Sword Shows

[disgruntled]

This information is taken from Black Belt Magazine Feb/March 2007 (for my convienence i am writting point form)

- three biggest shows in the US are in San Francisco, Tampa, and Chicago. a good resource to find a show near you (in the US) is www.nihonto.com

- you might be able to find a good sword at a gun show, but it is hard because swords there are mostly for show and the dealers normally do not know too much about swords. so if you do try this venue, you have to know your stuff. but it is strongly advised that you go to a sword show and not a gun or knife show.

- haggling may or may not be acceptable by dealers. use your own judgement.

- sword shows are better than buying online because there is a lot of fraud online.

- you can buy certified swords that come with a certificate, but genrally they are really expensive, and you are mostly paying for that piece of paper. the swords market is fairly small and closeknit, thus most respectable dealers will allow you to get a second opinion from a legitamate dealer. they have a set of collective standards that they have agreed upon.

- dealers may not sell you a sword if they do not think you will take care of it.


Sword Handling Etiquette

- always ask before you pick up a sword
- when handed a sword hold the handle in your right hand and the sheath in your left (blade should be on the top side). but do not wrap your fingers around the sheath. rest on your left hand and cup your hand around it. this is done because old swords sheaths can b cracked so this will stop you from cutting your self.
- do not pull the sword out of the sheath, instead push the sheath off the sword until you clear the tip.
- always hold the sword with two hands to control it.
- keep the blade over the table. do not wave it around because that is disrespectful both to the sword and the dealer.
- do not touch or breathe on the blade, that could damage it.
- when finished looking at it carefully sheath it and hand it back handle first blade up.
- if you are too nervious to handle the sword in the proper manor feel free to ask the dealer to point out the swords feature to you.

[sirdarksol]

DO NOT TOUCH THE BLADE DO NOT TOUCH THE BLADE
DO NOT TOUCH THE BLADE!!!!
(Yes, it was already said, but it is so important that it needs to be said again)

I often have conversations with a local martial arts supplier when I'm in her shop, and the biggest complaint she ever has is that people touch the blades. Our fingers have oils that are damaging to metal, and will leave permanent prints if conditions are just right (or maybe wrong).
On top of that, if your hand is on the blade, there is a chance that you cut yourself, and even if you know you're going to be careful, the dealer does not, and has to worry about lawsuits. I've seen people grab a weapon and run their hand lengthwise along the blade while asking "is this sharp?" (too bad it was a stage weapon shop, so there were no sharp edges in the room) In a perfect world, someone who cut their hand off while being this big of an idiot wouldn't be able to win a lawsuit, but the truth of the matter is that stupidity on the part of the prosecutor means far less than it should.

The hand you hold the sword blade in may change due to customs. Yamashita-Sensei says that if you are not planning on going into combat, the sheath is always held in the right hand, to show those near you that you mean them no harm.
However, I would go with what disgruntled said, holding the hilt in your right hand, unless the dealer looks horrified. Be as aware in this situation as you would in combat. If someone reacts poorly to something you do, attempt to rectify the situation, beg forgiveness ("Sumi-massen" if you're dealing with a Japanese swordsmith) and ask what you did wrong that you can avoid the mistake again.

All in all, excellent information. Thanks disgruntled.

[disgruntled]

i heard about the custom about the left hand to be friendly too.... i think they might recomend the right hand so there is less a chance of dropping the sword. dunno though.

on that note, you are suppose to display it with the blade faced up (and i think to the left like you said as well) because it shows that you are at a time of peace and not going to kill someone in your house.

[rolltroll]

what you are saying sounds an awful lot like when i go looking for guns. there are just certain things you do and don't do. its more of a safety issue. when i look for a rifle i,m looking for a good comfortable stock wield, but if i were to perform a reflexive fire drill just wily nilly every employee in the shop would probably draw down on me. so making your intentions clear from the beginning is a must and being aware of your surroundings is truly a thing that should be done at all times when holding a weapon of any kind.

[sirdarksol]

Gun shows brings up another point. No matter what weapon you're dealing with, the business end of the weapon never gets pointed at another human unless you plan on shooting/stabbing him/her.
Good hunters are so loathe to break this rule that, even when everyone in the shop has verified that the gun is empty, and the person to be pointed at is actually asking to have the gun pointed at them (to show a disarm attempt, in the case I'm referring to), people have a problem doing it.

Extreme lengths must be taken to keep this rule in action. With guns, you've got to be aware of where everyone is. With swords, you should be aware of everyone within maybe twice the sword's reach. In my firearm safety class, we had drills where we'd walk through a cornfield and be given random orders to turn, and we had to make sure that our guns were never pointing at another person, even during the transition.

[rolltroll]

muzzle awareness is an important part of knowing how to handle a firearm, you should never flag someone unless the intent to depress the trigger is there.
i think the point i was trying to make was that weapon edicate is not a tradition but a necessity that should not be over looked. no matter how mundane the task may seem there is more than likely a good reason for it.

[sirdarksol]

Originally Posted by rolltroll

muzzle awareness is an important part of knowing how to handle a firearm, you should never flag someone unless the intent to depress the trigger is there.
i think the point i was trying to make was that weapon edicate is not a tradition but a necessity that should not be over looked. no matter how mundane the task may seem there is more than likely a good reason for it.

Unfortunately, because some of the sword etiquette (like which hand you hold it with, or which way the blade faces when you set it down) is culturally based, a lot of people ignore it, and may miss out on learning a lot from someone who would be willing to share knowledge otherwise.

[disgruntled]

those are really interesting posts.... i still have not made it out to a firing range, but i plan to one day, so i know little to nothing about gun safety.

on the point about how cultural practices are ignored, i agree. which is a shame because it really is there for safety, it is just shrouded in the cultural history.

[rolltroll]

so true, no matter how awkward one might feel you should at least remember it is an honor to have someone show you how a weapon is handled in there culture, remembering that even the oldest weapons were designed to take a life, and how much responsibility is in the hands of that person.