left handed samurai

i came across questions concerning l.h.samurai. my opinion:
my personal training encompassed equal facility with either side of
the body as there is no "dominant" side. this training progressed to
blade & weapons,& firearms. left & right-equal. ten years ago i lost
my right arm.(complete amputation- i do not use prosthesis. except
for fishing.) i believe my training gave me a great advantage as i am
able to do about ANYTHING i could before- from tying my boots to
riding a motorcycle. ok-i had to give up guitar and a couple of other
things- but ON THE WHOLE i am at no real disadvantage in most
situations including close quarters combat. i see no reason why the
Samurai would not train thier bodies to function in the same manner.i
would really like to hear from anyone with 'missing parts' in similar
situations.

In message <bgtsa7+pdie@...>, ronin121293
<ronin121293@...> writes

> i came across questions concerning l.h.samurai. my opinion:
> my personal training encompassed equal facility with either side of
> the body as there is no "dominant" side. this training progressed
> to
> blade & weapons,& firearms. left & right-equal. ten years ago i
> lost
> my right arm.(complete amputation- i do not use prosthesis. except
> for fishing.) i believe my training gave me a great advantage as i
> am
> able to do about ANYTHING i could before- from tying my boots to
> riding a motorcycle. ok-i had to give up guitar and a couple of
> other
> things- but ON THE WHOLE i am at no real disadvantage in most
> situations including close quarters combat. i see no reason why the
> Samurai would not train thier bodies to function in the same
> manner.i
> would really like to hear from anyone with 'missing parts' in
> similar
> situations.

Well, I suppose my situation counts as similar, I'm registered as blind,
and I've been teaching my own combat sport for over twenty years now, so
I agree that disability is no handicap as long as you don't listen to
those who tell you that it should be. I teach the competitive use of
historical reproduction arms and armour, I've done archery and used to
shoot full bore pistol when it was legal over here in the UK. And now
just for fun I run a tiny group of historical re-enactors recreating
momoyama Japan, as well as running an airsoft campaign from an ex-
government nuclear bunker (now a museum), and my good lady is a science
fiction author. Life can take you down truely unexpected and strange
paths when it wants to, would you not agree?:-)

Yours

Dean
Dean Wayland
Head Of The Fight School
http://www.thefightschool.demon.co.uk

Greetings,

From what I have gathered from various readings and the teachings of my
sensei the concept of a left-handed kenshi is against the mentality of the
Japanese during the pre-Meiji periods.
Nearly everything in Japanese life was uniform, including the manner in
which people wore their kimono and walked down the street. People always
walked to the left, much in the manner that European people drive. If there
was a left-handed kenshi, his saya would be hitting everyone that he walked
by which would, in essence, be insulting and challenging to any other kenshi
he happened to meet.
Now I am not saying that there were no kenshi that were left hand
dominant, but they were trained to use the daito as if they were
right-handed. Left hand dominant kenshi would have an advantage in the use
of the wakizashi as a secondary weapon, since it could be drawn left-handed
if the right hand was occupied.
I hope that this has helped in some way.


Peace,

Matt

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I understand the idea of rigid uniformity regarding r .handedness, but I would still bet that your average Joe Samurai was just as facile with either hand UNLESS- as in some Arabic or Islamic beliefs- there was some prohibition or religious rule against left-handedness- the left being the "dirty" or "evil" hand- forbidden to eat with- ect
I have trouble seeing any fighter just rolling over & showing his throat if his right hand/arm was incapacitated.
----------------------------Comments? Eric
"M. R. Williams" <amacobra@...> wrote:
Greetings,

From what I have gathered from various readings and the teachings of my
sensei the concept of a left-handed kenshi is against the mentality of the
Japanese during the pre-Meiji periods.
Nearly everything in Japanese life was uniform, including the manner in
which people wore their kimono and walked down the street. People always
walked to the left, much in the manner that European people drive. If there
was a left-handed kenshi, his saya would be hitting everyone that he walked
by which would, in essence, be insulting and challenging to any other kenshi
he happened to meet.
Now I am not saying that there were no kenshi that were left hand
dominant, but they were trained to use the daito as if they were
right-handed. Left hand dominant kenshi would have an advantage in the use
of the wakizashi as a secondary weapon, since it could be drawn left-handed
if the right hand was occupied.
I hope that this has helped in some way.


Peace,

Matt

_________________________________________________________________
Add photos to your e-mail with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*.
http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail



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