Musashi, we all know better –

Just like many of the toughest and most dangerous men of today and throughout history, Musashi seemed to take himself none-to-seriously while at home or at the dojo.

But when life and death were on the line, Musashi simply believed that nothing should be left to chance and you must do whatever needs to be done to kill, or be killed yourself.

For more information on Chris “Lt. X” Pizzo former soldier, cancer survivor, mercenary, barroom bouncer, educator, and hand-to-hand combat instructor, and his incredible FREE Accelerated Battlefield Combatives close-combat learning system, visit http://www.TopSecretTraining.com

Article Source: http://www.earticlesonline.com/Article/Kensei–Sword-Saint/148558

Scooby-Doo and the Samurai Sword (DVD, 2009)

$6.75

4pc Dragon Ninja Samurai Katana Sword Set & Stand BLUE

$39.45

Japanese handmade sword samurai katana 1055 carbon steel practical sharp *671

$59.99

NIHONTO NBTHK HOZON NAGAHIRO KATANA SAMURAI SWORD MINO JAPANESE TANTO WAKIZASHI

$6,499.00

WBar027A Lego Long Ninja Katana Sword & Gray Handle NEW

$1.98

Samurai Sword Baron WC10-en001 Ultra Rare Mint

$3.99

fully hand forged clay tempered dragon samurai katana sword good quality *960

$310.00

Samurai Headed Sword Set

$75.00

Ceremonial Samurai Swords

$75.00

HARRY H MOORE 19thC PAINTING OF SAMURAI SWORD AND OTHER ASIAN OBJECTS

$8,500.00

Samurai in Combat Sculpture

$61.95

LEGO NINJAGO White Ninja Zane Minifigure Minifig katana sword NEW

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J Steger Samurai & Sword MEN’S SHIRT 2XL XXL NWT

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GENERATER REX AGENT SIX FIGURE WITH KATANA SWORDS NIP

$4.50

Dragon Samurai Sword, Classic 42″ Master Katana, Swords

$49.99

New 40″ Blue Samurai Sword w Sheath & 24″ Steel Blade

$14.49

Gold Jin Tachi, 39″ Traditional Japanese Samurai Sword

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Sowrd parts case of Katana (sword) : 10.8 × 7.9 × 2.0 ” : 360g

$45.00

Tsuba of Katana (sword) : 3.4 × 3.2 × 0.1 ” 130g

$10.00

Heianjyo Tsuba of Katana (sword) : MOMOYAMA : 2.6 × 2.4 × 0.2 ” : 150g

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Ginsu 7112 Chikara 12-Piece Stainless Steel Knife Set with Block

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12 Pc Bamboo Block Set…

Japanese Professional Knife Sharpening Stone Sharpener

$29.99

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Authentic Japanese Combination Whetstone which has the finest medium grey #1000 Grit on one side and a lower grade of 240 Grit on the other.

It can be used for most type of knife such as cleaver, fruit, and sushi knife.

This type of whetstone is recommended by many professional chefs to achieve ultimate sharpness of the knife.

Use this whetstone also to sharpen your w…

Shun Classic 6-1/2-Inch Stainless-Steel Nakiri Knife

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Made from VG-10 stainless steel, Shun knives are specially constructed to be harder, less brittle, but also more flexible than traditional steel formulations. The VG-10 core is clad with 16 full layers of SUS410 high-carbon stainless steel on each side, for a total of 33 layers. These layers not only protect the VG-10, they create an exquisitely detailed surface reminiscent of Damascus or pattern-…

The Last Samurai [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]

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Whether Tom Cruise’s portrayal of a 19th century American soldier cum samurai warrior will be remembered with the same pangs of pop-cultural bemusement that befell John Wayne playing Genghis Khan remains to be seen. But its musical soundtrack does mark an auspicious occasion: pop musician-turned-composer Hans Zimmer’s 100th score since beginning his film career in 1988. A pioneer of fusing both th…

Hero (Music from the Original Soundtrack)

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Tan Dun straddles the very different worlds of concert music and film scores, winning admirers in both. He’s perhaps best known for his score to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which shares with Hero a visual poetry that transcends the sword-filled action film genre. In Crouching Tiger, Tan Dun’s music was often striking. In Hero he often lapses into repetition and cliché, a failing compensated f…

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. [Original Television Soundtrack]

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Yojimbo & Sanjuro (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

$43.48

After Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo was released in 1961, the samurai film would never be the same. It’s difficult for latter-day Western audiences to fully appreciate just how revolutionary Kurosawa’s film was in its time; it had the same kind of popular impact that Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction had 33 years later, which is to say, it completely revolutionized its genre, and its influence continue…

Kagemusha: The (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

$20.74

The 1970s were difficult years for the great Japanese director Akira Kurosawa. Following the box-office failure of his 1970 film Dodes’ka-den and an unsuccessful suicide attempt, Kurosawa was unable to find financial backing in Japan, and he made his acclaimed 1975 film Dersu Uzala in Siberia with Russian financing. With only partial Japanese backing for his epic project Kagemusha, the 70-year-old…

Yojimbo (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

$23.00

This semi-comic 1961 film by legendary director Akira Kurosawa (Rashomon, Ran) was inspired by the American Western genre. Kurosawa mainstay Toshirô Mifune (The Seven Samurai) plays a drifting samurai for hire who plays both ends against the middle with two warring factions, surviving on his wits and his ability to outrun his own bad luck. Eventually the samurai seeks to eliminate both sides for …