Hi,
In this newsletter i’m going to cover these items :
- Forgive- don’t forget
- Tsukamaki tutorial
- New stuff in our shop
- Interesting links
Forgive – Don’t forget
I wrote about this a couple of days ago but long story short : Paul Ufema had a couple of Japanese WO2 swords (which he got from his father and he got them from his father) somewhere in a closet and he wondered how cool it would be to return them to the rightful owner in Japan and making a documentary of the whole journey.
Since he and his friend Bard were both video producers, the idea soon became a realistic plan and today they gathered a lot of pieces of the puzzle and are looking for some ‘extra help’ in order to make it happen.
More info on the project and the interview i did with Brad can be found in the article :
Forgive – Don’t forget , The return of a Japanese Sword to Japan
Tsukamaki Tutorial
If you follow me on facebook, you probably saw the pics i’ve posted there on the rewrapping of a tsuka (handle) . But i took some time today and bundled +60 pics into a tutorial with some explanation.
So if you want to give it a try or you’re just curious, check the tutorial :
How to rewrap the tsuka (handle) of a Katana
New stuff in the shop
As usually, new stuff comes and goes sometimes faster than i can handle and therefore it don’t get placed on the site 🙁
Anyway, 2 new pieces did make it so far :
- Seashell katana : a T10 steel blade with choiji hamon and blue suede ito
- Bamboo katana : a rather simple katana with a through hardened hira zukuri blade
I have 2-3 other pieces here, as soon as i find the time i drop them on the site…
There’s more worked on at the forge at this moment, guess they will arrive here within 6-8 weeks…
Interesting stuff
Articles
- Nobunaga’s Kanō Free-Market Decrees: A Reconsideration If you’re interested in some history facts
- Tatara Seitetsu’ of Master Akira Kihara
- Nice write up from a Japanese Smith on making Oroshigane
- Made in Japan iaito = Superior?
- The Itto-ryu Book of Oral Recollections Pt. 1 there’s also part 2-3-4 there
- Samurai bling is his thing Ford (hallam) was rewarded with a first price (first non japanese artist ever) at the annual NBSK Shin-saku competition (Tosugu division) with his beautiful Under pines, beneath the moon tsuba
Videos
- http://vimeo.com/25899671 The whole docu can be purchased here for €2.5/$3
- Sword swinging fail this is what can happen if you watched too many movies and start to swing a sharp sword as an idiot
- Master Lee gumdo & sword cutting this on the other hand is someone who knows how to handle a sword 🙂
- Katana vs. Euro weapon
- Different (Batoo Do) tameshigiri techniques demonstrated
- Forging of a katana (docu)
- Jon Bluming talking frankly and freely about Judo, Kyokushinkai and debunking some of the myths that are still making the rounds today.
- Epic Fail 🙂
That’s enough for now..
Talk to you,
