Angel Sword Tatami Mat Cutting Competition at TRF 2004

[samuraichuck87]

the last guy looked like he bent his sword a bit.... also pinesol dosnt seem like

a good thing for a sword.... seeing how it has corrosive agents that will marr the blade.... although last time i soaked tattami in my bathtub it smelled like a stable :( also not good.

[102611ful]

angel sword reminds me of sepiroth sword but bruce seemed on his game he had a karate kid moment lol.

[TexasRenaissance]

I think we have a winner.

[BlackSwordSaint]

They didn't to familiar with handling greatswords/nodachis. And that's the case they might of done better if they had something they were more use to mabye.

[whop9]

Users 1, 2, and 4 looked as if they were just attempting to hack at the mats instead of using a pulling motion seem in the third attempt.

[ytacc0]

They all failed. But that looks to be some dense mats!

[artiepoore]

the third one succeeded

[Garrison64]

Baldwin's cut was impressive. 23 and he made it look easy.

[SneakySolidSnake]

i once cut 500 mats with my flaming sword of destiny...

[tathtath]

good one XD

[HempsteadHuff]

I bought a claymore from Angelsword last year. High quality stuff. When they say it's combat ready, they mean just that! Although it's not recommended to go out and scuff up your new sword, I did a little just to see how good it was Lol!

[RonOrGina]

I hear ya there where you don't want to scuff it up but it sure is tempting to cut things once you get that new sword in your hands. You gotta admit that one! ;)

[orphenjj]

i think it is good katana for large cut!!!!

[magneticskull]

This isn't a nagamaki, a naginata or a nodachi, it's a Tatami Cutter. (is this Harbinger or some other blade?)

It's not designed to be historical, or for fighting, it's a purpose designed multiple mat cutting tool.

Might as well have a John Deere logo on it. :)

[GTFORDMAN]

there impressive looking swords in any case

[wuming108]

There's a new book out-

A Practical Guide to Test Cutting for Historical Swordsmanship

by Scott M. Rodell that is getting good reviews, it's on his site, sevenstarstrading & Amazon.

[GGrrrrriffffoonn]

awesome! I know it's just slicing through a couple of mats, but it's still cool.

[Deadzo]

Kinda fun, but honestly what's the deal with this. If you can swing a bat, you can swing a sword. Everyone makes such a huge deal out of [cutting] chopping up some bamboo, and honestly, that's all you're doing. "Oooh I'm a samauri and know all the ancient aspects of the ritual as taught by sensai!" I'd bet equally on any random guy with no training when it comes to a MORTAL sword duel. Big deal cutters.

[JesusFuckingChrist84]

Not all practiconers are like that, the students of "Mcdojos"(In and out) are like that.

[Zrazys]

No, cutting with a sword is not like swinging a bat. Swing a sword like a bat against a tatami mat and, you'll likely knock the target over. The same with pool noodles. You are cutting with a sword, not bashing with a sword.

[Nickj0h]

Sorry bro, but your wrong, when you swing a bat your wrist moves, it like breaks, not literally breaking but it moves, when you slash a sword your wrist stays stiff, if you wrist were to break when cutting mats, the mat would go flying, if your wrist werent to break when swinging a bat the ball would go nowhere. There are many differences but thats probly the main one.

[LeopardPK]

you must cut with technique and aim right.

[SamuraiMugenjin]

makpete I believe you are referring to what is called a Naginata or the Japanese Polearm.

[Nathaniel1473]

Bruce Baldwin...yep, the Japanese must be stirring in their graves to know that the world record tatami cutter is, in fact, American. That's incredibly Impressive, according to Japanese samurai tatami cutting was equal to severing the upper leg, much harder than severing the head. 23 legs in one go...

[biohax]

don't they have to roll it around a bamboo stick?

[Nathaniel1473]

No, but thet soak the tatami in water for hours and all the water gets sucked up by the mats. I don't know personally, but it seems like all the water might make for more resitance than even bamboo. They make it look easy.

[Namiwakiru]

in this case they havnt, but it is commen to put bamboo in the mat to act as a "bone", the mats are soaked for 24 hours

[angelofzbong]

Those mats were soaked for over 36 hours...

I was at TRF that year...A.S put them in Thursday night for the Saturday Morning Cuttings...

Ask the folks at the candleshop next door we saw them putting them in barrels of water...lol

[TheReasonGuy]

The third guy is the best one.

In my opinion... im not an expert on the subject.

[marz12aug]

Mmm. Probably this is O-dachi. As for Nagamaki, half of the full length are handles.

In fact, the both clear classifications are delicate.

[SamuraiMugenjin]

I believe it's called a nagamaki, not an nodachi/odachi Okatana..ect.

[makpete]

nope. nagamakis are more like bladed poles or spears. These are no dachi.

[Nemesis2e]

Im not sure many of them od train, if im not mistaken im pretty sure Mr. Baldwin trains, but i cant speak for anyone else. Great video again.

[genei09]

This sword is now in my possession and my students and I will be attempting to surpass the amazing cutting seen here.

[TuahShinguru]

That kind of sword is a Naginata.

[PegasusRider2]

A naginata is less blade and more handle. (See an example here... mtholyoke dot edu/ org /naginata/naginata1 dot gif

or here...

angelfire dot com /dragon/swords/naginata dot html

or here...

simple dot wikipedia dot org/wiki/Naginata

[NoodleFarmer8697]

Does anyone know what type of sword that is?

It looks Japanese but I've never come across one like that before..

[PegasusRider2]

It is commonly called a no-dachi. Think of it as a larger version of the katana.

[darkshogun1980]

Anyone know where these guys train, what martial art etc? Not many people using the long swords these days.

[shenlon2]

Sweet. I was cutting up tatami mats today ^_^

[Nemesis2e]

Well im glad the video is back up, thanks.