Hey guys, just practicing sharpening knives, and boy is this one sharp! Take a look, I don't even have to really move it too much to just slice through some newspaper. Gotta make my Katana as sharp as this! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34cZIGw0gOg
When I am cutting I have noticed that visualizing the lines before I make my cut helps keep my cuts clean. For complex cuts I typically take a few seconds to place imaginary lines where I plan to make my cuts. I look the mat up and down then place lines in my minds eye on each section and imagine the reaction I want from the mat. I have talked to several other people who also use this same technique when cutting. I am not sure why it seems to help but I have noticed better results when I use ...
There are some things that really try to distract me while training. It seems like every time I am ready to train, there's some moron right around the house cranking up a leafblower or a lawnmower. It sounds like the noise Jim Carrey makes in Dumb and Dumber. Drives me nuts. I'm not zen'd up enough to 'just ignore it' and most times I just stop in frustration and go inside to wait. I tried using headphones once, but I didn't think it was safe due to the fact that someone could come up from behind ...
I really need to learn how to polish a sword correctly. I mean, I know how to do the job w/ inexpensive stones and sandpaper, but to truly have an understanding of what happens when you take real time and develop the parts of the blade through repetitive rubbing on the blade itself. For now, I will just be happy w/ a sharp, cutting w/ ease, sword. Rook
Recently I have noticed that I am extremely weak on my open side when performing one handed cuts on my open side. This is a major problem when performing double cuts from the draw. Often times I will execute the first cut from the draw and leave the mat static, but when I follow up with the second cut I do not cut the severed piece. Instead I bat the piece away, sometimes not even cutting the piece. I can feel a lag from my kissaki to my elbow. I believe that one of the problems is my body ...