Since I didn't feel going through the trouble of necroing a few RATHER old threads, I decided I would post a new one. I have seen in many cases where people have asked what the relevance of practicing sword arts in our modern age is. I could be very wrong, but I have a few theories on this, being a sword-lover myself.
First off, it could be out of pure interest in the weapon. This could branch off into sub-catagories, but I will keep it as is.
Secondly, one could be practicing it as either a long tradition of their heritage or in deep respect of a historical era.
Thirdly, there are many who feel a spiritual connection with certain movements, sometimes with particular weapons. I feel a deep connection with the sword.
I believe that all of these boil down into the fact that people WILL study sword in some way or another. How do they justify it? Many will justify it as pure interest or as discipline, but there are those of us who believe the sword can still have martial application. I will NOT go into the "Zombie Apocalypse" super-fad people have gotten into.
It is true that we cannot carry a sword around anymore and the technology is far inferior to modern firearms. However, in many places, it is legal to own a sword in your home. I believe that a sword could make a great self defense weapon in the home (obviously a gun is better, though). It is a weapon that sword enthusiasts will often have nearby if a situation happened.
Now, for when out and about, if one does not have a carry permit for a firearm, or just wishes to save that for a last resort, one can easily apply their sword form training to a cane. I actually intend to form a cane from an oak dowel and I believe it would work well. Yes, one can easily just learn a cane form and carry a cane, but if one wishes to study sword for whatever reason, then sword forms are effective with canes as well.
This was just a line of thought I was sorting through and figured I would share what was on my mind. What do you all think?
First off, it could be out of pure interest in the weapon. This could branch off into sub-catagories, but I will keep it as is.
Secondly, one could be practicing it as either a long tradition of their heritage or in deep respect of a historical era.
Thirdly, there are many who feel a spiritual connection with certain movements, sometimes with particular weapons. I feel a deep connection with the sword.
I believe that all of these boil down into the fact that people WILL study sword in some way or another. How do they justify it? Many will justify it as pure interest or as discipline, but there are those of us who believe the sword can still have martial application. I will NOT go into the "Zombie Apocalypse" super-fad people have gotten into.
It is true that we cannot carry a sword around anymore and the technology is far inferior to modern firearms. However, in many places, it is legal to own a sword in your home. I believe that a sword could make a great self defense weapon in the home (obviously a gun is better, though). It is a weapon that sword enthusiasts will often have nearby if a situation happened.
Now, for when out and about, if one does not have a carry permit for a firearm, or just wishes to save that for a last resort, one can easily apply their sword form training to a cane. I actually intend to form a cane from an oak dowel and I believe it would work well. Yes, one can easily just learn a cane form and carry a cane, but if one wishes to study sword for whatever reason, then sword forms are effective with canes as well.
This was just a line of thought I was sorting through and figured I would share what was on my mind. What do you all think?