eek.

Jaeger · Post by **Jaeger** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 6:55 am

Sisyphus · Post by **Sisyphus** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 7:52 am

Ho. Lee. Shit.

Jonny · Post by **Jonny** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 8:29 am

Jaeger wrote:あのひとわbadassですよ

その人はbadassですよ。

Sorry, I'm being the nihongo grammar nazi. In this situation "は" is pronounced "わ", so you were dead close. Also, I'd use "その" talking about "that guy". "あの" feels more like "that guy way over there". You will notice I didn't correct your spelling of the word "arse" because I know you chaps over there prefer it that way.

And yes, that was pretty faarkin' badarse!

Post by **DerGolgo** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 8:41 am

Very impressive...and I think a good reason to watch these again:
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Ma Deuce for the win:
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Notice the dramatic, death-of-a-hero-type music plaing over the sword's failure in the last vid...

Jaeger · Post by **Jaeger** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 8:44 am

Jonny wrote:
Jaeger wrote:あのひとわbadassですよ
その人はbadassですよ。

Sorry, I'm being the nihongo grammar nazi. In this situation "は" is pronounced "わ", so you were dead close. Also, I'd use "その" talking about "that guy". "あの" feels more like "that guy way over there". You will notice I didn't correct your spelling of the word "arse" because I know you chaps over there prefer it that way.

And yes, that was pretty faarkin' badarse!

I was actually counting on you to correct my Nihongo.

--Jaeger

Rabbit_Fighter · Post by **Rabbit_Fighter** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 10:11 am

I'm not disputing the badassednessery if this gent, as I am sure that he could cut me into little bits and all. . . . but didn't that guy just hit a baseball with a sword, the same way guys hit them with bats all the time?

Jaeger · Post by **Jaeger** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 10:18 am

Rabbit_Fighter wrote:I'm not disputing the badassednessery if this gent, as I am sure that he could cut me into little bits and all. . . . but didn't that guy just hit a baseball with a sword, the same way guys hit them with bats all the time?

Yes, but he drew the sword from its scabbard as well.

--Jaeger

Sisyphus · Post by **Sisyphus** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 11:08 am

The guys that make these swords are masters of the art. If you watch the part where the 50 cal finally breaks the sword after 6 rounds(!), you can see the laminations used to make the blade. Thousands of times, over and over agian they fold this stuff. That's some amazing shit right there. Not too many people in the world making blades like that anymore.
And the guys that use them are no slouches, either.
You should see the guys that shoot bows from horseback.

Post by **DerGolgo** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 11:17 am

Sisyphus wrote: Thousands of times, over and over agian they fold this stuff.

The workmanship on these things is truly amazing. I totally dig how they control the areas of the blade affected by the heat-treatment by spreading clay on there (that's what makes the cool wave-like pattern near the cutting edge). It's all experience - watching till the steel has just the right color.
But they don't fold it thousands of times, ten folds will already give you 1024 layers. I think a documentary I once saw mentioned folding it anything from 8 up to 16 times to get 65,536 layers. Apparently, folding more than 20 times would make the individual layers too thin to make any more difference.

Rabbit_Fighter · Post by **Rabbit_Fighter** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 12:08 pm

DerGolgo wrote:
Sisyphus wrote: Thousands of times, over and over agian they fold this stuff.
The workmanship on these things is truly amazing. I totally dig how they control the areas of the blade affected by the heat-treatment by spreading clay on there (that's what makes the cool wave-like pattern near the cutting edge). It's all experience - watching till the steel has just the right color.
But they don't fold it thousands of times, ten folds will already give you 1024 layers. I think a documentary I once saw mentioned folding it anything from 8 up to 16 times to get 65,536 layers. Apparently, folding more than 20 times would make the individual layers too thin to make any more difference.

NOVA (Public Broadcasting System's series of science documentaries) did a piece on Japanese sword making that was really interesting. The process is incredibly impressive.

Caliann · Post by **Caliann** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 1:31 pm

I think I saw a Discovery Channel piece on Japanese sword manufacture....and it started with an annual ceremony where they gathered iron-rich sands and smelted them in a two day ritual.

Then, the resulting iron was divided among the master sword-smiths...not very much per person...and that was what they would use for the *entire year*.

Then again, I think the entire process to make one sword pretty much took the entire year...and there was ritual and ceremony in all of the steps.

Very, very neat.

ghost · Post by **ghost** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 1:35 pm

Jaeger wrote:
Rabbit_Fighter wrote:I'm not disputing the badassednessery if this gent, as I am sure that he could cut me into little bits and all. . . . but didn't that guy just hit a baseball with a sword, the same way guys hit them with bats all the time?
Yes, but he drew the sword from its scabbard as well.

--Jaeger

Also, a bat doesn't have an edge that has to be kept perfectly aligned with the trajectory of the swing.

Here he cuts a mushroom cap, a bean (lengthwise), an Airsoft BB, and an iron pipe.

<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nj1Jytiw8e0&hl ... ram><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nj1Jytiw8e0&hl ... 2=0xfebd01" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

(Here's just the BB if you don't feel like picking through the above.)

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calamari kid · Post by **calamari kid** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 9:58 pm

Rabbit_Fighter wrote:
DerGolgo wrote:
Sisyphus wrote: Thousands of times, over and over agian they fold this stuff.
The workmanship on these things is truly amazing. I totally dig how they control the areas of the blade affected by the heat-treatment by spreading clay on there (that's what makes the cool wave-like pattern near the cutting edge). It's all experience - watching till the steel has just the right color.
But they don't fold it thousands of times, ten folds will already give you 1024 layers. I think a documentary I once saw mentioned folding it anything from 8 up to 16 times to get 65,536 layers. Apparently, folding more than 20 times would make the individual layers too thin to make any more difference.
NOVA (Public Broadcasting System's series of science documentaries) did a piece on Japanese sword making that was really interesting. The process is incredibly impressive.

Kickass episode. The page for the episode has some cool info from the show. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/samurai/index.html

Jonny · Post by **Jonny** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 8:28 am

Jaeger wrote:
Jonny wrote:
Jaeger wrote:あのひとわbadassですよ
その人はbadassですよ。

Sorry, I'm being the nihongo grammar nazi. In this situation "は" is pronounced "わ", so you were dead close. Also, I'd use "その" talking about "that guy". "あの" feels more like "that guy way over there". You will notice I didn't correct your spelling of the word "arse" because I know you chaps over there prefer it that way.

And yes, that was pretty faarkin' badarse!
I was actually counting on you to correct my Nihongo.

--Jaeger

Ha! Anything to oblige. Mind you, my command of the language is still quite shite, so don't trust everything that comes out of my keyboard. I'm curious, where did you pick up the Japanese you know?

As for the slicing of the 6mm pellet, that is a cool party trick! I probably couldn't do that.

I was lucky when I first moved to Japan. I was living in Nagano Prefecture and there was a katana museum and foundry in a town not so far from my house. Some incredible swords on display and they walked us through the process of making the blade. Wonderful to see this centuries-old tradition and method still alive today (and just amazing to see it deal with 50 cal. rounds! I had no idea!).

Then when I moved to Tokyo, there was a small sword shop in the shopping arcade (naturally!) around the corner from my flat selling new and antique swords, knives, what have you. Pricey! I remember they had a knife with about a 6 inch blade selling for well over $4,000. Very basic design and very, very cool.

Jaeger · Post by **Jaeger** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 9:31 am

Jonny wrote:
Jaeger wrote:
Jaeger wrote: I was actually counting on you to correct my Nihongo.
Ha! Anything to oblige. Mind you, my command of the language is still quite shite, so don't trust everything that comes out of my keyboard. I'm curious, where did you pick up the Japanese you know?
ようにばしてでにほんごおべんきょおしました。 And it pisses me off that I cannot find a Kanji font for the few words i DO know in Kanja (e.g., にほんご)

That was back in 94-96, so you can guess how much I've forgotten. Fascinating language -- and fairly easy to SPEAK... we won't talk about writing it, however, as you well know.

I had the opportunity to go to Nihon to teach English after college, but being the consummate dumbass that I am I tried to pursue a career in journalism.

Oops.

I'm a raging Japanophile and have been since before university -- I studied enough about the country and culture to still appreciate it, but realize that they are NOT some cultural paragon of virtue and intellect.

I tell people that the most important word in Japanese is "ちがいます." Understanding the various meanings of that word and their implications is very, very important -- and simply non-compatible with me.

I still love their art, though, as well as their sense of honor, duty, loyalty, and, perhaps ironically, humor.

Jonny wrote: I was lucky when I first moved to Japan. I was living in Nagano Prefecture and there was a katana museum and foundry in a town not so far from my house....

Then when I moved to Tokyo, there was a small sword shop in the shopping arcade (naturally!) around the corner from my flat selling new and antique swords...

Oh yeah. I get nervous even handling those things -- they're beautiful, but they're STOOPID sharp, and the owners usually get oogie about folks handling them. Hell, there's even a technique for returning it to the scabard!

Ah, well -- I'll get to Nihon some day. For now I content myself with surprising the occasional nihonjin with what little of the language I remember.

--Jaeger

12ci · Post by **12ci** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 5:26 pm

Jaeger wrote: Oh yeah. I get nervous even handling those things -- they're beautiful, but they're STOOPID sharp, and the owners usually get oogie about folks handling them. --Jaeger

so, the truth abouth that pinkie is slowly revealed...

Jaeger · Post by **Jaeger** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 5:58 pm

12ci wrote:
Jaeger wrote: Oh yeah. I get nervous even handling those things -- they're beautiful, but they're STOOPID sharp, and the owners usually get oogie about folks handling them. --Jaeger
so, the truth abouth that pinkie is slowly revealed...

No, that I blew off with a pipe bomb. Way different

--Jaeger

Bo_9 · Post by **Bo_9** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 6:40 pm

Once at a judo tournament in Lawrence, KS I got the privileged of watching an iaido (sword drawing, not pictures) master from Japan demonstrate some of their forms. It was damn frightening how many cuts he could perform at a ridicules rate of speed. One of his students would follow him at about a quarter of his speed just so you could see what he did other than move his arm and put the sword away. Same speed with targets or not. He used the straw wrapped bamboo targets and clean cut every one fast enough that out of three, all were cut before the first one fell.
It was quite impressive.
No doubt regardless of what weapon you carried if you were within six feet of one of these guys and needed dead, you would be.

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