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In lugnet.castle, John Robert-Blaze Kanehl writes:
> I believe the large Asain style spear/axe polearms are shurikens...I could
> be wrong though...
No, those asian polearms are Naginata. Shuriken are those little pointy metal
stars everyone loved in the mid-80's. They can be seen painted on the torsos
of most Lego ninja, tucked in their belts.
As an aside, Naginata are often disparaginly referred to as a "woman's weapon",
because apparently they were often used by unskilled warriors, like wives, who
were left behind to defend the homes and land. At least, that's what I've
heard.
eric
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In lugnet.castle, Eric Joslin writes:
> In lugnet.castle, John Robert-Blaze Kanehl writes:
>
> No, those asian polearms are Naginata.
>
> As an aside, Naginata are often disparaginly referred to as a "woman's • weapon",
> because apparently they were often used by unskilled warriors, like wives, who
> were left behind to defend the homes and land. At least, that's what I've
> heard.
Prior to the Edo period, the Naginata was a weapon used on the battlefields by
samurai. The Edo period was relatively peaceful, and women of samurai families
were trained with the Naginata. This is where the tradition of women using
the Naginata came from.
I personally wouldn't be disparaging when referring to the Naginata. With the
length of a bo (staff) and a wide, cutting blade like a sword... it is not a
weapon to be taken lightly. It is very effective at cutting down charging
cavalry and it could probably help you deal with that proverbial "guy with the
claymore" everyone keeps discussing.
Tony
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In lugnet.castle, Tony A. Rowe writes:
> In lugnet.castle, Eric Joslin writes:
> > As an aside, Naginata are often disparaginly referred to as a "woman's
> weapon",
>
> Prior to the Edo period, the Naginata was a weapon used on the battlefields by
> samurai. The Edo period was relatively peaceful, and women of samurai • families
> were trained with the Naginata. This is where the tradition of women using
> the Naginata came from.
I've done some research and found some more information. I quote the
following:
Women, usually of high-rank, were allowed an education and training in martial
arts. It was not considered unusual for clan princesses to be taught sword
fighting alongside their brothers.
One Japanese legend concerns Princess Tsuru, the daughter of the Ii clan lord
during the Edo period, which roughly coincided with the Renaissance in Europe.
Princess Tsuru was a skilled martial artist, specializing in a weapon called
the naginata, a long spear-like weapon that ended in an blade similar to an
axe. Tsuru publically called for the training of women in martial arts, and was
said to have taught these skills. The legend says that eventually Tsuru married
the Shogun of Japan, Tokugawa Yoshimune, but only after initially refusing to
do so because she didn’t want to be a token in a political alliance between her
family and the Shogun.
I got this from a great page on Echo Station dealing with Japanese influences
on George Lucas in the making of the Star Wars films. If you want to check it
out, go to:
http://www.yavin.net/features/japanese.htm
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In lugnet.castle, Tony A. Rowe writes:
> I personally wouldn't be disparaging when referring to the Naginata. With the
> length of a bo (staff) and a wide, cutting blade like a sword... it is not a
> weapon to be taken lightly.
To be clear, I didn't say *I* referred to the Naginata disparagingly as a
"woman's weapon". I am quite aware of the damage one of these things can do in
the wrong hands. For more information, play Kyoshiro in Samurai Showdown III
on the Sony Playstation. I know I did. A lot.
Besides, to be honest, I would never scoff at the rage of a woman, or her
ability to viciously and systematically destroy anything she set her mind to.
eric
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In lugnet.castle, Eric Joslin writes:
> In lugnet.castle, John Robert-Blaze Kanehl writes:
>
> > I believe the large Asain style spear/axe polearms are • shurikens...I could
> > be wrong though...
>
> No, those asian polearms are Naginata. Shuriken are • those little pointy metal
> stars everyone loved in the mid-80's. They can be seen • painted on the torsos
> of most Lego ninja, tucked in their belts.
That's right...throwing stars...I was pretty good with
those...I couold
almost play cricket or 301 with them)
I stand corrected = )
(I just couldn't think of the name...there is also a
Chinese variant that I
don't remember now either...amazing those things you
forget when you are
almost 31...lol)
> As an aside, Naginata are often disparaginly referred • to as a "woman's weapon",
> because apparently they were often used by unskilled • warriors, like wives, who
> were left behind to defend the homes and land. At • least, that's what I've
> heard.
>
> eric
Funny...my teacher in college made a similar remark...He
uttered a Japanese
word that was roughly translated "peasant weapon".
Similar idea, he
described these weapons as being distributed to old men
or injured as a
means of defense. Essentially, these weapons gave the
weilders a small
chance of dismounting a horse riding assailant while
maintaining a distance
farther than a sword stroke (like any polearm)
John
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In lugnet.castle, John Robert-Blaze Kanehl writes:
> In lugnet.castle, Eric Joslin writes:
> > In lugnet.castle, John Robert-Blaze Kanehl writes:
> > As an aside, Naginata are often disparaginly referred to as a
> > "woman's weapon", because apparently they were often used by
> > unskilled warriors, like wives, who were left behind to defend
> > the homes and land. At least, that's what I've heard.
>
> Funny...my teacher in college made a similar remark...He
> uttered a Japanese word that was roughly translated
> "peasant weapon". Similar idea, he described these weapons
> as being distributed to old men or injured as a means of
> defense. Essentially, these weapons gave the weilders a
> small chance of dismounting a horse riding assailant while
> maintaining a distance farther than a sword stroke (like
> any polearm)
As far I understood from my studies, the military history of medieval Japan is
basically divided into two sections, divided by the development of the
shogunate. The shoguns began to encourage sword-worship and a harsh division
between the samurai class and the rest of society, as a means of maintaining
the status quo.
In the period prior to this, there were plenty of women samurai, and samurai
training included the six standard martial arts: naginata, swordsmanship,
archery, unarmed striking, unarmed grappling, and horsemanship. It's common
in hero-literature of this period for a samurai to begin a battle by killing
some large number of enemies by archery until the arrows run out, then to kill
some large number of enemies with a naginata until the shaft breaks, and then
to draw his (or her) swords and kill a bunch more guys before the story can
proceed.
After the shoguns' stratification of society, women were strictly second-class
citizens, only samurai were allowed to carry swords and longbows, and naginata
were no longer considered noble weapons. The naginata were given to peasant
foot soldiers, and they continued to be a characteristic weapon of the warrior-
monks. Eventually the value of foot-soldiers got a big boost when the
arquebus was deemed unworthy of samurai; Nobunaga used them to great advantage
and became the first warlord to unify Japan. The End.
- Mike Rayhawk.
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In lugnet.castle, Mike Rayhawk writes:
> Eventually the value of foot-soldiers got a big boost when the
> arquebus was deemed unworthy of samurai; Nobunaga used them to great advantage
> and became the first warlord to unify Japan.
I seem to recall hearing of one diminutive warlord who greatly favored the
use of a short-barrelled arquebus for controlling unruly crowds and was
thereafter referred to as the Sawed-Off Shogun.
Dave!
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In lugnet.castle, Dave Schuler writes:
> In lugnet.castle, Mike Rayhawk writes:
>
> > Eventually the value of foot-soldiers got a big boost when the
> > arquebus was deemed unworthy of samurai; Nobunaga used them to great • advantage
> > and became the first warlord to unify Japan.
>
> I seem to recall hearing of one diminutive warlord who greatly favored the
> use of a short-barrelled arquebus for controlling unruly crowds and was
> thereafter referred to as the Sawed-Off Shogun.
>
> Dave!
OOoooooOOoooo, hurl, puke, vomit.
Just for that, I'll ruin the joke: it was called a blunderbus (if you want the
shot-gun effect. A musketoon if you mean a short-barreled solid ball shooter.
Nyahh. :-)
Bruce
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In lugnet.off-topic.pun, Bruce Schlickbernd writes:
> > I seem to recall hearing of one diminutive warlord who greatly favored the
> > use of a short-barrelled arquebus for controlling unruly crowds and was
> > thereafter referred to as the Sawed-Off Shogun.
> OOoooooOOoooo, hurl, puke, vomit.
> Just for that, I'll ruin the joke: it was called a blunderbus (if you want the
> shot-gun effect. A musketoon if you mean a short-barreled solid ball shooter.
> Nyahh. :-)
I thought a musketoon was one of those coconut-flavored cookies.
Dave!
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>
> I thought a musketoon was one of those coconut-flavored cookies.
>
> Dave!
Naw, a musketoon is a kid that wears mouse ears and sings and dances on tv.
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In lugnet.off-topic.pun, Mark LaRue writes:
> >
> > I thought a musketoon was one of those coconut-flavored cookies.
> Naw, a musketoon is a kid that wears mouse ears and sings and dances on tv.
And in later years gets implants.
Dave!
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"Dave Schuler" <orrex@excite.com> wrote in message
news:G069wt.GDI@lugnet.com...
> In lugnet.off-topic.pun, Mark LaRue writes:
> > >
> > > I thought a musketoon was one of those coconut-flavored cookies.
>
> > Naw, a musketoon is a kid that wears mouse ears and sings and dances on • tv.
>
> And in later years gets implants.
I thought we were talking about Pikes not Spears.
-Jon
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In lugnet.off-topic.pun, Jon Palmer wrote:
>
>
> "Dave Schuler" <orrex@excite.com> wrote in message
> news:G069wt.GDI@lugnet.com...
> > In lugnet.off-topic.pun, Mark LaRue writes:
> > > >
> > > > I thought a musketoon was one of those coconut-flavored cookies.
> >
> > > Naw, a musketoon is a kid that wears mouse ears and sings and dances on tv.
> >
> > And in later years gets implants.
>
>
> I thought we were talking about Pikes not Spears.
Let's give it up for Jon Palmer. That was one heck of a pun!
Dave!
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