DARPA funding to Eureka

[BlaqueKatt]

The person asking for sai described them as "You know, those fork things that Raphael of TMNT uses".<mr snippy was here>
(Anyone else here HATE the term "samurai sword"? It grates on my ears!)

Hmm upset because people want things from a culture they obviously don't understand(if they don't even know the proper names).....no I didn't bring this up before in a tattoo thread and have people say just the opposite-that they should be allowed to co-opt anything they want from another culture........

[Fryk]

My wife and I love us some Bones, but I do wonder how many people think that Angela's magic 3D Holosuite is real.

[Amanita]

.Are you saying that any non-japanese have no business training with a Katana, sai, or kamas? Non-Chinese have no business owning hookswords or studying kung-fu? Or do you simply mean that people regardless of ethnicity shouldn't mess with things they don't understand, regardless of what culture that "thing" comes from? I'm not sure which one you are getting at.

The difference between getting a kanji tattoo with no understanding of what it means, and messing with weapons you don't understand is a big one.
Get a tattoo you don't understand and then you later find out that it means something completely rediculous or offensive? All that happens is you feel embarrased, look stupid, and maybe want to get the thing removed or covered up.

Mess with weapons whose use you don't understand, and you could do a helluvalot worse than look stupid. You could severely injure yourself or somebody else, even kill somebody if you're really careless and unlucky. And it has nothing to do with the ethnicity or cultural origin of the weapon involved. A replica european sword can cause just as much hurt as a Katana if mishandled.

I've heard some real horror stories- somebody who bought a cheap cast alloy sword and made a fire prop out of it- drilling holes in the blade, attaching kevlar wicking and lighting it up. Thanks to the poor quality of the metal, and weakening of said cheap metal due to repeated heating/cooling cycles, the thing failed catastrophically after only a few uses. Literally shattered. The guy who made it was lucky that it none of the pieces hit him, his partner, or anyone else.

Perhaps you've heard of two idiots in the UK who tried to stage a lightsaber fight using glass flourescent light tubes filled with petrol, which they lit on fire? And these people were in their late teens/early 20's.

To me, people messing with weapons they have no clue about has nothing to do with cultural appropriation, or political issues. It has everything to do with safety and ignorance.

*The person asking about sai DID know what they were called, they just threw the "fork things rapheal uses" in there, in case anyone else didn't know what sai were.

[lordlundar]

(Anyone else here HATE the term "samurai sword"? It grates on my ears!)

Very much so, as someone asking for a "samurai sword" can be asking for a katana, wakizashi, tachi, Tsurugi, Ōtachi, Nodachi, Jin tachi, Tantō, Aikuchi, and all variants to the names thereof. Usually someone asking for a "samurai sword" has NO clue about what they want, let alone how to handle it safely.

[Nyoibo]

I think you could safely argue that a Tanto wouldn't be mistaken for a sword.

[Slytovhand]

(Anyone else here HATE the term "samurai sword"? It grates on my ears!)

I'll vote 'yes' to that one! I'm not an expert, but I know a little (did Kendo, Aikido and a little Iaijutsu)

Very much so, as someone asking for a "samurai sword" can be asking for a katana, wakizashi, tachi, Tsurugi, Ōtachi, Nodachi, Jin tachi, Tantō, Aikuchi, and all variants to the names thereof. Usually someone asking for a "samurai sword" has NO clue about what they want, let alone how to handle it safely.

Or Ninjato... (well, you never know, some people really have no idea!).

Similarly, don't ya just love it when people say they study 'Ninjitsu'? Especially when it's 'real'. (Ok, let's start the flaming.... But, it was an assassin's art, not just a nice way to defend yourself... which makes me think weird stuff when I hear about the TMNT's.


Back to OP, the other side of the coin is, there are some real things out there that people believe totally fictional because it's been on TV!!

[Nyoibo]

Similarly, don't ya just love it when people say they study 'Ninjitsu'? Especially when it's 'real'.

Well Ninjutsu is real, and it can be used for defence, however the basic aim of pretty much any technique in it is to destroy your opponent.

[Dreamstalker]

Those people would be the ones with the mysterious black helicopters following their every move.

Not for very long. More fun than a flamethrower...and less mess!

I think you could safely argue that a Tanto wouldn't be mistaken for a sword.

True, but I'd bet that anyone painting everything with the "samurai sword" brush couldn't care less about things like details.

[lordlundar]

Not for very long. More fun than a flamethrower...and less mess!

Well, that's like saying the 10 ton boulder landing on you is less painful than the 20 ton boulder landing on you. Technically right, but not nearly the point.

[Amanita]

I think that when most people say "Samurai sword", they mean Katana. It's the most widely known of the Japanese sword types. But how hard is it to say "Katana"? That's what it's called, Call it that already!

[Boozy]

But how hard is it to say "Katana"? That's what it's called, Call it that already!

It's not hard to say "Katana", but most people probably don't realize that the sword is called that. Most people don't know the terminology surrounding a specific Japanese military time period. It's really not an unreasonable thing to be uneducated about. I wouldn't get upset about it.

[Dreamstalker]

Well, that's like saying the 10 ton boulder landing on you is less painful than the 20 ton boulder landing on you. Technically right, but not nearly the point.

Aw, c'mon. I'd think the 'less mess' aspect at least would be worth something

At a group meeting last month to show off props/have an excuse to act like total nerds, we were trying to explain to a newcomer that technically there is a RL equivalent of the PKE meter (EMF/K-2). Even after seeing a few, he seemed unconvinced. That just struck us as odd (wait, it only exists if it look exactly like the one in the movies)?

I've also heard "katana" being used to describe any type of Japanese sword (argh!)