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European swords are handled similarly, kinda. The handle is presented to the person you’re returning the sword to, showing trust. The actual manner in which it’s done is dependent on context.
Considering there is a proper way of handing a katana to another person, I'd have to assume there is a proper way to receive the katana as well. Any chance of a follow up video demonstrating this? Whether it's for safety reasons or to demonstrate respect for the person handing over the katana and the sword itself, it would be nice to know.
I ask, "why?" all the time. Upon reflection, I think it's because everything is, to some degree, interconnected. By understanding the things of which we are aware, we also understand things of which we are unaware. Eventually, the more we ask, "Why?", the more perceptive we become to larger important truths.
I think I would prefer the grip with one hand on the bottom and the other hand bracing the tsuba with the thumb and pointer finger. Probably because I would also prefer a larger sword.
Yeah but that's appeal to authority and not a reasonable take either. Without people questioning him, Shogo wouldn't have reason to make this video quickly and explain how and why the tradition came to be. This way, more people get properly educated. Insisting "It's just works", as Shogo explained, is one of the reason why Japan is failing to keep up in modern times. Explaining how it works, and searching IF there is a better way, is the way.
@@victoriazero8869 for something that harms, oppresses, or inflicts suffering on people I totally agree. But, this is not that. In this case there is no need to reinvent the wheel. It works exactly as intended without hurting anyone.
As my Father who learned Aikijiujutsu in Japan once told me. " When one is learning ' How ', they are becoming a Master. When one is learning ' Why ', they are becoming a Grandmaster. "
I mean, handing it the way you showed on the short did make sense to me. It’s basically the same as handing a kitchen knife. The only thing that confused me a bit was, why not put it back in the sheath first, but then someone replied to me that, in a shop, you’re given the katana unsheathen to avoid damaging it, which also makes perfect sense.
Theres a reason for doing it during training also. In my dojo we do cutting drills a couple times a year and often share shinken (sword for cutting) because not everyone owns one. When cutting, the blade gets moisture on it from the bamboo or cutting mats. We would need to clean it before returning it to the sheath so the moisture doesn't transfer to the inside and cause mold to grow there. It makes more sense to hand the sword like this throughout class and then clean and return it to the sheath only once, at the end.
For once, lets just trust Shogo when we see him handle his katanas. He has stated many of times that he is trained in Iaido so all of these is just basic katana handling etiquette that works, like how gun owners know the basic etiquette of handling guns (Finger off the trigger until ready to shoot, treat every gun as if its loaded, etc.)
Yeah but that's appeal to authority and not a reasonable take either. Without people questioning him, Shogo wouldn't have reason to make this video quickly and explain how and why the tradition came to be. This way, more people get properly educated.
@@victoriazero8869 "aPpEaL tO aUtHoRiTy" yes you should listen to people who objectively know more than you about things they have devoted lots of time to studying. This should not be a controversial position.
And before anyone @me again, remember that "ItJuSTworks" and "Ithasbeendonethisway" was the reason for Japanese keep lagging behind the times. SHOGO HIMSELF SAID IT.
Except that this is the OPPOSITE gun owners advocating for safe practices. His main arguments is that it is safe when EVERYTHING is going right. along with it's just tradition and it's always been done this way. The reason that those of us who do western sword martial arts hand swords pointed down is that because when something DOES NOT go right...maybe even catastrophically so and you lose complete grip control on the sword, it is MUCH safer if the sword is pointed down and not up with the blade pointed towards a person no less. In fact the edges shouldn't be facing anyone either. In fact this would be the equivalent of handing a gun to somebody with the barrel pointed at either you or the other person and going it's fine because I always keep it unloaded and it's how we have always done it. Unsafe is unsafe...PERIOD.
To shine a bit of light, in European countries, you generally hand over a sword/knife handle first, holding the blade (generally gripping the flat), kitchen knives are often passed with the blade pointed down. I understand where the commenters were coming from, having been taught to observe the above mentioned practice, but the fact that the Japanese method is still used means it must work well enough to keep the giver and recipient safe.
@@ambulocetusnatans i understand how swords are made. i am merely commenting on the fact that i have never heard of handing a knife point down. usually just handle toward the person while holding the flat of the blade. swords and such i always heard as being handed flat, two handed and hilt toward the individual. his video about the katana is very interesting.
That's how I was taught to hand a European sword to someone as well, the reason being we always want to be aware of where the edges and point of the sword are, so it should be pointed up where both sides can see the blade clearly. Especially for double edged European swords, both sides have to be aware of each step of the transfer so nothing unexpected happens.
Shogo I am a new Iaido practitioner it’s been 3 month’s so far.I asked my Senpai if he could test my Iaido for kiri oroshi so I handed him the katana in same manner that you did in your video.He was surprised that I did it right . Thank you so much for covering this subject.
This Japanese aversion to asking, "Why?" could be why we don't know the original "bunkai" for so many katas in the Japanese martial arts. For many years in many styles, students were taught katas without knowing WHY certain movements were important or what their purpose in actual fights were. In SOME katas, there is still debate over certain movements as to whether they were originally intended to "receive" a blow or to punch. There is just such a strong, "Do as I say without question." attitude in a dojo, even here in the U.S. some times. Interesting thought to ponder.
I believe that the student is not told why because they will have to use their skills to adapt to each situation, and since each situation can be unique, it requires actions that are unique to that situation, if your actions become predictable then then at some point so will you and it will be harder to achieve Victory over an opponent. And so each ' Master ' makes the Art their own.
There was some time in the early half of the 20th century where the teachings needed to kept a secret as it was outlawed to practice them in public. I'm sure this contributed to some knowledge being lost and a strong encouragement towards students no to talk too much about it.
@@paultemple5042 OP is right though. In a lot of styles the Bunkai application of many parts of their Katas is lost. If you ask the teachers for the application, often they will tell you an application that looks plausible on first glance, but it you pressure test it with a life Uke, it doesn't work at all. But if you do some research and are lucky, you may find the actual application and, i.e., it turns out a certain movement is not a defensive block against an incoming punch but an offensive frame in close quarters and all of a sudden the movement is totally applicable under pressure even in modern settings like an MMA fight.
This is gonna sound cheesy but there are somethings you just have to feel and experience. I ride a motorcycle and there are some things I learned through accident. Like using the backbreak to purposely go into a skid just to let it go and let the bike lurch back up. It became instinct to let go of the back break if I go into a back tire skid ,but knowing when you should do it was the part I had to learn for myself.
@@Ilovechickenssss That would be adequate from a safety standpoint, but it would be like saying "I don't really trust you", and would be considered very rude.
This was great one because you did show why it worked and the sense behind it. I know it shows my age but when I came up a lot of things like this were just how it is traditionally done or in media was phrased “the mysterious ways of the east” (if you hear that term worry) and that was it. Showing it makes sense gives it a validity that I find refreshing. That said, not talking about the Katana, I had swords and knives we handed them handle facing to the person you were giving them to. So the method you showed was not that much difference and having your strong fingers on the handle made sense. So thank you very much.
Shogo may i ask a question? there is no video about this. What happens to katanas that get their cutting eges chipped? do they get reforged? or just disposed of?
interesting. in teaching archery i get similar comments/questions. i think there's a lot of misconception out there due to people just assuming they know things because they consume popular media and have that as their only reference. even with my 7-ish years teaching and 12 years of practice sometimes i don't have an answer as to "why" and will definitely have to research and think of why that is. sometimes it just "is", but usually safety things there's always a reason.
@@pathevermore3683 Because the force of gripping a bow tight increases the shaking of the bow which lowers accuracy. So for target archery, you want the bow steadied with as least force as possible which means when the tension of the arrow release happens the bow fall forwards and you catch takes over.
Thanks for explaining why you hand katanas like this and even showing why the other options aren't always the best. I never held a sharp katana only medieval and katana that are blunt swords for stunt acting in my local Renaissance Faire.
Thank you for sharing your wisdom again Shogo san. Harumi is looking beautiful as always. I treat my iaito as if it was a real katana. I did have a situation where someone just grabbed my iaito off it's rest without asking me first and unsheathed it like a mad person. It was awkward to say the least! 😵💫🤦🏼♀
Shogo mentioned a bit of handling gun. But it’s a bit different. When we hand over a gun we make sure the muzzle is pointed away from anyone and that the load condition is clear (slide locked back and without magazine or cylinder open, in addition to treating as if it’s loaded). So if you have knowledge about gun both party can visually see that the gun cannot be any harm. But Kanata still have sharp blade attached when handle so it should be treated a bit more carefully.
Yes, that's what I was thinking at that moment. You would NEVER hand over a gun with the muzzle pointed at yourself (or in any direction with people). The difference between a gun and a sword is that not the muzzle is what's dangerous but what comes out of the muzzle. With a sword, the edge itself is the dangerous part.
All of these comments are coming from armchair enthusiasts who have never handled a katana before. But an important part about learning is questioning it.
As a cook in Canada, knives are presented horizontally, handle first, blade sticking away from both parties. I'm going to assume this was derived from how it's done in Europe.
Basically those ancient samurai (from Heian period) who already used and handle a katana or tachi already thought about what is dangerous or not dangerous when handle a katana, e.g. Like not holding the blade pointing downwards.
It would be cool to see a video about the laws of owning Japanese swords. Like can you just walk in public with one? Do you need training? Is there a registry?
I was thinking about handeling it sideways, but didn't take the rust into account, likely due to expecting sword care to be a thing when storing it again. But yea, most parts made perfect sense.
In some cases european swords are presented that way or held by the blade, especially in fiction, but the real examples often involve the sword presenter wearing gloves or gauntlets. And in all cases are done this way to show utmost respect fealty and trust to the person you're handing the sword to. Blade down handoffs are done sometimes but are generally considered bad form and unsafe as its easier for either person to grab the pommel and tilt the blade into someones body. however they can be handed off quickly that way. Not unlike handing someone a pistol by the barrel, they can grab it quickly and get it ready to go fast, but can also just grab it and shoot you in the gut before you let go. Generally a difference I notice is the katana is treated as more sacred, a sword is treated as a tool which your life depends on, but still just a tool, its handled with care and respect of the damage it can cause and the need for it to be kept functional, but not reverence. Though some schools of teaching do preach that one must have a similar reverence to their weapon, they dont necessarily take it as far in practice.
When he let go of the katana for a second, my soul left my body, got an education, secured a career, fell in love, got married, started a family, watched its kids grow up, grew old itself, died, resurrected, started a cult around itself and got betrayed by one of it's followers who sent it back to my body.
Question: In western society there is a ceremony called "knighting" in which the receiver of the honor kneels, or takes a knee, and the one bestowing the knighting taps the receiver on the shoulders with a sword? Is there some similar tradition in the East?
Back in the 1950's my family lived in Hawaii for a few years, and us kids learned to handle the (toy) Katana this way. The toy's were very well made replicas from Japan and some had hard wood or plastic blades, and the more expensive one's had pot-metal blades.
Have any of the people who made comments actually handled a katana? I'm a iaijutsu student and it's a fine way to pass a katana. Thank you Shogo for the video explaining the reasons.
Yes And a Knochenbrecher, an 11th Century Viking Sword, a 1860 Cavalry Sabre, and a 17th Century Italian rapier. I also have a nice tanto gifted to me (before the cheap commercial stuff flooded the market) while in Japan in 1974 but that's not a sword.
An amazing & entertaining and educational video I've discovered here. In addition your videos are always fun to watch, & I often learn new information on the Japanese culture from them. Further more I hope you continue to make more videos & I appreciate you & your team of friends, family & coworkers for sharing yours & the Japanese people's life stories.
Which is even MORE of a reason to handle it safely because it can do MORE damage. A kitchen knife is held down for SAFETY reason of MINIMIZED damage. That reason does NOT GO AWAY just because the blade got longer. Now there are TRADITIONS as to why you would not...but tradition does NOT MEAN SAFE. IF you are arguing that a katana should be handled in an unsafe manner because tradition is important and tradition says to do this or that...FINE. I am not against tradition. Just be honest and say it is unsafe. The ABSOLUTE SAFEST way to hand a katana over would be STANDING with the point DOWN and the edge NOT facing anyone. Just like a knife or any edges tool really.
@@ColdNapalm42 you watch the video at all? You see how easy it is for the hand to be tilted when holding the blade downward? Longer blade means a slight tilt and that metal goes straight to your thigh or crotch. Having the blade upward and “eye level” will also means the entire blade will always be within your view as you are handing it and making eye contact with the person, while downward the longer blade will make it out of view, risking it hitting something. Unlike a short kitchen knife. And if you are so clumsy that you can’t hold a blade up with two hands without it falling then you could also drop it on a feet when the blade is downward, and just shouldn’t be holding a katana at all.
@@RadenWA Oh no, the flat of a sword touched my leg...the horrors of what exactly? There should be ZERO chances of a sword being shoves into your crotch if you are STANDING. You seemed to have ignored a couple of important parts there and just focused on point down. So, you should have ZERO chances to lose control of a sword before holding one. Okay...NOBODY can handle a sword EVER. The reason the method I said is safe is because WHEN somebody loses control of the sword, the damage it does is minimized to a minor leg cut or a stabbed foot at WORST...not a sword in your brain. And if we are going from a you shouldn't jab, if you need to see your blade to know where it is, maybe you shouldn't be holding a blade either. Edit: And the method I mention was IF you had to pass along a bare blade. You really should be using the sheath, scabbards or sayas whenever possible to utterly maximize safety.
@@ColdNapalm42 please, watch the video at all. Then grab a long stick or w/e, hold it in that way and see how _hard_ it is to tilt the sword backwards for it to touch your face let alone hit it with enough force to “lodge it in your brain”. Your thumb literally doesn’t allow it. Then point it downward and see how easy it is to sway that long blade around. And it’s not just about hurting someone’s legs, it’s also to make sure the sword doesn’t hit anything at all, which would damage the blade. Putting it downwards or sideways puts it in range with your and other people’s body, table, floor, wall around you, etc. And fun fact…your skull is _harder_ than your stomach. That’s why they hit the latter for seppuku. And yes, there is ZERO chance of losing control of the blade with a firm two-handed grip. Please. It isn’t that hard, try it with a stick. You have to be really drunk for to make it as much as wobble. Especially not with something as revered as a katana, which people will _always_ handle with he utmost care.
As you’ve shown in this video, at my dojo we pass our iaito to each other with both hands on the tsuka, one at the bottom and one at the top with the ha facing towards ourselves.
9:03 you have the edge facing away from you, this is not how you hand a katana to your girlfriend. look at videos from Let's ask Shogo on youtube to learn how to do it properly.
I think I have a question. Is there any techinique in japanese swordsmanship that resembles the half swording, or the murder stroke in Europian marital arts?
I’ve seen a handful of paintings depicting samurai using a half-swording technique, but I don’t know the Context™ of those paintings, and I have never seen any discussion of the technique.
1:38 -- I have that book! Every serious admirer of the Katana ought to own a copy. My own school [Aikido with a strong Iai component] teaches something _slightly_ different, but the same in essence. We hold the katana with the right hand close to the tsuba, and the left hand supporting or cupping the kashira [the end of the handle]. We also turn the blade slightly so the edge isn't directly toward the holder. The person _receiving_ the katana takes the kashira end with his _left_ hand, and then places his _right_ hand on the handle in the proper place when the donor releases it. It works for us.
So basically, Japanese and Europeans Swords are treated quite differently. Both of them are treated as a very prestigious weapon, but whereas Katana are treated as a status symbol very seriously, European sword are treated as a weapon, first and foremost.
That's interesting. When we train with weapons, we always treat it like it's real; even though it's wooden. We train with knives, and one thing we're taught is to never drop the knife. because if it were real, it would cut someone's foot. We also hand weapons back carefully.
I trust that Shogo knows what he is doing. When he desires to train in the hidden art of keyboard ninja I'm sure you will have more than enough to say then.
"Why Katana Are Handed the Most Dangerous Way Possible" Because 1.) It's not actually the most dangerous way possible and 2.) because katanas are considered a sacred item in japan unlike european swords that are considered easily replacable tool for killing somebody.
Way to strawman. Of course nobody is saying this is the most dangerous way possible...but it is absolutely UNSAFE way to do it as loss of control of the blade will lead to serious injuries if not DEATH. If for example, you think the other person has control of the sword and you let go only to find they did not. Doing it for cultural reasons is fine. Claiming that it is safe is not.
I appreciate how you explained everything properly. I'm seeing comments questioning the intelligence of people asking the question of how it seems to be dangerous, and I have to disagree. A lot of us can't actually get a hold of a real katana, definitely not yet, and that's why we're on youtube To Be Informed, you know? I think the questions are valid, I also thought the same tbh. Thank you very much for explaining and showing it all yet again, Shogo ^^
So all of this is great information! I figured all of my questions had answers because martial traditions do not have no purpose when it comes to weapons especially. I do want to expand on something Shogo said on the thumb versus the pinky strength wise. The reason it is hard to press on the top is indeed bone structure, your wrist is not able to bend towards your thumb enough to cause such an angle as would be needed. The reason the pinky is weaker is actually also bone structure. Your hand is better at collapsing that way. A big reason reverse grip is not feasible for “defense” is because your wrist is not skeletally as strong on that side! This is something I am sure that Shogo knows, especially as he mentioned it in passing but I wanted it to be more clear for those who do not exist in such spaces!
In my opinion, the second holding position where one hand is at the cross guard and the other is at the base looks safest, since it’s a position for heavier katanas, and there’s still enough room in the grip for the owner to grab it.
Thanks for this video, Shogo! I practice Iaido and it would such a pleasure & honor to train with you one day! I also love traditional Japanese men's clothing!!
As shocking as the presentation looked in that short, I just assumed you knew better than I did about sword handling as the one who was making the video about katana etiquette. Though the more thorough explanation in this video was very much appreciated and very interesting! I’ve only handled tiny razor sharp objects (scalpels and other laboratory tools) and pointing the blade or sharp side of anything at anyone was considered a huge safety hazard because they were so sharp it was easy to slice through your gloves and skin without realizing it (I once slipped and dropped my forceps/tweezers while cleaning them and they were so sharp that they stuck upright on one prong in the hard tile floor, that would have definitely pierced through my shoes if I had dropped it on my foot). Seeing how your elbow is basically locked in place and how much better control you have holding the blade thumb-side up makes handling the big (hopefully not as razor sharp) sword that way a lot of sense since there isn’t as much risk in it slipping.
The typical western way of handing sword to another safely typically involves resheathing it as most western swords are double edged. So any other method is a bit dangerous unless you have armored/very thick gloves. As well we always either present it sideways or handle first for safety as well.
I actually take out and put back a lot of curved swords the way he does here, it just feels like common sense to let it rest on the back of the blade as you slide it in or out because that isn't the sharp side. Katanas and many other single edged swords will benefit from this way of doing it, even knives will. I have a saber that I removed and return to the sheathe in the same way as this.
I think the confusion stems from the general rules of axemanship. we are taught to pass an axe, hatchet, or knife to another person by holding the cutting edge below the hand and turning the edge sideways so that it is not facing either person. I think this rule is mainly taught so that when kids groups go camping, they have at least some concern for safety and don't just throw the tools at each other.
The "confusion" stems from the fact that what he is showing is utterly DANGEROUS while he is claiming it to be safe. Sword safe practices is to hand the sword from one person to the other while standing, with the edge(s) facing away from everyone and the point down. This is because if you have a mishap and lose control of the sword, the damage that sword can do in minimized. For example, something that happens often enough to be a thing for new swordspeople is that they hand the sword to you, think you have control of it before you actually do and let go. Handing the sword how I explained, worst case, the sword pierces your foot or cuts your leg. How Shogo does it, worst case, the sword goes into your head or neck and you DIE. Safe practices are safe practices because they work when everything is going right...but because they are safe for when everything is not.
@@ColdNapalm42 No, this is not a fact, this is blowing an act of trust, which clearly is not supposed to be made so casually or lightly in the first place, obtusely out of proportion. It's only dangerous if the people in question are careless idiots.
@@commanderblargh6300 so...let me get this straight...you are saying that if someone lises control of the sword while passing the Shogo showed, there is zero chance that the sword is going into their face? Or that people make zero mistakes as long as there is a bond of trust? Are you fraking insane? No matter how careful you think you are, people always can make mistakes. Which is why you have safety procedures...to minimize damage WHEN that happens.
The thumbnail is so contrast with your usual composed expression, and I laught out of it, sorry .. 😂🙏🏻 Btw, the explanation is very nice to know .. Thank you
In resume: don't try to argue with a Japanese. They know what they are doing, in every detail, due to HUNDREDS of years of trial and error (including people getting hurt/dying).
@@LetsaskShogo It did it to me on two of you're videos. Then I watched a trending video and let me like it. So I circled back to my watch history and TH-cam let me like your videos. I've never had it do that to me before.
hello Shogo-team, i found it suprising, that you consider putting something below eye-level to be disrespectful. Why is it considered disrespectful to look downwards? And how does a person work around that, if they are either very tall or very small? The bible was very revered and would be put below eye-level to be read. So it doesn't feel disrespectful to me, to hold something at such a height.
2:35 No usualy it would be handed in the sheath. Alot of them are dual edged so it really doesn't matter, Their isn't a right way to handle a sword (to hand it off at least) in the west. Their is a Efficient way, but no Correct way. The problem is most people today can't relate because today most people are relatively safe n clumsy, don't take any risks so forth n so on. Most people to ever handle a sword especially in the past, Didn't worry about little things like that, i imagine you worried more about hurting someone else rather than hurting themselves. & Always assumed that when they knew how to do something they would not get hurt from it. & Even if they did, its just a part of life. Yup people today, have nothing better to do than to fear something they are not connected too any longer, for the sake of worrying about life. Yeah those types of people could honestly learn from doing things like that for sure.
Might have something to do with western broadswords being influenced by christian/pagan cross symbology. The fuller on the blade give the fingers a safe place to index when presenting a broadsword sideways.
Imagine Shogo roasting you and he breaks it down to each section how he's going to (This is a joke Shogo I'm very sorry if you took this personally 🙇🏻)
These people complaining about how dangerous this looks have never learned the proper way to hand someone a knife or scissors - the proper, safe and respectful way to hand somebody a short blade in the west is holding it by the blade, with the blade pointing towards yourself. Also, yeah, european longswords are typically handed over underhand, blade down at a 45 degree angle, with your hand toward the guard. That's more a function of how the sheath is worn, though. There isn't really a proper, standardized method because historical European martial arts are poorly preserved - the only things the European masters thought were worth writing down were unusual techniques, because they took it for granted that everyone would already know the basics, so the traditions of swordsmanship largely died with the advent of mass manufactured firearms.
To be fair, if you're coming from a place where you know about guns, but not about swords, some of those questions make a lot more sense. Like, most of the rules of basic gun safety cover the bit about handing someone a gun and it going off. The first being "never point a gun (even an unloaded one) at something you don't want shot", and the second being "every gun is loaded until you have personally checked and made sure it isn't" Even the third helps a bit, "never put anything on the trigger until you're ready to fire". So if you were handing someone a gun, you'd keep it pointed at the ground, so that even if it went off, no one would get shot. Sometimes people point them into the air, but that isn't the best practice, because what goes up must come down. You'd most likely empty the weapon before handing it over, but whether you do or not the other person should assume it's loaded and not do anything that would result in someone getting shot. Then everyone should keep their fingers away from the trigger, so it's less likely to go off unintentionally. I can kind of guess the answer for this one, (mostly the shape of the handle) but the way the question was phrased about holding it sideways makes holding it with the tip up, but the blade pointing to the left or right instead of towards you seem like it could be an option.
I'm not aware of any "traditional" way of handing a european sword back. It's not as big a deal in general. I believe the handing it back upside down thing is from how guns are handed to people - held by the barrel with the grip facing them.
I think most people in the comments, or at least I, am more curious than questioning your authority or knowledge, or even the practice itself. We don't understand why something is done and from the outside, without the knowledge or tools to figure it out ourselves, we can only ask why
I think this is the biggest difference between japanese and european culture. Japanese honor their swords like an individual yet inseparable from it's master being with a soul. Europeans treat their swords as tools and sometimes more of a fashion item, I guess.
Intresting. I have practiced several iaido styles, kendo, and a little kenjustsu on and off for 30 years and never handed someone, or been handed, a katana without the saya.
It's still a silly thing to even discuss because there would always be a better way to attack, but someone that really wants to cut you while you're handing it to them wouldnt push on the handle. They'd push on the back of the blade higher up because that would put enough torque on your hands to overpower you.
I think the size of the blade makes it different from how you can handle these blades vs an ordinary kitchen knife. With a kitchen knife you can practically palm the blade but you can exactly palm the katan blade. Just because they are both blades doesn't mean they can be treated the same way.
Passing the katana from one person to another presents another problem. The handle would be passed from the giver's left hand to the receiver's right hand.
I think the thing with it falling on the head is more of a thing for mid transition of who has "control" of the blade...the same place where most accidental drops of items occur when transferring them. Something I don't think is as much of an issue with swords
I hope you were not using a sharp sword when you tried to push the katana at each other. Yes it's relatively safe BUT one slip up with a sharp g yikes!
fair points, but i dont think respect to the sword should even be a consideration when it comes to safety. like i understand why its important, but safety always comes first. also i dont think you touched on it but in the event that you dropped the sword, the tsuba would most likely save you from any damage if you hold the sword facing the floor and you drop it, at best the sword will hit the ground and be damaged, at worst it will stab someones foot or leg
I think people are skittish of having the business side of the katana facing the hander. Its just like handing a person a gun with the barrel pointed towards you.
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European swords are handled similarly, kinda. The handle is presented to the person you’re returning the sword to, showing trust. The actual manner in which it’s done is dependent on context.
Considering there is a proper way of handing a katana to another person, I'd have to assume there is a proper way to receive the katana as well.
Any chance of a follow up video demonstrating this?
Whether it's for safety reasons or to demonstrate respect for the person handing over the katana and the sword itself, it would be nice to know.
I ask, "why?" all the time. Upon reflection, I think it's because everything is, to some degree, interconnected.
By understanding the things of which we are aware, we also understand things of which we are unaware.
Eventually, the more we ask, "Why?", the more perceptive we become to larger important truths.
I'm glad there is an explanation for this one, there's so many things in Japan that just don't have any reason 😅
I think I would prefer the grip with one hand on the bottom and the other hand bracing the tsuba with the thumb and pointer finger. Probably because I would also prefer a larger sword.
I guess it turns out that people have already figured this problem out over the 800+ years of Japanese swords. Interesting. 🤔
Truly a surprise.
Yeah but that's appeal to authority and not a reasonable take either. Without people questioning him, Shogo wouldn't have reason to make this video quickly and explain how and why the tradition came to be. This way, more people get properly educated.
Insisting "It's just works", as Shogo explained, is one of the reason why Japan is failing to keep up in modern times. Explaining how it works, and searching IF there is a better way, is the way.
@@victoriazero8869 for something that harms, oppresses, or inflicts suffering on people I totally agree. But, this is not that. In this case there is no need to reinvent the wheel. It works exactly as intended without hurting anyone.
Surprised pikashu was never more appropriate
@@victoriazero8869 I think the opposite. I’ve never seen any manual explain more thoroughly than Japanese user manual.
As my Father who learned Aikijiujutsu in Japan once told me. " When one is learning ' How ', they are becoming a Master. When one is learning ' Why ', they are becoming a Grandmaster. "
That’s a very beautiful saying✨
@@LetsaskShogo Arigato Shogo. I'm studying Japanese so I can come to Japan and apologize for my Grandfather's mistake.
@@paultemple5042 what mistakes?
@@Big-BossX Sounds like he's from the States.
I mean, handing it the way you showed on the short did make sense to me. It’s basically the same as handing a kitchen knife.
The only thing that confused me a bit was, why not put it back in the sheath first, but then someone replied to me that, in a shop, you’re given the katana unsheathen to avoid damaging it, which also makes perfect sense.
Yeah that makes sense
Theres a reason for doing it during training also. In my dojo we do cutting drills a couple times a year and often share shinken (sword for cutting) because not everyone owns one. When cutting, the blade gets moisture on it from the bamboo or cutting mats. We would need to clean it before returning it to the sheath so the moisture doesn't transfer to the inside and cause mold to grow there. It makes more sense to hand the sword like this throughout class and then clean and return it to the sheath only once, at the end.
For once, lets just trust Shogo when we see him handle his katanas. He has stated many of times that he is trained in Iaido so all of these is just basic katana handling etiquette that works, like how gun owners know the basic etiquette of handling guns (Finger off the trigger until ready to shoot, treat every gun as if its loaded, etc.)
Yeah but that's appeal to authority and not a reasonable take either. Without people questioning him, Shogo wouldn't have reason to make this video quickly and explain how and why the tradition came to be. This way, more people get properly educated.
@@victoriazero8869 "aPpEaL tO aUtHoRiTy" yes you should listen to people who objectively know more than you about things they have devoted lots of time to studying. This should not be a controversial position.
And before anyone @me again, remember that "ItJuSTworks" and "Ithasbeendonethisway" was the reason for Japanese keep lagging behind the times. SHOGO HIMSELF SAID IT.
Inquiring minds like to know. And look, we were gifted a lovely new post
Except that this is the OPPOSITE gun owners advocating for safe practices. His main arguments is that it is safe when EVERYTHING is going right. along with it's just tradition and it's always been done this way. The reason that those of us who do western sword martial arts hand swords pointed down is that because when something DOES NOT go right...maybe even catastrophically so and you lose complete grip control on the sword, it is MUCH safer if the sword is pointed down and not up with the blade pointed towards a person no less. In fact the edges shouldn't be facing anyone either. In fact this would be the equivalent of handing a gun to somebody with the barrel pointed at either you or the other person and going it's fine because I always keep it unloaded and it's how we have always done it. Unsafe is unsafe...PERIOD.
To shine a bit of light, in European countries, you generally hand over a sword/knife handle first, holding the blade (generally gripping the flat), kitchen knives are often passed with the blade pointed down. I understand where the commenters were coming from, having been taught to observe the above mentioned practice, but the fact that the Japanese method is still used means it must work well enough to keep the giver and recipient safe.
do you have sword?
That's interesting about kitchen knives. I usually hand any exposed blade knife via handle first holding the blade.
@@gregsquire9704 Kitchen knives are often made of stainless steel; swords are not.
@@ambulocetusnatans i understand how swords are made. i am merely commenting on the fact that i have never heard of handing a knife point down. usually just handle toward the person while holding the flat of the blade. swords and such i always heard as being handed flat, two handed and hilt toward the individual. his video about the katana is very interesting.
@@gregsquire9704 I was speaking from my experience, everyone has their own way
That's how I was taught to hand a European sword to someone as well, the reason being we always want to be aware of where the edges and point of the sword are, so it should be pointed up where both sides can see the blade clearly. Especially for double edged European swords, both sides have to be aware of each step of the transfer so nothing unexpected happens.
It’s the same with firearms always transfer it with the action open and unloaded and facing in a way so both sides can see that it is safe to handle
Shogo I am a new Iaido practitioner it’s been 3 month’s so far.I asked my Senpai if he could test my Iaido for kiri oroshi so I handed him the katana in same manner that you did in your video.He was
surprised that I did it right . Thank you so much for covering this subject.
That’s great to hear😍
This Japanese aversion to asking, "Why?" could be why we don't know the original "bunkai" for so many katas in the Japanese martial arts. For many years in many styles, students were taught katas without knowing WHY certain movements were important or what their purpose in actual fights were. In SOME katas, there is still debate over certain movements as to whether they were originally intended to "receive" a blow or to punch. There is just such a strong, "Do as I say without question." attitude in a dojo, even here in the U.S. some times. Interesting thought to ponder.
I believe that the student is not told why because they will have to use their skills to adapt to each situation, and since each situation can be unique, it requires actions that are unique to that situation, if your actions become predictable then then at some point so will you and it will be harder to achieve Victory over an opponent. And so each ' Master ' makes the Art their own.
There was some time in the early half of the 20th century where the teachings needed to kept a secret as it was outlawed to practice them in public. I'm sure this contributed to some knowledge being lost and a strong encouragement towards students no to talk too much about it.
@@paultemple5042 OP is right though. In a lot of styles the Bunkai application of many parts of their Katas is lost. If you ask the teachers for the application, often they will tell you an application that looks plausible on first glance, but it you pressure test it with a life Uke, it doesn't work at all. But if you do some research and are lucky, you may find the actual application and, i.e., it turns out a certain movement is not a defensive block against an incoming punch but an offensive frame in close quarters and all of a sudden the movement is totally applicable under pressure even in modern settings like an MMA fight.
This is gonna sound cheesy but there are somethings you just have to feel and experience.
I ride a motorcycle and there are some things I learned through accident. Like using the backbreak to purposely go into a skid just to let it go and let the bike lurch back up.
It became instinct to let go of the back break if I go into a back tire skid ,but knowing when you should do it was the part I had to learn for myself.
@@paultemple5042 but knowing the why allows for more adaptability
Thank you Shogo! Proper katana etiquete is important to know! :) It’s great to know the reasoning behind it.
THANK YOU
I tried to explain this correctly as possible in the shorts comments but a lot of people still didn't understand katana etiquette.
It seems like common sense now, but when I look back on how many mistakes I made as a beginner, I guess it's not common.
Just curious what if you hold it upwards but the blade is facing the side
@@Ilovechickenssss That would be adequate from a safety standpoint, but it would be like saying "I don't really trust you", and would be considered very rude.
@@ambulocetusnatans oh so it's like that... I see. So it's safe but it's rude?
This was great one because you did show why it worked and the sense behind it. I know it shows my age but when I came up a lot of things like this were just how it is traditionally done or in media was phrased “the mysterious ways of the east” (if you hear that term worry) and that was it. Showing it makes sense gives it a validity that I find refreshing.
That said, not talking about the Katana, I had swords and knives we handed them handle facing to the person you were giving them to. So the method you showed was not that much difference and having your strong fingers on the handle made sense. So thank you very much.
Shogo may i ask a question? there is no video about this. What happens to katanas that get their cutting eges chipped? do they get reforged? or just disposed of?
It’s literally just like gun safety…..
Yes and no... When a sword is in the air it's like it's loaded, u drop it, it goes off.
@@stonefox9124 Just lift some weights so you don't drop something so easy to hold you numbcup 💀
@@stonefox9124 exactly.....
Seeing Shogo and his wife so happy and smiley is the best part of any episodes
😍😍😍
interesting. in teaching archery i get similar comments/questions. i think there's a lot of misconception out there due to people just assuming they know things because they consume popular media and have that as their only reference. even with my 7-ish years teaching and 12 years of practice sometimes i don't have an answer as to "why" and will definitely have to research and think of why that is. sometimes it just "is", but usually safety things there's always a reason.
i mean, why do you let the bow fall forward after you shoot.
@@pathevermore3683 Because the force of gripping a bow tight increases the shaking of the bow which lowers accuracy. So for target archery, you want the bow steadied with as least force as possible which means when the tension of the arrow release happens the bow fall forwards and you catch takes over.
@@ColdNapalm42 interesting, thanks. i had wondered about that.
Thanks for explaining why you hand katanas like this and even showing why the other options aren't always the best. I never held a sharp katana only medieval and katana that are blunt swords for stunt acting in my local Renaissance Faire.
Thank you for sharing your wisdom again Shogo san. Harumi is looking beautiful as always. I treat my iaito as if it was a real katana. I did have a situation where someone just grabbed my iaito off it's rest without asking me first and unsheathed it like a mad person. It was awkward to say the least! 😵💫🤦🏼♀
Wow that would be super awkward😨
People are not aware that exists sahō or rei hō for kenjutsu and even it can be slightly different depending on ryū ha
Shogo mentioned a bit of handling gun. But it’s a bit different. When we hand over a gun we make sure the muzzle is pointed away from anyone and that the load condition is clear (slide locked back and without magazine or cylinder open, in addition to treating as if it’s loaded). So if you have knowledge about gun both party can visually see that the gun cannot be any harm. But Kanata still have sharp blade attached when handle so it should be treated a bit more carefully.
Yes, that's what I was thinking at that moment. You would NEVER hand over a gun with the muzzle pointed at yourself (or in any direction with people).
The difference between a gun and a sword is that not the muzzle is what's dangerous but what comes out of the muzzle. With a sword, the edge itself is the dangerous part.
@@angelsjoker8190 Which is why it is better to know where that edge is, than to have the edge in a place you cannot easily see.
This makes sense in my opinion ☺️
thanks for all of the clarifications, shogo. i personally thought that the short was explained well enough, but this helped to really prove the point.
I am very glad you say so!✨
The fact that some folks are *still* trying to argue with you in the comments... smh
All of these comments are coming from armchair enthusiasts who have never handled a katana before.
But an important part about learning is questioning it.
As a cook in Canada, knives are presented horizontally, handle first, blade sticking away from both parties.
I'm going to assume this was derived from how it's done in Europe.
Yes in Europe we do this with sharp objects, knives and siccors, etc. However I am not sure how swords are handled.
@@benderrodriguez5425 swords are handled the same way, as this practice came from sword etiquette.
@@RogerTheil thank you. Not doubting you but do you have any source on that, by any chance?
Fair enough. However swords are a very different matter than kitchen knives.
That is one of the ways in which it is done in Europe, yes.
Basically those ancient samurai (from Heian period) who already used and handle a katana or tachi already thought about what is dangerous or not dangerous when handle a katana, e.g. Like not holding the blade pointing downwards.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 that thumbnail face 🤣🤣🤣🤣
It would be cool to see a video about the laws of owning Japanese swords. Like can you just walk in public with one? Do you need training? Is there a registry?
Imagine accidentally killing someone when handing the katana💀 "oh, sorry"
I was thinking about handeling it sideways, but didn't take the rust into account, likely due to expecting sword care to be a thing when storing it again.
But yea, most parts made perfect sense.
Seeing him try to hold the blade sideways just made my fingers feel like they were getting chopped off. That'd probably be MY biggest fear
In some cases european swords are presented that way or held by the blade, especially in fiction, but the real examples often involve the sword presenter wearing gloves or gauntlets. And in all cases are done this way to show utmost respect fealty and trust to the person you're handing the sword to.
Blade down handoffs are done sometimes but are generally considered bad form and unsafe as its easier for either person to grab the pommel and tilt the blade into someones body. however they can be handed off quickly that way. Not unlike handing someone a pistol by the barrel, they can grab it quickly and get it ready to go fast, but can also just grab it and shoot you in the gut before you let go.
Generally a difference I notice is the katana is treated as more sacred, a sword is treated as a tool which your life depends on, but still just a tool, its handled with care and respect of the damage it can cause and the need for it to be kept functional, but not reverence. Though some schools of teaching do preach that one must have a similar reverence to their weapon, they dont necessarily take it as far in practice.
When he let go of the katana for a second, my soul left my body, got an education, secured a career, fell in love, got married, started a family, watched its kids grow up, grew old itself, died, resurrected, started a cult around itself and got betrayed by one of it's followers who sent it back to my body.
Question:
In western society there is a ceremony called "knighting" in which the receiver of the honor kneels, or takes a knee, and the one bestowing the knighting taps the receiver on the shoulders with a sword? Is there some similar tradition in the East?
Thank you for clarifying the tradition and the proper way to handle a katana.
Back in the 1950's my family lived in Hawaii for a few years, and us kids learned to handle the (toy) Katana this way. The toy's were very well made replicas from Japan and some had hard wood or plastic blades, and the more expensive one's had pot-metal blades.
That thumbnail is the perfect cringe face to react to comments.
Have any of the people who made comments actually handled a katana? I'm a iaijutsu student and it's a fine way to pass a katana. Thank you Shogo for the video explaining the reasons.
Yes
And a Knochenbrecher, an 11th Century Viking Sword, a 1860 Cavalry Sabre, and a 17th Century Italian rapier.
I also have a nice tanto gifted to me (before the cheap commercial stuff flooded the market) while in Japan in 1974 but that's not a sword.
Hello Shogo San, can you make review please about shirasaya sword (Zatoichi style blade) and practical tameshigiri, best regards Konstantin 🙇🏻♂️
An amazing & entertaining and educational video I've discovered here. In addition your videos are always fun to watch, & I often learn new information on the Japanese culture from them. Further more I hope you continue to make more videos & I appreciate you & your team of friends, family & coworkers for sharing yours & the Japanese people's life stories.
The funniest comment is “why don’t you handle it like a kitchen knife” because it’s a f***kin katana not a kitchen knife, 4head 🤦♂️
Which is even MORE of a reason to handle it safely because it can do MORE damage. A kitchen knife is held down for SAFETY reason of MINIMIZED damage. That reason does NOT GO AWAY just because the blade got longer. Now there are TRADITIONS as to why you would not...but tradition does NOT MEAN SAFE. IF you are arguing that a katana should be handled in an unsafe manner because tradition is important and tradition says to do this or that...FINE. I am not against tradition. Just be honest and say it is unsafe. The ABSOLUTE SAFEST way to hand a katana over would be STANDING with the point DOWN and the edge NOT facing anyone. Just like a knife or any edges tool really.
@@ColdNapalm42 you watch the video at all? You see how easy it is for the hand to be tilted when holding the blade downward? Longer blade means a slight tilt and that metal goes straight to your thigh or crotch. Having the blade upward and “eye level” will also means the entire blade will always be within your view as you are handing it and making eye contact with the person, while downward the longer blade will make it out of view, risking it hitting something. Unlike a short kitchen knife.
And if you are so clumsy that you can’t hold a blade up with two hands without it falling then you could also drop it on a feet when the blade is downward, and just shouldn’t be holding a katana at all.
@@RadenWA Oh no, the flat of a sword touched my leg...the horrors of what exactly? There should be ZERO chances of a sword being shoves into your crotch if you are STANDING. You seemed to have ignored a couple of important parts there and just focused on point down.
So, you should have ZERO chances to lose control of a sword before holding one. Okay...NOBODY can handle a sword EVER. The reason the method I said is safe is because WHEN somebody loses control of the sword, the damage it does is minimized to a minor leg cut or a stabbed foot at WORST...not a sword in your brain.
And if we are going from a you shouldn't jab, if you need to see your blade to know where it is, maybe you shouldn't be holding a blade either.
Edit: And the method I mention was IF you had to pass along a bare blade. You really should be using the sheath, scabbards or sayas whenever possible to utterly maximize safety.
@@ColdNapalm42 please, watch the video at all. Then grab a long stick or w/e, hold it in that way and see how _hard_ it is to tilt the sword backwards for it to touch your face let alone hit it with enough force to “lodge it in your brain”. Your thumb literally doesn’t allow it. Then point it downward and see how easy it is to sway that long blade around. And it’s not just about hurting someone’s legs, it’s also to make sure the sword doesn’t hit anything at all, which would damage the blade. Putting it downwards or sideways puts it in range with your and other people’s body, table, floor, wall around you, etc. And fun fact…your skull is _harder_ than your stomach. That’s why they hit the latter for seppuku.
And yes, there is ZERO chance of losing control of the blade with a firm two-handed grip. Please. It isn’t that hard, try it with a stick. You have to be really drunk for to make it as much as wobble. Especially not with something as revered as a katana, which people will _always_ handle with he utmost care.
As you’ve shown in this video, at my dojo we pass our iaito to each other with both hands on the tsuka, one at the bottom and one at the top with the ha facing towards ourselves.
*Wow! In the end, you knew better than all the idiots in the comments... Who could've guessed!*
9:03 you have the edge facing away from you, this is not how you hand a katana to your girlfriend. look at videos from Let's ask Shogo on youtube to learn how to do it properly.
It's sad you had to make this video for those few individuals but at last that is now the society we live in.
Kitchen and chef knives are pointed downward when carrying them around to minimize injury. Guess that was why people were asking about that.
Speaking of, what do you look for in a Katana when at a swordshop???
If you point the katana down your just literally breaking your floor
I think I have a question. Is there any techinique in japanese swordsmanship that resembles the half swording, or the murder stroke in Europian marital arts?
I’ve seen a handful of paintings depicting samurai using a half-swording technique, but I don’t know the Context™ of those paintings, and I have never seen any discussion of the technique.
That face in the thumbnail gotta be the most cursed Shogo face that I've ever seen
1:38 -- I have that book! Every serious admirer of the Katana ought to own a copy. My own school [Aikido with a strong Iai component] teaches something _slightly_ different, but the same in essence. We hold the katana with the right hand close to the tsuba, and the left hand supporting or cupping the kashira [the end of the handle]. We also turn the blade slightly so the edge isn't directly toward the holder. The person _receiving_ the katana takes the kashira end with his _left_ hand, and then places his _right_ hand on the handle in the proper place when the donor releases it. It works for us.
but wouldn’t you hand it to them with the sheath on? I haven’t watched the video yet so i don’t know if you said this.
So basically, Japanese and Europeans Swords are treated quite differently. Both of them are treated as a very prestigious weapon, but whereas Katana are treated as a status symbol very seriously, European sword are treated as a weapon, first and foremost.
Thanks for the pfp
That's interesting. When we train with weapons, we always treat it like it's real; even though it's wooden. We train with knives, and one thing we're taught is to never drop the knife. because if it were real, it would cut someone's foot. We also hand weapons back carefully.
I trust that Shogo knows what he is doing. When he desires to train in the hidden art of keyboard ninja I'm sure you will have more than enough to say then.
"Why Katana Are Handed the Most Dangerous Way Possible"
Because 1.) It's not actually the most dangerous way possible and 2.) because katanas are considered a sacred item in japan unlike european swords that are considered easily replacable tool for killing somebody.
Way to strawman. Of course nobody is saying this is the most dangerous way possible...but it is absolutely UNSAFE way to do it as loss of control of the blade will lead to serious injuries if not DEATH. If for example, you think the other person has control of the sword and you let go only to find they did not. Doing it for cultural reasons is fine. Claiming that it is safe is not.
Спасибо очень интересное видео
I appreciate how you explained everything properly. I'm seeing comments questioning the intelligence of people asking the question of how it seems to be dangerous, and I have to disagree. A lot of us can't actually get a hold of a real katana, definitely not yet, and that's why we're on youtube To Be Informed, you know? I think the questions are valid, I also thought the same tbh. Thank you very much for explaining and showing it all yet again, Shogo ^^
First I think😭
Yo
Congrats
So all of this is great information! I figured all of my questions had answers because martial traditions do not have no purpose when it comes to weapons especially. I do want to expand on something Shogo said on the thumb versus the pinky strength wise.
The reason it is hard to press on the top is indeed bone structure, your wrist is not able to bend towards your thumb enough to cause such an angle as would be needed. The reason the pinky is weaker is actually also bone structure. Your hand is better at collapsing that way. A big reason reverse grip is not feasible for “defense” is because your wrist is not skeletally as strong on that side! This is something I am sure that Shogo knows, especially as he mentioned it in passing but I wanted it to be more clear for those who do not exist in such spaces!
Is the demonstration katana a real katana?
I’m sorry if you thought my comment was going against you, I was just curious and meant no harm. It was only from a place of interest, nothing else.
In my opinion, the second holding position where one hand is at the cross guard and the other is at the base looks safest, since it’s a position for heavier katanas, and there’s still enough room in the grip for the owner to grab it.
Thanks for this video, Shogo! I practice Iaido and it would such a pleasure & honor to train with you one day! I also love traditional Japanese men's clothing!!
As shocking as the presentation looked in that short, I just assumed you knew better than I did about sword handling as the one who was making the video about katana etiquette. Though the more thorough explanation in this video was very much appreciated and very interesting! I’ve only handled tiny razor sharp objects (scalpels and other laboratory tools) and pointing the blade or sharp side of anything at anyone was considered a huge safety hazard because they were so sharp it was easy to slice through your gloves and skin without realizing it (I once slipped and dropped my forceps/tweezers while cleaning them and they were so sharp that they stuck upright on one prong in the hard tile floor, that would have definitely pierced through my shoes if I had dropped it on my foot). Seeing how your elbow is basically locked in place and how much better control you have holding the blade thumb-side up makes handling the big (hopefully not as razor sharp) sword that way a lot of sense since there isn’t as much risk in it slipping.
The typical western way of handing sword to another safely typically involves resheathing it as most western swords are double edged. So any other method is a bit dangerous unless you have armored/very thick gloves. As well we always either present it sideways or handle first for safety as well.
I actually take out and put back a lot of curved swords the way he does here, it just feels like common sense to let it rest on the back of the blade as you slide it in or out because that isn't the sharp side. Katanas and many other single edged swords will benefit from this way of doing it, even knives will. I have a saber that I removed and return to the sheathe in the same way as this.
Your profile pic motivates me
This was very interesting, thanks!
I had wondered about that, but this all makes sense now. I guess I've learned something about human anatomy too.
I think the confusion stems from the general rules of axemanship. we are taught to pass an axe, hatchet, or knife to another person by holding the cutting edge below the hand and turning the edge sideways so that it is not facing either person. I think this rule is mainly taught so that when kids groups go camping, they have at least some concern for safety and don't just throw the tools at each other.
The "confusion" stems from the fact that what he is showing is utterly DANGEROUS while he is claiming it to be safe. Sword safe practices is to hand the sword from one person to the other while standing, with the edge(s) facing away from everyone and the point down. This is because if you have a mishap and lose control of the sword, the damage that sword can do in minimized. For example, something that happens often enough to be a thing for new swordspeople is that they hand the sword to you, think you have control of it before you actually do and let go. Handing the sword how I explained, worst case, the sword pierces your foot or cuts your leg. How Shogo does it, worst case, the sword goes into your head or neck and you DIE. Safe practices are safe practices because they work when everything is going right...but because they are safe for when everything is not.
@@ColdNapalm42
No, this is not a fact, this is blowing an act of trust, which clearly is not supposed to be made so casually or lightly in the first place, obtusely out of proportion. It's only dangerous if the people in question are careless idiots.
@@commanderblargh6300 so...let me get this straight...you are saying that if someone lises control of the sword while passing the Shogo showed, there is zero chance that the sword is going into their face? Or that people make zero mistakes as long as there is a bond of trust? Are you fraking insane? No matter how careful you think you are, people always can make mistakes. Which is why you have safety procedures...to minimize damage WHEN that happens.
The thumbnail is so contrast with your usual composed expression, and I laught out of it, sorry .. 😂🙏🏻
Btw, the explanation is very nice to know .. Thank you
In resume: don't try to argue with a Japanese. They know what they are doing, in every detail, due to HUNDREDS of years of trial and error (including people getting hurt/dying).
Shogo spends 15 minutes explaining why. The comment sections complains about why.
Also if you think about double edge swords, like the European long swords, you have the edge both ways one to your face and one to the enemy's.
I tried so many times to "like" this video but it just keeps opening a video analytics in another window.
🤔
@@LetsaskShogo It did it to me on two of you're videos. Then I watched a trending video and let me like it. So I circled back to my watch history and TH-cam let me like your videos. I've never had it do that to me before.
hello Shogo-team,
i found it suprising, that you consider putting something below eye-level to be disrespectful. Why is it considered disrespectful to look downwards? And how does a person work around that, if they are either very tall or very small?
The bible was very revered and would be put below eye-level to be read. So it doesn't feel disrespectful to me, to hold something at such a height.
2:35 No usualy it would be handed in the sheath. Alot of them are dual edged so it really doesn't matter, Their isn't a right way to handle a sword (to hand it off at least) in the west. Their is a Efficient way, but no Correct way. The problem is most people today can't relate because today most people are relatively safe n clumsy, don't take any risks so forth n so on. Most people to ever handle a sword especially in the past, Didn't worry about little things like that, i imagine you worried more about hurting someone else rather than hurting themselves. & Always assumed that when they knew how to do something they would not get hurt from it. & Even if they did, its just a part of life. Yup people today, have nothing better to do than to fear something they are not connected too any longer, for the sake of worrying about life. Yeah those types of people could honestly learn from doing things like that for sure.
Might have something to do with western broadswords being influenced by christian/pagan cross symbology.
The fuller on the blade give the fingers a safe place to index when presenting a broadsword sideways.
Imagine Shogo roasting you and he breaks it down to each section how he's going to (This is a joke Shogo I'm very sorry if you took this personally 🙇🏻)
These people complaining about how dangerous this looks have never learned the proper way to hand someone a knife or scissors - the proper, safe and respectful way to hand somebody a short blade in the west is holding it by the blade, with the blade pointing towards yourself.
Also, yeah, european longswords are typically handed over underhand, blade down at a 45 degree angle, with your hand toward the guard. That's more a function of how the sheath is worn, though. There isn't really a proper, standardized method because historical European martial arts are poorly preserved - the only things the European masters thought were worth writing down were unusual techniques, because they took it for granted that everyone would already know the basics, so the traditions of swordsmanship largely died with the advent of mass manufactured firearms.
To be fair, if you're coming from a place where you know about guns, but not about swords, some of those questions make a lot more sense. Like, most of the rules of basic gun safety cover the bit about handing someone a gun and it going off. The first being "never point a gun (even an unloaded one) at something you don't want shot", and the second being "every gun is loaded until you have personally checked and made sure it isn't" Even the third helps a bit, "never put anything on the trigger until you're ready to fire". So if you were handing someone a gun, you'd keep it pointed at the ground, so that even if it went off, no one would get shot. Sometimes people point them into the air, but that isn't the best practice, because what goes up must come down. You'd most likely empty the weapon before handing it over, but whether you do or not the other person should assume it's loaded and not do anything that would result in someone getting shot. Then everyone should keep their fingers away from the trigger, so it's less likely to go off unintentionally.
I can kind of guess the answer for this one, (mostly the shape of the handle) but the way the question was phrased about holding it sideways makes holding it with the tip up, but the blade pointing to the left or right instead of towards you seem like it could be an option.
I think it looks dangerous because people don't realize swords aren't just a long stick of metal they're balanced rather carefully.
I'm not aware of any "traditional" way of handing a european sword back. It's not as big a deal in general.
I believe the handing it back upside down thing is from how guns are handed to people - held by the barrel with the grip facing them.
Shogo: It doesn't make any sound.
Movies: (schwing!)
:D
I think most people in the comments, or at least I, am more curious than questioning your authority or knowledge, or even the practice itself. We don't understand why something is done and from the outside, without the knowledge or tools to figure it out ourselves, we can only ask why
I think this is the biggest difference between japanese and european culture. Japanese honor their swords like an individual yet inseparable from it's master being with a soul. Europeans treat their swords as tools and sometimes more of a fashion item, I guess.
Intresting. I have practiced several iaido styles, kendo, and a little kenjustsu on and off for 30 years and never handed someone, or been handed, a katana without the saya.
Interesting video, thanks. My first thought was if you're both sitting and you point the katana downward someone might get poked in the leg.
It's still a silly thing to even discuss because there would always be a better way to attack, but someone that really wants to cut you while you're handing it to them wouldnt push on the handle. They'd push on the back of the blade higher up because that would put enough torque on your hands to overpower you.
Because you're locking your thumb against your wrist
I think the size of the blade makes it different from how you can handle these blades vs an ordinary kitchen knife. With a kitchen knife you can practically palm the blade but you can exactly palm the katan blade. Just because they are both blades doesn't mean they can be treated the same way.
Passing the katana from one person to another presents another problem. The handle would be passed from the giver's left hand to the receiver's right hand.
Worst way to handle katana? Using it as the "Mordhau" or murder stroke like some dull European blade.
For side ways I was thinking of it being the form you said but the blade faces side ways. Will that work?
I think it's because you hold it at the bottom which looks way less controlled
Just below the tsuba would look fine for example.
I think the thing with it falling on the head is more of a thing for mid transition of who has "control" of the blade...the same place where most accidental drops of items occur when transferring them. Something I don't think is as much of an issue with swords
I hope you were not using a sharp sword when you tried to push the katana at each other. Yes it's relatively safe BUT one slip up with a sharp g yikes!
You're gonna get houdini'd by your friend with these multiple demos
fair points, but i dont think respect to the sword should even be a consideration when it comes to safety. like i understand why its important, but safety always comes first.
also i dont think you touched on it but in the event that you dropped the sword, the tsuba would most likely save you from any damage
if you hold the sword facing the floor and you drop it, at best the sword will hit the ground and be damaged, at worst it will stab someones foot or leg
I would really like a Video in which you show all of the katana seen in the background, and tell us some Things about them :)
I think people are skittish of having the business side of the katana facing the hander. Its just like handing a person a gun with the barrel pointed towards you.