Oh! Wanderful: 10 Naginata

[prinznevsky]

I always found it interesting why the naginata became associated with women. Historically, the warrior monks used them, and ladies could use swords and bows

[Archangelicque]

@prinznevsky The naginata became associated with women for two reasons: height, strength and distance. In Ancient Japan, women had to protect their homes while the men went to war in the battlefield. The naginata allowed women to fight the raiding men because with naginata the height and strength advantage of men is somewhat reduced as they are always kept at a distance when they fight. Women were thought to fight in the distance, naginata and bows were used. Women were last defenders of home.

[zenaku85]

Damm i would love to learn naginata. but in Aruba there's only Kendo, Iaijutsu etc.

[alejandrorevolucion]

@zenaku85 practice Kendo, i hope that when i can learn naginata my kendo skills will give me something much better than practice nothing.

[JohnnyWishbone85]

I, being a big-framed guy, like these weapons, as other weapons (at least in the context of competition, rather than warfare) favor small, lightning quick people, and ogres like me are left without an advantage (before an experienced foe; you can scare novices if you move quicker than they expect. :D). With polearms, strength is an asset in being able to move them around quickly. Ever see chinese practitioners going at it with a spear? :D

[Antiks72]

@JohnnyWishbone85 Those kung fu displays are awesome.

[sonofzeal]

@JohnnyWishbone85 actually, you'd be better off in karate or other unarmed combat. Naginata are traditionally a female weapon, precisely because they /minimize/ reliance on size and upper body strength, by keeping the enemy further away from you. It favours speed and reaction time even more than kendo does.

[JohnnyWishbone85]

@sonofzeal

I don't even know how to respond. What martial art do you do, what degree black belt are you, and how many times have you had to strike someone "in anger?" Why is it that so many people who do martial arts don't use their heads?

Second, since you mention the importance of speed in Naginata, do you not agree that the stronger someone is, the faster they would be able to move the weapon around?

[VBH8888]

@JohnnyWishbone85 If you use it regularly your body will adapt if your to big remember you have to use your muscles to swing weapon and lift your own heavy muscles wich drains alot to big is bad. but then again i can see that most motions just go with gravity to save energy spec if your in a battlefield and gotta have stamina for alot of people.

[VBH8888]

@JohnnyWishbone85 Most Martial Artist dont cause they learn the Modern SPORT! of it not the true Art. I mean all that UFC bullshit is crap. Rules??? Real martial arts is 1,2 dead not that or i have to punch his head 50 times crap. I grew up in a dojo noone should ever strike in anger period.

[ApprenticeOfAnubis]

@VBH8888 Striking in anger is fine in a real fight and seeking Revenge or I like to call it regaining Honor or respect. in modern times we usually do not need to strike in Anger because its very rarely needed to kill somone. But as a Person who respects Bushido. I know that Samurai are ment to keep the Peace. but have to be able to fight at the drop of a hat to the death to keep the peace if needed. anger is an emotion just like love and to deny what is Human is to deny ourselves.

[VBH8888]

@JohnnyWishbone85 Oh yea only most bull shit schools give out black belts fast.My Family style 6-7 years to even run up to first brown belts if you proof yourself enough and Shihan/Dad see you are mentaly ready. Then for Black belts 1Black 1 year, 2B 2 years and so on to 5th black.and then between 6,7,8, black belt you have to wait 10 years.Ive been doing it since birth im 20 currently and only on Brown cause I choose not to rush it.When I get back from Military thats when I feel I deserve 1st B

[JohnnyWishbone85]

I've read a couple of old (16th-18th century) fencing and military manuals, and most of them seem to agree that short-to-medium-length polearms like this, glaives, spontoons, etc., are incredibly formidable weapons at any range where one might use a sword, i.e., if you're too close for a glaive, then it's time to break out the daggers.

[Ironfungus]

Dude....

...it's a white guy! :D

[SparkDancer]

One thing I honestly cannot stand is when someone says naginatas aren't effective in close range combat. If one is skilled enough, they can use a naginata from any range, even when the opponent is close enough that you can feel their breath. It all depends on skill.

[VBH8888]

@SparkDancer well you could but its a def a downside having to move a shaft while the guy is holding the shaft and other side has a quik little knife. But it would be amazing being in a battle field and just swinging that thing when you have no friendlys to worrie about.

[que2pineapple]

they must be really good at swatting flies

[HadesOmega]

ouch owned! Yep a naginata is like a halberd or glaive. I practice both kendo and naginata and its a very interesting weapon in that you can attack from both sides of the body and the back end as well. Its got way more range than a shinai but its slower and loses in the close range.

[jamjax]

Rather fascinating i'd say. But there's always a learning curve. Who wants to spend a couple of years losing to girls. I'll stick with kendo thanks.

[Amyna]

@jamjax I see. So your kendo club doesn't have any skilled girls?

[gerardk51]

Interesting.

[dasenteney]

it's a spear with a blade on the end instead of just a point.

[LeTinctoire]

Naginata aren't spears. They're more like glaives.

[Polonium36]

for europeans: more like halberds ( ;

[LordZero666]

Yeah, just like Glaives... in fact much of the war era Naginatas were built using broken katanas as blades. And while you can stab with one, its more suitable for slashing. We do a little naginatajutsu here on Tatsumi ryu...

[dungad24]

Um...its the other way around. Naginata blades have a tang at least as long as the blade, if not longer, so a good naginata blade could be cut down into a tachi/kodachi- that's assuming it wasn't broken on the battlefield . As spears became the preferred weapon of the foot soldier, the 'naginata correction' happened a lot more.

[Ceibhfhionn]

More like he suits up to get beaten by old ladies. I <3 naginata senseis.

[Bahamut666X666]

I shall soon learn to effectively wield a naginata. Soon as I buy mine, that is.

[Aureliano5174]

I shall soon learn to effectively commence brain surgeries. Soon as I buy a scalpel, that is.

[kalmuke]

Few words are familiar from my Iaido class. Unfortunantely nobody teaches Naginata in my country. :(

[BrethrenAndBetrayer]

Same here

[ystgrathe]

So which country are you guys talking about? Meanwhile, Naginata has spread in quite a few places. To my mind, North and South America, Australia and most of Europe have their own Naginata-federations (Dojos included), being part of the International Naginata Federation. Altough practitioners are still way fewer than in Kendo or Karate or the like.

[BrethrenAndBetrayer]

Ireland for me.

[Evassassin]

naginata is mainly used by girls acctually, but its not like a guy would get laughed at for using it lol

[mattm56]

Not while he was holding it, anyway!

[oxladiz]

yes vry good japanese! im lerning japanese :D

[tanoshii12]

This guy speaks japanese very well! I love to see my fellow girls fighting!