Another (and my last question), concerning koryu bujutsu.

Well this is certainly welcome news to me that the general size of the katana is more political than martial, even though it did seem apparent to me. Are there any valuable resources (books etc.) worth reading?

 

Tatsumi-ryū is a very good school with a comprehensive syllabus based on simple, but effective principles that are applied to several different paradigms. You'll start on iai & possibly some ken, then graduate to other disciplines within a few years. Their yawara (jūjutsu) is pretty good.

 

Why would you cut it down to fit to a sabre hilt?

 

The Japanese military at the time of the 1880's were mad for everything foreign and had certain nihontō blades forged to fit sabre furniture. It didn't last long.

 

I understand that, but a standard Katana blade is shorter than a European infantry sabre.

 

Yes, and a lot of Japanese infantry officers were a lot shorter than European infantry officers. Especially with their diet at that time.

 

Indeed. They really tried to match up with the Europeans as the nation was undergoing westernisation, which to me seemed like a less harsh 'Cultural Revolution' with Meiji wanting to rid much of its traditional culture. That's my understanding of the Meiji era so I could be wrong.

I hope the Japanese will be able to forge more of the blades similar to those before the Edo period, although I doubt they will be just as effective.

 

In addition to this, the practicalities of converting the tang -- particularly the need to drill new holes -- meant that it was sometimes easier or necessary to remove part of the old tang and convert some of the blade into tang.

 

Found something interesting while looking for something else. Japanese army cavalry swords with Katana shaped blades

 

Uh… where in Australia are you? The only place to learn Tatsumi Ryu is in Melbourne, the only (official) place to study Tenshinsho Den Katori Shinto Ryu is in the Sugino Dojo in Perth… the other side of the country. Just being in Australia doesn't mean you have both equally available… Bujinkan you'll find in most places, but Genbukan only have an official dojo in Brisbane, with a study group in Melbourne, and I believe one in Sydney (the official dojo there closed a while back, from memory)… there's also the Jinenkan in Melbourne and Geelong… but again, a more accurate location will help.

For the record, I am not aware of there even being a "Shinden Muso Ryu"… there is Shinto Muso Ryu (Brisbane, Sydney, and Perth) Jodo, and Muso Shinden Ryu Iaido (Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide)… none of which are associated with an Aikido dojo that I'm aware of (but that doesn't mean there isn't such a school).

 

I've got one of these

 

Can I have it?
It's 11/10 for cool
I want it, I want it, I want it !

 

Been about 35 years since I lived in Oxfordshire. You sure you wanna travel the 3K miles to pick it up?

 

I will!!

 

I found it on an English antique swords website, they had a couple and they weren't that expensive.

 

The odds are likely that it's one of the swords that were mass-produced in the early 20th century using contemporary metalworking techniques (and lower-grade steel) for officer armaments. Huge amounts of the "gunto" were produced (since the conscript nature of the army meant that most officers were coming from families that had never previously been allowed to make swords), and since they were used by the military they were the ones that Western forces saw/collected the most. Further driving down the price is the fact that they're not legal in Japan. Since they weren't traditionally made they lack the defining aesthetic qualities of katana, and they're seen as legacies of the nationalist Showa government. That means there is little effect of collectors on the price.

Having said that, depending on when and for whom it was made, a gunto can be quite a decent blade. In the early parts of the period, the only changes in the manufacturing were minor time-saving improvements -- the use of power hammers, changes in quenching methods -- and good steel was still used, so you have a reasonable blade. The later blades, which I gather are more common, were essentially wall-hangers, stamped out of very poor quality metal.