Hi Ezequiel,
This is from a Japanese sword discussion list on a friday afternoon,
when it was very very quiet :-) , I thought you might find it
interesting. Remember that all the responses are by different people, so
there might be some overlap.
Q: Gang, suppose that a Portuguese soldier encountered a Samurai and
they
had a duel / fight back in the 16th cent, which would be more likely to
win ?
Did anything like this ever happen ? Is it documented ?
A:
I have seen this documented somewhere many years back, but can't recall
where. The author felt that a European would win, because the Samurai
was constrained to use certain traditional slashing cuts to certain
traditional striking points, while the European would tend towards
thrusts to the chest. The European fighting style had a far, far
greater reach than the traditional Samurai slashing motion cuts.
I recall that Musashi Miyamato was said to take advantage of the
traditional limitations of striking cuts used by his opponents, and
slip in a blow to the groin or two to soften them up. Definitely in any
European's bag of tricks.
A:
My friend Akio related to me a story passed on to him by his
grandfather. According to the story, at the battle of Shimonoseki, a
Japanese and an Englishman were fighting. The Englishman kept jabbing
the Japanese, and the Japanese just stood there. Suddenly, the
Englishman got in closer, and the Japanese swung his sword one time,
ending the fight.
I do not know whether this actually happened, just relaying what I was
told, and I am not open to any arguments on this story.
Ganbatte!
A:
a German guy nailed the japanese officer in Tsingtao ( spelling ? )
during the ww1....................
A:
The person who was better trained would likely win. Each weapon has
advantages and disadvantages. Also, don't discount the thrusting
potential of the Japanese blade. Most will handle more axial loading (
for thrusting) without buckling than the European weapons. The major
advantage of the European blade is weight and reach, which can be
countered by a parry and rapidly closing the distance between opponents.
A:
Hello All,
There was an emergency room doctor a few years ago who was interested in
fencing. he researched injuries that were documented in European duels
and found that most ended with both dying due to infection. I would
wager that the Samurai Afu spoke of died as well, just a bit later then
the Englishman.
I would think that the better warrior would prevail, but as this would
change from one fight to the next there is really no one answer.
A:
Swords, swordsmen, armour, period, school, strategy, experience... Any
other variables you can think to plug into the equation? It's kind of
like asking if throwing a coin off of a building will hurt much. Well,
throwing a 5p coin off a water shed will make you wonder if an acorn
hasn't just hit you, throwing a 5 ruble coin off of the Parthenon is
going to hurt a lot more, and a US 1/2 dollar off of the Empire State
building would kill just about anything...
Now, back to swords ;-)
A:
The short answer: The fellow with the most confidence irrespective of
weapon. It is not, and never will be, the weapon that makes the
difference.
I would be a lot more attentive to combat with someone who had mastered
their art and was armed with a rusty lawnmower blade than someone with
lesser experience and the best damned sword in the world. Please see the
story of the tea master in D.T. Suzuki, Zen and the Art of Japanese
culture,
chapters on sword. That is another story that illustrates the concept.
Respectfully,
Mike Blue
PS I do not have the references, but someone on this list may have them.
But there are reports to the effect that a Frenchman, a master of the
pointy
school of sword, faced off against a nihonto practitioner in the early
20th
century. The fight ended in about two seconds after the Frenchperson
lost
his sword arm and it was all the referee could do to stop the nihonto
fellow
from trimming away other nonessential body parts (or something like
that,
pardon my paraphrase).
A:
Hellow all,
I would think the Samurai blade striking a european blade could easily
break his oppnents sword and I could see the samurai being much quicker.
If this was indeed the case and both man went to hand to hand combat, I
could easily see the samurai with the upper hand. Just a thought
A:
Never forget Miyamoto Musashi and his boat oar!!!
-P
A:
Don't forget about a rock in a sox!
I agree that it is mental training of the person using the sword or
whatever, Having been trained by some very sever Japanese and Okinawan
Sensei I would give the nod to the Japanese trained samurai.
Now,also is it my imagination or do Koto just naturally cut well? Is it
that they were designed for just one purpose (fighting) and this is the
reason they cut so well. I have a almost worn out 29 3/4 inch koto
blade that just cuts anything. It handles like it is a part of me. So
the question is do Koto blades just naturally handle well because they
were designed for only purpose. Is this why the Japanese prize them?
Did the Shinshinto blades give up usage for beauty?
A:
Rick,
Some sword scholars feel that the shinshinto blades became nothing more
than a canvas on which to display the sword smiths art. Ganbatte! Afu
afu@... For books in English on Nihon To, go to:
<
http://www.afuresearch.com/>
http://www.afuresearch.com
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Zurich Toren Muzenstraat 89
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-----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
Van: Ezequiel Romagnoli [mailto:
ezemaro@...]
Verzonden: zaterdag 15 november 2003 18:23
Aan:
samuraihistory@yahoogroups.com
Onderwerp: [samuraihistory] THANKS!!
Hi everyone:
I would like to thank you all for the info. Now, i
would
like to know something very interesting,,, the famous "samuray vs.
european
knight"....I studied something about them,, and i defenitly think that
samurai es better than knight, i would apreciate any comment!!!
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