Today has been interesting

Today I Learned a lot

Well there is my intro, I found a property. I have found many properties in the last year. Some have been small others large, some cheap none expensive. Yet it wasn’t until today that I found one that looked like the right fit.

It need to look like Belwood does in the summer, long grass that is so green it looks like a forest.

I wanted open areas to run, to play but mostly to run….ok ok …and build a catapult…

I also wanted lots of room. Mostly treed.

As of the past events I added to the list a place to rest my head.

I don’t want power…but it would be nice but not needed.

Well and septic can be made.

I want a drive way and a road that will get me to the land in summer and in Winter.

The find of today has all these things. This Thursday I will see them in person.

I understand one must see life with ones own eyes to see things clearly.

Today may be the start of the beginning that has already started.

I wish to expand on what has already started.

I have been looking for the right or correct piece of land for over a year now. In the beginning I wanted a large portion, 100acers. Or 4,356,000 sq ft. February 15 2011 I had found a great place. I had talked to the agent in North Bay and every thing sounded great. I took to the road and I was off.

Upon arriving at the reality office the nice lady behind the Desk asked “did you bring your snow shoes? Because once you get off the bike you will sink to your hips in snow” Wow, not only did I not have them with me I didn’t have them at all. On top of that what kind of bike is getting me there? (Turns out this bike was an ATV with Tracks on it…Very cool… it reminded me of the HISS tanks form G.I. Joe…) At this moment I thought to my self…Self I have yet to buy anything, sign anything, hell all I had done is spend money on gas to see this place, yet with only that small investment I was already up to my hips…This idea needs more thought.

Fast forward almost one year to the 5^th of February 2012. I will be heading north this time just west of the bottom of Algonquin Park. I have much more understanding of what I will need to have in place to build this goal.

What is this goal you ask….I will get to that another day…got to keep you interested…Chris….

The land that I am looking for is to have at least one bonus…At one time that bonus was to be power. Having power is so nice, light at night, water pumping during the day…wait a well that would be nice, showers always feel good at the end of a hard days work….septic…Hmmm….Yet none of these were chosen…I say that because just me being on the land requires a drive way. This simple little pile of dirt allows me to enter the property with all of my tools.

With all that drivel put aside the one bonus that I wish to have is a driveway. Simply the ability to enter the property with my tools and get to work on building my ….not yet.

Until next time…

From Paper to Steel.

I fired up the forge and started to heat up and shape my steel. At the end of the day I had this my new San Kagi.

This is the first of the proto type. In many ways it is a brother to the Tekko kage, as it is large and very heavy. The fingers are 17” long ½” wide and ¾” high. I believe they weight 6 pounds each.

I fingers are not sharp. This style is meant for ripping. Well more accurately this style is meant to train the body to hold proper posture and to amplify when one goes past the point of balance.

Next before I can even train or test them is building the support for the wrist.

My idea as of this moment is to build a brace that can be worn on the arm that the San kagi can strap into easily. So one can wear and remove them quickly. The brace will be made of latigo leather for its strength and look.

The inspiration of this project is Wolverine. In the past I have made many claws in his style but all have been for show with no function what so ever…well other than look. I want to take it further. This model is for training to understand the movement and the force needed to make it functional cutter. One this model is finished the testing will begin. The testing will to understand the movement.

With that said a sharp cutting version of this style will be created in the near future.

New claws

San Kagi

Ahh, the fun of creating tools.

I like claws. Yep it’s really that simple. Granted I like a lot of thing most of which you can find on this site. Yet at this moment, Friday at 11:18pm I wanted a new set of claws.

I have drawn out the plan for my new set of claws which I have boringly named San Kagi.

Despite the name, which may change depending on the wind, these claws are nothing to light at. The weight “I believe” be around 5 lbs each. The fingers of the claws will extend 9 inches past my knuckles. That is twice the reach of the Tekko kage. Also the brace on the arm will only be 3 inches. This balance will move the weight ahead from my forearm to my hand. They will be even harder to wield than the Tekko kage.

New toy means new weight. New weight means new balance. New Balance means more training. More training means…well really it only means more training, but trainings good. In the end It will lead to happiness. Life is good.

If you are interested in finding out more let me know. The goal is to start heating the metal the weekend of August 7th and 8th.

Check back for more details

The Day has arrived.

I have been waiting for a week and the day has come at last. My butterfly swords are here!

This would be my second set. The first set are Butterfly knifes in my books as they are short for my arm length. This set is the right length.

So what do I think of my new swords. I love them…almost. I love the idea of them. Having blades the length of your fore arm is very handy. I love the idea that I can spin them on my hands for close combat and back out again for short range.

So why don’t I like these…well I believe that they should spin easily in the hand. Sai spin easily in the hand I want these to do the same. Since they are the same idea, in a way, I think its little to ask.

How to check if they will spin easily, hold the item if you can give thumbs up and nothing obstructs your view past your thumb golden, if not you will have to change your grip to have them rotate.

What will be done next is bring them to the drawing board. There I will set up the look and feel of this great little short range tool. Once I have finalized that I will head to the forge.

Yet I need to answer one more question before I even go there…should each handle be hand made on the forge or hand made in the foundry?

Oh the questions.

Soon I new set of swords will be built.

Yet first, another kunai. I have been able to get my hands on and old picture of a forged kunai. This has been the best quality picture so far.

We will see what happens.

M

The story of a Bronze Kunai

Well I love kunai…ok, ok I love them all but today my thoughts are of Kunai.

I have been forging them for some time now. I have tried long handles short handles, thick blades thin blades long blade short blades wide blades thin blades hammer handles large ring handles rope rings and I have mixed them all together.

Out of all the kunai I have made my Tobu kunai is my favourite.

It throws well, it digs well, it cuts well…but it takes a lot of time to forge…sad

I want more yet I need time to train I can’t always be at the forge as the more time I spend at the forge the less time I spend in the dojo life is tuff!

So I have decided to cast the Kunai. Long ago that was the production of tools of war. They were cast and they were cast of Bronze.

Now bronze is a very cool metal. It can hold a crazy sharp edge, it is strong and it has the same weight as steel.

That is just what I have done!

I know can have lots of kunai at a more affordable price. At $45.00 each it’s quit a deal if I do say so my self…which I do.

Why did I need to have more? Easy…throw a kunai walk up take the kunai out of the target walk back, throw the kunai and repeat really slows down training. I want more… at least 3 in hand. This way I can feel the movement and start to hide my unnecessary movement.

So that’s my story of a bronze kunai.

Mangetsu


more info check out

You Tube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7Doi9pVe_A

Web site
http://www.ninedirections.com/Shinobi-Tools/Throwing-Kunai-p81.html

Its been how long?

It has been almost 6 months since my last post. What happened…a lot!

In that time I have had a new toys come off the forge,
My leather work is back in action,
I have had two great shows,
I am now teaching Ninjutsu each week from my own Shibu
And currently I am studying for my Personal Trainer Certificate.

First the Toy

Tsumayoji Kunai, the toothpick.
This is a small type kunai inspired from the Chinese ring dagger. A few months back I had an order come in for a ring dagger that was built to function as a kunai. The customer new what they wanted and that is what I built. Yet I have to say I was never happy with the tool. It was just too heavy for the spinning. It through well, it dug great but spinning…way too much force generated and it was tuff to keep it on my finger.

Well I was upset so I started to dig in my mind with a figurative kunai.
In time I created what I now call Tsumayoji Kunai. It’s a mixture of Chinese ring dagger, Japanese Kunai and 10% Naruto.

Check out the You-Tube video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnSG_nV70_s


Next leather

Before my last show I wanted to have a new toy for display. I had been playing with the idea of a back plate that can hold tools while I run around. I had put it off as it was more of a toy than or practical use. Well Anime North is all about toys so it was time.

I used only Latigo leather (the best leather for outdoor use) as it hold up to all sorts of weather. I riveted the entire brace to hold strong.

In the end I was very happy its built to fit me, and hold 2 sai and one katana or 2 katana.

Next my Shows

First show was Ad Astra a Sci-fi convention. Small turn out, but lots of fun. Those that attended stayed the whole weekend and we had a great time.

Granted we had a small space yet once we set up no one else came…most booths were packed together. We had more than 40 feet around us. I guess that’s how it goes when you are the only one selling the sharp pointy items.

Next was Anime North. My favourite show of the year! AN has the best people every year. I always have a good time. This year keeping to the hand made items I added the Moku Tsume or Wooden claws. We were sold out by Sunday morning.
Saturday after noon one of the weapon check personal came over to check out the booth commenting that “we always k now when it is your stuff coming through”

Check out the video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFhNM2fy6jM

Moving on from that

Ninjutsu action
I am now teaching under Mangetsu (my Shibu) every Wednesday night here in Toronto.
I have been waiting some time to get this going…why I have been waiting…not sure…the important thing is it is up and running.

If you are in the area let me know and join in for a class!

And lastly for today, Can-fit-pro. I am working to be certified in the area of personal training. I feel adding a bit of science into my training would be fun and helpful. With this new knowledge I plane to tweak my training programme. I will add in science to a traditional approach to training. I goal is to build health strong bodies that are able to deal with complicated movement easier because of a more thought-out training programme.

Well it’s nice to be back in the world of communication.

All the best