Awesome cutting video (from a strange Japanese show)

Dmitriy · Post by **Dmitriy** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 3:23 am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_gcPGI-ZMI&

Effingham · Post by **Effingham** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 8:22 am

Wow.

That's just... Damn.

InsaneIrish · Post by **InsaneIrish** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 8:50 am

holy crap

Kilkenny · Post by **Kilkenny** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 8:56 am

yeah. Wonder if he's tried a helmet ?

James B. · Post by **James B.** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 9:24 am

That dude has skills!

Kilkenny · Post by **Kilkenny** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 9:54 am

And his eyesight must be incredible. Tracking the airsoft bullet is no small feat, much less hitting the thing.

I'm reminded of Bronson and Mifune "No mosguito" :lol:

Gaston de Vieuxchamps · Fri Apr 17, 2009 10:21 am

Wow, that was cool!

Before SCA I was into Japanese martial arts. I had the opportunity to see some of the world's best do some amazing demonstrations. Not so much samurai sword, but a little.

I was really impressed with that guy up until the end. The Iaido cuts were very impressive (from the draw) and the unsecured mat cuts were also very good. But the plumbing pipe cut was really not that impressive. You don't see iron cuts very often because most folks don't want to put their swords at risk on a regular basis. If your technique isn't perfect you destroy the sword and even if it is perfect your sword can ocasionally be damaged. But when one does make the commitment to cut iron they often do far better than that. My old grandmaster (Katsuo Yamamoto--founder of Yoshukai) once decided to cut a helmet. He had an actual 17th century Japanese helm. The bowl was 1/8" thick(!!!) and the helm weighed 20 pounds. I always wondered why anyone would wear such a helm, but I suspect it was to protect from muskets. This was a few years after he killed the tiger and was a major challenge for him that was highly publicized and done in a stadium with much physical and mental preparation for him. Japanese are kinda funny about failure, especially in public. The story was re-written slightly such that the cut was a success, but I read an interview from before the cut where he said he hoped to cut through the brow to the face, which he failed to do. He did cut through the decorative metal crest and 8cm into the bowl! Not exactly "cleft in twain" but still pretty damn impressive for a karate guy who does sword as a sideline. The helm is still on display at Hombu Dojo in Japan. I have no doubt that cut would have cut through the brow of my SCA helm. Keep in mind this is with the helm "anviled" on a very solid foundation. I have no idea how much of a cut would be possible into a helm on a head. I've seen a few pipe cuts using thicker pipe than in that video, maybe 1"ID? Can't remember exact thickness but definitely thicker than the one in the vid.

There is an anual Taijitsu tournament (cutting competition) here in Orlando which the organizer says is the only competition of it's kind in the US. They get competitors from all over the world. I've seen some of his videos but never been there in person because it always coincides with Pennsic. They have different events such as power cutting with the tatami rolls stacked up in a jig and the winner is the one that cuts the farthest. They also do the classic upright green banboo wrapped in tatami where it's all about finesse and the higher level competitors do 3 and 4 level cuts, often cutting low and then high so that the top part is falling as it's cut which is hard because it's unsupported and also doesn't have much mass.

A few years ago there were those vids with the WMA guys cutting wimpy little tatami rolls and declaring the superiority of the longsword. I laughed. That was the sword equivalent of the 1" pine board break.

Thanks for the video. I wonder how many takes it took to get a successful "bullet cut". I doubt he'd try that in front of a live audience. In the intro clip though it seems he is willing to do the baseball cut live. That's not easy!

Gaston

(edited for typos)

Josh W · Post by **Josh W** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 5:47 pm

I'm not that impressed, really--not even with his other video that features him cutting a thin steel sheet. It's not that impressive a feat to cut something that's been braced like that. The BadgerBlades guy at the Kansas City Renaissance Festival does similar things with cheaper blades.

Gaston de Vieuxchamps · Fri Apr 17, 2009 6:49 pm

Really? A guy at a ren fair cuts airsoft pellets in mid air, cut baseballs pitched at him, and cuts soybean pods lengthwise? Did you see the cutting of the freestanding tatamis?

True the metal cutting is not as impressive as the audience makes it out to be, but you gotta give the guy some credit for the other stuff.

G

iomtalach · Post by **iomtalach** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 6:55 pm

Gaston de Vieuxchamps wrote:A few years ago there were those vids with the WMA guys cutting wimpy little tatami rolls and declaring the superiority of the longsword. I laughed. That was the sword equivalent of the 1" pine board break.

It was an unsharpened training longsword.

Josh W · Post by **Josh W** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 7:09 pm

Gaston de Vieuxchamps wrote:Really? A guy at a ren fair cuts airsoft pellets in mid air, cut baseballs pitched at him, and cuts soybean pods lengthwise? Did you see the cutting of the freestanding tatamis?

True the metal cutting is not as impressive as the audience makes it out to be, but you gotta give the guy some credit for the other stuff.

G

You're right. I do give him props for that, but the cutting of thin, braced pieces of metal is nothing impressive at all. It's only going to stoke the fanboy fires of those who think the katana is an "ethnic badass weapon." I just know that this will end up being posted somewhere, at some point, in some discussion as "proof" that "samurai swords" could easily cut plate armour. :roll:

Gaston de Vieuxchamps · Sat Apr 18, 2009 1:54 pm

iomtalach wrote:
It was an unsharpened training longsword.

And I've taught a 6-year-old to break a one inch pine board. Pretty much the same thing.

G

freiman the minstrel · Sat Apr 18, 2009 4:25 pm

The video was really cool. I wish we all could get awesome presentations like that.

I am glad that this particular fellow got the Strange Japanese Show to showcase him like that. It was cool to watch, and I am sure that he will have a righteous video to pop in for his buddies for the rest of his life.

We study a pretty much unmarketable art, and it is really cool that somebody is getting real world recognition.

And I (for one) am really impressed with the cutting stuff.

f

herrhauptmann · Post by **herrhauptmann** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 12:55 am

What impressed me the most with cutting the pipe was how he was able to check his strike after cutting the pipe. So he only put a small scratch into the wood stand, instead of cutting a several inch gash into it. Which you know, I would expect that kind of follow-through when someone does a power cut.

Kilkenny · Post by **Kilkenny** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 10:01 am

Gaston de Vieuxchamps wrote:
iomtalach wrote:
It was an unsharpened training longsword.

And I've taught a 6-year-old to break a one inch pine board. Pretty much the same thing.

G

yeah.. but turn the board 90 degrees... don't do it to the kids, that would just be mean...

Josh - somewhere between invulnerable plate armour and vorpal swords lies truth. Neither extreme position is sound.

Tristan vom Schwarzwald · Tue Apr 21, 2009 7:19 am

Kilkenny wrote:
Gaston de Vieuxchamps wrote:
iomtalach wrote:
It was an unsharpened training longsword.

And I've taught a 6-year-old to break a one inch pine board. Pretty much the same thing.

G

yeah.. but turn the board 90 degrees... don't do it to the kids, that would just be mean...

Josh - somewhere between invulnerable plate armour and vorpal swords lies truth. Neither extreme position is sound.

Now WHERE did I put my +5 Holy Avenger...?

Kenwrec Wulfe · Post by **Kenwrec Wulfe** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 10:12 am

I could use that guy in my shop to cut steel...

Did you watch part 2? He cuts an "iron sheet"