Thread: The Katana

Originally Posted by Spartiate

Anyways, blade weapons went out of favour for a reason, you'd be hard pressed to find someone outside of the military that can take on me and my 12 gauge .

You'd also be hard-pressed to find any 12 year old kid who couldn't pick up a gun and take out a room full of people. Call us romantics if you will, but there are some of us that actually appreciate the amount of training it usually takes to handle a bladed weapon effectively, against attackers. It's much like the difference between respecting a military that can completely obliterate all attackers through hand-to-hand and small-arms fighting, and one that can obliterate an entire city with the push of a button.

It's just not the same.

Originally Posted by Oneironaut

You'd also be hard-pressed to find any 12 year old kid who couldn't pick up a gun and take out a room full of people. Call us romantics if you will, but there are some of us that actually appreciate the amount of training it usually takes to handle a bladed weapon effectively, against attackers. It's much like the difference between respecting a military that can completely obliterate all attackers through hand-to-hand and small-arms fighting, and one that can obliterate an entire city with the push of a button.

It's just not the same.

Yeah, I understand the appeal behind that, maybe I've just gotten a little too attached to my gun ... Plus anything that makes a *bang* that loud just screams "respect".

Originally Posted by Spartiate

Yeah, I understand the appeal behind that, maybe I've just gotten a little too attached to my gun ... Plus anything that makes a *bang* that loud just screams "respect".

Yeah, it's cool. I love a good firearm as much as the next guy, but when people start spouting off the whole "blades suck because guns are better" deal, I usually feel the need to tell them the score.

Originally Posted by Oneironaut

...when people start spouting off the whole "blades suck because guns are better" deal, I usually feel the need to tell them the score.

And you do that by affirming that guns are, in fact, more effective?

Originally Posted by Oneironaut

You'd also be hard-pressed to find any 12 year old kid who couldn't pick up a gun and take out a room full of people.

Well, some of us do understand the fact that saying something is "better" is subjective, Mark. If you need a lesson on the meaning of the word, I've got time.

Can't argue with results.

Originally Posted by Mark75

Can't argue with results.

Guns can actually be a hinderance, especially in close quarters combat, because the individual relies on a 'hit-or-miss' type of fighting style.

Tai-jutsu vs guns:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQdHuwcrIbs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vyK2Rb15Qk
~

Of course you can. When using something like the word "better", it all depends on what the word is meant to encompass. Guns may be more effective (at times), but it also creates the problem that anybody can pick one up. In a gun-toting society, not only are you creating the variable that your chance of killing someone is higher, but you are also a victim of the variable that you are more likely to be killed, because anybody, yards away, can kill you almost just as easily, with a firearm, especially something like a shotgun.

If someone challenged you to a fight, put up their dukes, and waited for you to follow suit, but then you pulled out a 9mm and shot them in the face, would that give you bragging rights? No. Any untrained, gun-toting, 98lb weakling can become a god if he is among the unarmed. It doesn't mean having a gun is, objectively, better, because some of us believe that a part of being "better" is having the attribute of a skill, or an ability that makes you better. Not just having a tool that proves that you're nothing more than some punk with a cheat code.

Originally Posted by Oneironaut

It's just not the same.

Yeah, war used to be so much fun. JUST ANOTHER REASON WE NEED THAT PATCH.

Originally Posted by Oneironaut

You'd also be hard-pressed to find any 12 year old kid who couldn't pick up a gun and take out a room full of people. Call us romantics if you will, but there are some of us that actually appreciate the amount of training it usually takes to handle a bladed weapon effectively, against attackers. It's much like the difference between respecting a military that can completely obliterate all attackers through hand-to-hand and small-arms fighting, and one that can obliterate an entire city with the push of a button.

It's just not the same.

I don't agree with this at all. First of all, a 12 year old kid with no training would have a difficult time firing all but the smallest of caliburs. Second, perhaps a 12 year old kid could walk in to a room full of people and cause a lot of injuries but its likely that there would be very few actual deaths. Third, an untrained 12 year old kid most likely would not stand a chance against an attack with any weapon including a fire arm. Firing a gun at an attacker takes a lot of control and discipline that most people never realize since there are not a lot of opportunities to shoot at someone who means to kill you. A fire arm takes close to if not the same amount of training and discipline to wield effectively as any bladed weapon. I could turn your statement around and say any 12 year old kid could walk up behind someone and stab them in the back.

Originally Posted by Xaqaria

I don't agree with this at all. First of all, a 12 year old kid with no training would have a difficult time firing all but the smallest of caliburs. Second, perhaps a 12 year old kid could walk in to a room full of people and cause a lot of injuries but its likely that there would be very few actual deaths. Third, an untrained 12 year old kid most likely would not stand a chance against an attack with any weapon including a fire arm. Firing a gun at an attacker takes a lot of control and discipline that most people never realize since there are not a lot of opportunities to shoot at someone who means to kill you. A fire arm takes close to if not the same amount of training and discipline to wield effectively as any bladed weapon. I could turn your statement around and say any 12 year old kid could walk up behind someone and stab them in the back.

Well, in that instance, I was talking about a shotgun. At a distance, sure, a handgun or rifle ups the ante, when it comes down to how much skill you need to take somebody out. I'm not saying, at all, that it doesn't take any amount of skill to shoot someone, depending on the situation. You give a kid a shotgun (and I'm talking about buckshot, more than slugs), and there is a good chance he can cause some major damage. Granted, there may be very few deaths, initially, but it only takes a room full of the wounded to make foreshadow a room full of the dead.

At no time, was I talking about walking up to someone and attacking them from behind. I'm talking about where two people are facing each other, and the challenge has already been affirmed. With a sword, you actually have to get to within a range where it's possible for that other person to reach you, conceivably without a weapon at all. Every time you attack and miss, you are opening yourself for a counter. It only takes one swipe for you to leave yourself open to a fatal blow from the person you meant to take out. With a gun, (depending on the range, of course), you can fire shots much faster than a person can keep up any defensive maneuvers, unless they have something to hide behind, or you're an extremely lousy shot. It all comes down to line-of-sight aim-and-squeeze, which is much different than learning to swing a sword and follow through, countering its weight and moment and preparing for subsequent attacks.

*is too lazy to read everything so far*

Katanas are nice, I own one. But I'm afraid of it... After that incident with one I tend to avoid close contact with katanas.

I dun really have a fav weapon. They all scare me. I like using the good old legs, lol.

Gah, I missed to much to counter all the points, but here are a few key things...

Any 12 year old with a katana can go in a room full of people and slice everyone up.

My experience with my shotgun is mostly from hunting and trap shooting, which is way more challenging than going into a room and pumping slugs into everybody. If, for some odd reason, I was shooting at people, I would probably opt out for my good old .30-30.

A gunfight, with cover and everything, is way more intense than a swordfight. A proper swordfight usually lasts less than a dozen moves, guns have a certain "hunting" aspect about them.

Wow, I really sound like a trigger-happy gun nut after that, hehe...

Originally Posted by Spartiate

Gah, I missed to much to counter all the points, but here are a few key things...

Any 12 year old with a katana can go in a room full of people and slice everyone up.

My experience with my shotgun is mostly from hunting and trap shooting, which is way more challenging than going into a room and pumping slugs into everybody. If, for some odd reason, I was shooting at people, I would probably opt out for my good old .30-30.

A gunfight, with cover and everything, is way more intense than a swordfight. A proper swordfight usually lasts less than a dozen moves, guns have a certain "hunting" aspect about them.

Wow, I really sound like a trigger-happy gun nut after that, hehe...

Yeah, so I suppose it comes down to the context of the fight. This is why I have a certain set of weapons I would use; not just one weapon. However, if I had to choose down to the line, I would have to go with a colt .45 and a hunting knife.
~

F-18 for me.

Nuke>all