To take this seriously for a moment. That's gonna create range issues you know. You're gonna have to get REALLY close in order to reach your opponent. Not to mention the extreme danger of having your fingers that close to not only your own blade, but to your opponents blade when you have to parry. Your forward hand is also an easy target to attack. I don't have to attack your hand. I just have to attack your sword in such a way that I end up sliding down the blade towards your hand. Do this enough with even wooden swords and your gonna break your fingers pretty badly sooner or later.
All that copying of sensei stuff you seem to loathe is the manner in which centuries of collected knowledge is passed down from one generation to the next. Knowledge created and passed down from people who trusted their lives to what they had been taught, gone off to battle, and returned to pass on what they had learned. The people who created goofy styles in the past, went off to battle, and didn't come back. So their goofy ideas died with them. That's the fundamental problem faced by those who would create their own styles today. The crucible by which these things could be tested no longer exists, and their is no suitable substitute.
Oh and BTW, before you respond that your forward hand is not in danger because you would be blocking edge to edge... There are two things wrong with this idea. First and foremost, a hard block, meaning a block intended to physically stop an opponents attack by meeting it force for force rather than deflecting the attack in some way, is a very bad idea with Japanese swords, and probably not a good idea with most. Hard blocks run a very real risk of breaking the sword, or at the least damaging it severely. They are done in most styles, but only as a last ditch, so this is it I'm going to die, sort of way. The general method of avoiding an incoming strike revolves around evasion and deflection of the incoming strike. Deflection is basically not possible, or is at the very least very difficult to pull off, when you block with the edge. The reason for that is the second fundamental problem with blocking edge to edge.
The second problem with edge to edge blocks is that the edges of Japanese swords are VERY sharp. Plenty sharp enough to cut into each other. One or, in all liklihood both, of the swords in question will notch at the point of contact. Anytime the edge is notched there is a chance for a full break as there is possible for a crack to form at the point of notching which can then propogate towards the mune. Notching is highly likely in this scenario and this is another reason why the type of edge to edge blocks that I suspect you would be using with the grip you mention is such a bad idea.
Edited by Charles Mahan (05/10/05 11:04 PM)
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Iaido -
Breaking down bad habits,
and building new ones.