Swordsmanship
All around the world there are groups, schools and clubs that are dedicated to studying and understanding the art of forging the steel blade of the sword and of swordsmanship. In societies that are devoted to fully grasping the culture that surrounds various swords, there has also been a great deal of debate over how to define the highest and best expression and practice of true swordsmanship. From one generation to another, the various outcomes of such debates are later seen in the resulting differences in the blades of swords of the past.
In the Western world, the swordsmanship debate has swirled around the question of which is the more preferred blade. Is it the blade made for thrusting or the blade made for cutting and slashing? Such questions, which never seem to be fully answered, have brought about the creation of a number of different styles of swords such as the two-handed sword, the short sword, the saber and the rapier, which is considered to be the pinnacle of all the swords of the Western civilization.
These styles of swords are not only artifacts of antiquity, but are also used in the modern forms of swordsmanship, which is most often fencing, at least in the West. The Western art of fencing utilizes three primary kinds of swords. The foil is the most common and best known in fencing and the saber and the epee are used in targeting various parts of the body.
The style of swordsmanship dictated by the West is considered to be much more of a science than it is an art. Those who study and practice fencing learn the formulation of precision movements, counter movements and gambits. The swordsman must use quick and sure footwork like a boxer would, must master the balancing skills of a gymnast and must become a proficient tactician, much like a chess champion.
The Japanese swordsmanship style has evolved quite differently from the art of the sword in Korea, China and especially in the West. This difference can be summarized by saying that the wielding of a sword in Japanese style is deemed to be much more of an art than it is a science. For the swordsman acting in Japanese style, the battle begins and sometimes even ends before the sword is ever drawn from the scabbard.
The main difference in swordsmanship between the Western swordsman and the Japanese swordsman is the underlying belief that the art of the blade is always developing. For the Japanese sword fighter, the form of sword fighting is truly an art form which continually changes over time and evolves differently for each person. It is believed that someone who studies the sword of the Japanese can spend their whole life exploring and learning and still never fully understand its development.
However, this is not to say that the Japanese style of learning the sword does not include the basics of attacks, counterattacks, gambits and defenses. It simply puts additional emphasis on the understanding of the swordsman himself. Despite the differences in the approach to swordsmanship from the Eastern perspective of the art and the Western standpoint of science, both approaches honor the place of the sword in culture and history.