Why Weapons Don't Become Outdated

There is a lot to be said for assessing the items which you have to have with you all the time in terms of their use as a weapon. In the final section of the Lähitaistelu film, we see fighting with and against the small shovel. It is important because it is something everyone in these circumstances had on them, so you can use it if you have to and someone may use it against you.

If you gave me a choice I wouldn't select a fake metal fan to fight with, however, if it was all I was allowed to carry when I went to many cultural events then I would try to make the best of it as a weapon.

Against the rifle, we see a common thread of short weapons - when the opponent armed with a longer weapon inevitably gets the first shot at you, deflect it and move in.

You wouldn't equip a soldier with a baton (or a jutte) however there is a congruence with weapons of a certain size be it a small shovel, baton or the kama on a kusarigama.

This is why weapons don't really become outdated - they have attributes, and the skills and approach to utilising them transfers to anything else with similar attributes. If you are required to use a certain item or weapon then you practice the body of knowledge you have for those types of weapons with that specific weapon - if you aren't required to use a certain item or weapon, you house the skills and approach in either the last relevant weapon, the most representative weapon or the most available weapon until they are needed again.

If those skills and approaches work combatively, you should be cautious in throwing them away. Just because something does not appear immediately relevant doesn't mean it isn't useful - the key question for long-term martial artists is "does it actually work".

Spear (Yari) in Owari Kan Ryu 尾張貫流 (Kudayari & others)

Owari Kan ryū is known for its use of the kuda-yari (tube spear). The e (shaft) is run through a kuda (metal pipe) that’s in the front hand of the practitioner. Interestingly the school’s students start training by doing shiai (competition) and only after considerable training they learn the school's kata (forms). Most classical schools that practice shiai do so after learning kata. Thrusting using the kuda. Cross-stepping. Thrusting attack with kuda. Wide stance. Shiai. Shiai using a spear with a cross piece. The original demonstration from which these stills were taken is here:

The Structure of the Tenshinshoden Katori Shinto Ryu Syllabus

It should be noted that the current head, Otake Risuke, has commented that not all of the parts of Tenshinsho-den Katori Shinto Ryu survive. I recall his comments in various documentaries that Archery was once a component, and only some of the spear survives. Through various sources, mostly Otake's book, I have put together this brief outline of their syllabus, however I have little idea of the exact stage each is taught except that I believe the students start with Omote no Tachi. I will use this as the basis for further posts and may add to it over time. I believe their are important implications when Otake says that one of the main reasons for training all the weapons is to train the swordsman against them. Note in this section in brackets are my own comments and should therefore not be relied upon, those from the written work of Otake are clearly marked. Tenshinsho-den Katori Shinto Ryu -Kenjutsu (Otake lists Tachi, Ryuto and Kodachi under Kenjustsu) --Tachi (Use of the singl

Australia’s Turning Point – Signals Intelligence leading to the Battle of the Coral Sea

Australian/American Signals cooperation was not only important in stopping the Japanese advance to Australian shores but marked the beginning of Australia embedding its forces with the United States rather than simply furnishing troops for the British. Whilst the British, in my opinion , had a long history of using Commonwealth troops to either protect their colonial interests or to take on deployments with high expected rates of attrition, when Australia faced the real possibility of invasion with the vast majority of its troops and equipment deployed overseas, it was the Americans, whose interests in the Pacific aligned with our own, that were on hand to push the Japanese back from our shores. The Battle of the Coral Sea saw the beginnings of the deployment of Australian sea power under direct American command, a joint approach that would continue to the present time – it was, however, Signals Intelligence that led the way to the embedding of US/Australian forces and played a major

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