John Clements Videos : Body Efficiency in Sword Work

john clements kuroda tetsuzan body efficiency philosophy martial arts fencing longsword katana in sword work

Body Efficiency in Sword Work

European sword based martial arts and Asian sword based martial arts are based on the same body movements. No matter what weapon you use, higher level (meaning the most efficient, or the stuff that works by keeping you and others the most alive while using them), is the same basic use of body mechanics, deception, timing, and momentum. Martial art implies the ability to defend your life and others, not just put the sword in the right place or get someone on the ground, but without hesitation and without interference being able to take the life of someone in place of your own. There is a balance when learning martial arts between applying concepts in real time, and slowly training specific concepts inside a technique - of which there are many. Of the videos on YouTube, you can see Clements has a lot of real time technique performances, but not a lot of fine tuned motor skill technique that would allow for optimum efficiency without any interference (back and forth of momentum that causes more variables). Variables are what you want to get rid of, such as any excess rising or falling of the body, pushing and pulling back and forth, and any starts or stops in motion during the technique which create holes or gaps in which people could capitalize on. Of the videos on You Tube, Kuroda Tetsuzan shows a lot of the concepts inside a motion such as fine tuned motion without starts and stops. This is the motion where you are trying to reduce variables that can accumulate in a ...

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