The question on the forum was: “What do you keep by your bed at night?” The answers varied from shotguns to various handguns. The one answer that stunned me was, “a bokken.” If you don’t know, a bokken is a wooden Japanese training sword. Another man said a katana, (a Japanese sword). A typical bokken or katana is 36-40 inches long. Those who said a small ball bat made more sense.You have heard me rant about guys who say “If you don’t know how to use a knife don’t get one out during a fight or you will be in worse trouble.” Like somehow using a knife is a magical art, but using a Japanese sword is not? One respondent answered my question concerning the katana: "you don’t need to learn any fancy techniques just swing it." Really, is that all there is to it? I guess I have wasted twenty years training with a sword and knife. Take the word IDIOT and add a few colorful expletives and you get the idea of my mental response. Why is it that every red blooded American on a forum feels they are an expert on Japanese swordsmanship, even if they never held a katana? Baka American.
To begin with, a katana is much too long to use effectively inside most houses. This is why the Japanese traditionally placed their katana in a special rack when they entered a home and wore only their tanto or wakizashi (side sword) inside. After all, the Japanese worked at this for over 500 years they might have an idea or two about home defense. A typical wakizashi has a blade 16 inches or less. Swinging either a bokken or katana inside a darkened room in a semi-awakened state is sure to result in a lot of damaged real estate while your home invader is throwing lead your way from his handgun, not an especially good situation. All of the experts tell you to clear a house by using a firearm technique called cutting-the-pie, or maneuvering your line of sight incrementally around a blind corner. How well do you think that will work with a 40 inch sword? I am not saying a firearm is the ultimate solution either. The negatives of using firearms inside your home are numerous. The muzzle flash will ruin your night vision and the blast will deafen you. Stray bullets become potentially life threatening to other occupants or even passers-by. And last but not least are the legal consequences of killing someone with a firearm.
For years I have kept a legally registered handgun beside my bed. But I have other options as well. For example, a blindingly bright flashlight and a big bladed bowie knife. I also have a set of escrima sticks standing in the corner. They are much more maneuverable inside a bedroom than a bokken. These hardened sticks will easily crack a man’s skull or break his bones. A katana-kake (sword rack) hangs on my bedroom wall holding 5 shinken (live bladed swords). In a time of emergency they would be my weapons of last resort. I could also use my bronze tessen or iron kubutowari, but then what the heck do I know about Japanese weaponry, or home defense? Go ahead and stick to your bokken and play Last Samurai.
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6 comments:
Hah, yeah i couldn't imagine wielding a 3 foot long sword in my darkly lit house. I keep a small combat knife and hope to invest in a shotgun once I graduate from school.
Hey Dan. That sounds like reasonable approach but if you change your mind I'd be glad to sell you a katana.
I like your practical assessment, Dave. All you have to do is walk through your house with a bokken and think a second and you will see how impractical that idea is.
Leaving firearms aside, I keep a large knife and a blindingly bright flashlight handy. In addition, we have a couple of shillelaghs around.
http://www.walkingequipment.com/shillelagh.htm
Escrima sticks or a hanbo are probably more handy since they offer more striking options; the shillelagh is essentially used like a club. Still, pretty devastating, and would crack a skull or break a bone with not too much effort.
Funny thing about the shillelaghs. My wife and I bought them in London, on a trip there in the mid 1990s. We were looking for souvenirs to bring back to our kids, and for some reason wondered into a tobacco and hat shop in Piccadilly. There they were, tucked in a corner. As someone who has written about gun control, I was well aware of the strict controls on guns and knives in Ye Olde Merry. I sort of couldn't believe my eyes when I saw them, because they were pretty obviously deadly and yet here they were, offered for sale to anyone in a tobacco shop. I didn't know what they were, and asked a shopkeeper, who told me their name and offered that they were Irish and were used for "warding off ghosts."
It was very rude of us, but both my wife and I laughed aloud at the obvious absurdity. It was obvious that it's skull cracking ability rendered it a tool more for MAKING ghosts than chasing them away!
Sold! We promptly bought one for each of our children.
Off topic, but have you ever discussed the pros and cons of various brush clearing, lean-to making machetes or parangs? The Gerber Bear Grylls Survival Series Parang looks pretty good for something under $50, and has a good shape, but the blade is 3/32nds, which doesn't sound all that sturdy, and the handle seems cheap. On the other hand, I'm not interested in spending hundreds. If you've ever reviewed anything along these lines, in the relatively cheap category, would be glad for the reference.
Thanks.
Dave, nevermind, found your Fox Palang XL post. Just under $100, seems like a good choice.
As an update to the parang.....It is a great knife although as I said a little on the light side. This is good for backpacking but detracts from the cutting somewhat. Also the snap on the sheath broke after only a few uses and while I have a promise of a replacement sheath nothing has shown up so far. As usual a very good knife placed in a very mediocre sheath. What is it with cutlery firms? Are they ignorant of the importance of a good quality sheath or do the budgeting people run (ruin) the company?
I keep a lot of knives around, but they're not my first go-to for HD, that would be first a .357 revolver. While, not having a large capacity, revolvers have no issues with being jammed into someone. Semi-autos might go out of battery. That gets me to my Rem 870 with a light on it. As short as I can get it legally and still be useful.
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