Interesting. The site implies that the iaito listed for sale are made by the owner of the shop, and yet the iaito appear to be exactly the same as the ones available at Tozando( http://www.tozando.com ).

The description of the "Katana for Tameshigiri" implies that they are made in a Japanese forge. The forge of our poster to be exact. They are made of Swedish Powdered Steel however which makes it clear that they are not Japanese in origin as that would be an illegal material in Japan. I think the rather cheap prices make it even more clear these are not coming from Japan. So I take it these swords are made in China, or perhaps Thailand?

I checked over at http://www.e-budo.com and http://www.swordforum.com for reviews, but could not find any. Is this a new shop?

[This message has been edited by Charles Mahan (edited 07-20-2004).]

I've posted a request for reviews over at e-budo.
http://www.e-budo.com/vbulletin/showthre...7982#post307982

where can you actually order a sword from japan in the United States, I have spent lots of time looking online and to no avail.

Also on ebay if you do a search for japan sword, it brings up several hits for WWII japan sword and these swords are very cheap. What is wrong with these and why so cheap.

How can you tell if a sword is a rip off or an original handmade japanese sword.

And last but not least does anyone know a training school in Maine?

Sorry about all the questions but i am new at this

Some advice, is you are looking for a good japanese sword, make sure the blade has the makers signature on it(steel underneath the handle), and secondly, if the handle or sheath has any fancy schmancy designs, such as a dragon, do not buy it

-HK

Looking for a school in Maine, Huard's Ju-Juistu and Karate is the best place to train. www.huards.com

They practice Chanbara which is full contact wepons fighting. www.amglefire.com/sports/chanbara www.samuraisports.com

sorry, typo Its anglefire.com/sports/chanbara

I think this www.iaitoshop.com is a new shop.
However the iaito look identical to the meirin sangyo iaito offerd at bugei trading company www.bugei.com

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Neo_ryu:
Looking for a school in Maine, Huard's Ju-Juistu and Karate is the best place to train. www.huards.com

They practice Chanbara which is full contact wepons fighting. www.amglefire.com/sports/chanbara www.samuraisports.com [/QUOTE]

Chanbara has nothing to do with full contact weapons training. It is two people waving sticks of foam at each other. I'd let my 5 year old play in the garden with his friends with them, but that's about as usefull as they get.

Suggesting that they are anything other than a toy introduced to entertain kids in a McDojo is irresponsible.

Pathetic.

JohnL

John L it seems you have forgotten two very important things. As a practitioner of the arts I would have expected them.
1. Manners
2. respect

Chanbara is everything to do with fill contact. If you really knew anything about it then you may have something usefull to say.

You would know that it is used in conjuction with iai-styles and cutting (with practical weapons)

if you let your 5 year old play with them, thats great. Instill a common intrest between the two of you. just make sure you teach him/her the difference between wild flailing and strong technique.

If you really want to know what pathetic is. Its some one how thinks they know everything there is to know about swords and sword fighting. being that limited is a good quick way to get hurt. THAT is whats irresponsible.

Hi Neo_ryu:

As I have amazingly little respect for people who put forward a foam stick and then proclaim it's a full contact training tool I don't see the need to be overly polite.

In a school I trained at the guy was introducing Chanbara exactly as you say. It was the biggest joke I'd ever seen. The weapon(!!!!!!) has no weight to it, without a solid weapon you cannot move it effectively in either attack or defense, and it creates no good technique. As it is so different in weight and movement charactaristics, it has no benefit in for when you pick up a real sword. As such I consider chanbara a plaything for kids.

The people that put it fowarad are charlatans.

JohnL