Do Samurai wargamers train in martial ats?

[Rich Jones]

Interesting chat I was having with someone after the idea popped up in an email from Andy B ...

Do most wargamers who play samurai stuff also train in martial arts?

If so ... what do you do?

Me ... after early day Judo/Aikido I have done a southern Gung Fu style, escrima, jujutsu, then anything I could lay my hands on in a flurry of Bruce Lee Jeet Kune Do madness and then since 1983 ish settled on the Bujinkan which is best know for the thing we do the least ... Togakure Ryu Ninpo.

[andyfb]

Hi Rich.....well you already know that the answer from me is a definate YES.....

Started with Shotokan Karate in 1986....mainly what most people call Sport Karate or traditional Karate ( a term with which i would most definatly disagree, as Karate was a form of self defense and not a sport ).

Also over the years i have also trained in Wing chun kung fu, a bit of Aikido and lots of pressure point seminars.

Then in 1999 i met a guy called John Burke who was starting a new club locally....i went along and was amazed at what he was teaching as Traditional Karate....suddenly all the things i'd learnt were turned on their head and i was throwing, striking and grappling people much bigger than me with hardly any effort at all...awe inspiring....and from an outside point of view it sounds like fantasy....which is why i like fantasy eastern games.

Cheers Andy ;D

[Rich Jones]

Real Karate has come to the fore over the last 10 years since the bunkai have been 'rediscovered' ... that and Dillman did karate a lot of good in my opinion.

[terrement]

I studied Tai Kwan Do for two years back in the early 70's - had to stop due to an injury and never took it up after I graduated. I was always impressed, nearly in awe of the skill and speed of our instructor who was IIRC a second level black belt. During graduation weekend, his instructor from Korea visited and put on a demonstration. It was amazing that as large as the difference was between new white belts and our black belted instructor, there was a bigger gap between the guy I recognized as being something to aspire towards and his instructor's skills.

But now? Don't remember the flick but there is a line in one of them along the lines of "I know Kung Fu, Karate, Judo, and at least 4 other oriental words."

JJ

[eyin]

I practice kendo. Other gamers I know did a little bit of martial arts, but quit after a while.
As far as kendo goes, I guess you could consider it a sport. I tried tamashigiri once using a standard kendo stroke, and could only cut through about 3/4 of the mat. Then again, the beginners could not even cut into the mat, so I guess you do pick up a little about how to use a real sword.

[gibby]

Did Wing Chun for a bit, struggled to keep going due to time constraints. I'm looking at getting into Karate, but I'm always skeptical when it comes to finding a decent school.

[terrement]

I was looking for a video but couldn't find it - it was from the late 70's IIRC perhaps of this gent. Essentially it was a wispy old oriental gent and in the demonstration at a military base, the challenge was whether a half dozen MPs with nightsticks could get him subdued and in handcuffs. In this link, at about the six minute mark, you see the same sort of thing, except the MPs had their sticks - not that it mattered - and you had this little old guy laughing the whole time as they tried to grab this "dragon of smoke."

JJ

[lowtardog]

New to the forum,

I did study Judo for a number of years reach 1st DAn but havent done so for a good many