Airing an opinion on swords...*rant*

[Robert Marotz]

This is from a post I made on Sword Forum International, it's just a minor opinion defining the popularity of sword styles. I don't want to offend anyone with this or start any arguments, I will repeat that this is only my opinion and I hope someone shares it.

-----
Westerners seem to be the ones who have complexes of superiority revolving around many blade shapes. And also many tales of inferiority...and at this point in the undulation, most of the negativity among reasonably serious folks is focused at the Japanese sword.

Every style has its ups and downs in popularity, the kat has been a good performer in popularity by glorification and overuse in the media, and even when it's having bad times like nowadays...its popularity is still decent. But in recent times, other cultural styles have hopped into the fray and gained in popularity exponentially.

Maybe some folks are just afraid of looking at different kinds of swords and feel they need a reason to choose something else over the all-famous "katana" which is a "cool" name cuz it's Japanese and cuz it looks cool and blah blah blah. More than just performance hype, it's the "coolness" factor people are going for.

I share the opinion that the Japanese sword was the best sword ever made. Why do I say that? Because I like it the most. I'm sure some other folks like it the most. Many don't. Many don't know wtf a real kat looks like, apart from crap by Bud-K or other catalogs, and a good number of folks don't know what other cultural styles are like...

I like the idea that there should be more popular swords for serious people, instead of trying to tear down what's there so other things can take the spotlight. IMO, there's plenty of room. I don't know which is more of an injustice to the sword itself, tearing down the pillar its on, or letting folks put it on a pillar in the first place.

This was opinionated rant and is not meant to be discussed about. Just airing an opinion that I hope some other folks may share.

Shinryû.

 

[GearHead]

The Japanese have a great ability to distill something down to its most essential form. The katana is one of the most outstanding objects ever to be distilled by the Japanese. It is a beautiful weapon, designed to end a fight as quickly as possible. The makers always tried to make the sword able to cut down evil. Whatever did not cut evil, was left out of the sword. It takes a tremendous amount of skill to effectively use a real katana.
I share the opinion that the Japanese katana is the true essence of sword-ness, of budo, of bushido. It is the pure essence of what a sword should be- metal, wood, skill, training, respect. No other sword design has been refined as much as the katana. Remember, Minyamoto Mushashi was able to defeat his opponents with a bokken because he had carried a katana, and learned how to distill his fighting down to the purest of movements. That is the ultimate legacy of the katana, and all the other things the Japanese have refined.