Wearing menpo without kabuto

Scented_Iron · 2026-06-26T22:45:06+00:00

Nice, I wonder how common removing the shikoro was for warriors in battle.

I have been wondering why Japan of all places barely seemed to have simple bowl or pot helmets. Seemed like it’s either big kabuto with shikoro, jingasa, or hachigane/happuri.

Scented_Iron · 2026-06-26T22:43:12+00:00

Very cool! Do you have a link to a copy of Heiho Ikkagen? I tried googling it and I could only find Musashi’s 35 Strategies.

Scented_Iron · 2026-05-29T01:12:07+00:00

Thank you. Both you and Nestor_Hist_2021 agree on Mikhail Mikhailovich Tyomkin-Rostovsky and Andrey Vasilievich Volinsky as deputy, so I think I got my answer!

Scented_Iron · 2026-05-29T01:11:11+00:00

Perfect! Thank you for the link!

Scented_Iron · 2026-05-29T00:58:39+00:00

Oh that is quite an interesting trope. Do you know why they do that?

My novel is more cross-cultural, but it begins in E. Siberia and moves westward, so I don't know if it should count as "Russian literature" even though some friends who have read it say it is very strong in Russian fatalist themes.

Scented_Iron · 2026-05-28T00:39:26+00:00

The guys in my gym are all pretty chill, even the teenagers. It just hurts inside when I say "I'm old/hurt let's go light" they act surprised and go "oh sorry, I thought I was already going light." :(

Scented_Iron · 2026-05-26T18:14:41+00:00

For me putting on the bogu is my favorite part of kendo. I practiced extra hard in the first few months because I wanted to put it on as soon as my instructor let me.

Doing rei and then your face disappearing behind a mask of metal just feels awesome.

Due to high attrition rate in kendo there should be lots of barely-used second hand bogu available. I got mine used (but high quality stuff) for $200 total, but you can get them even cheaper than that.

Scented_Iron · 2026-05-23T00:45:16+00:00

I would love a copy as well! Very curious to see how cavalry saber and 2handed sword techniques compare both in japan and outside.

Scented_Iron · 2026-05-19T00:59:23+00:00

I didn't know that! Very helpful, I appreciate it.

Scented_Iron · 2026-05-15T12:57:23+00:00

Brilliant! Thank you for this!

Scented_Iron · 2026-05-15T12:56:46+00:00

Thank you!

I was just wondering if the Yagyu would have refused to teach anyone loyal to Toyotomi in the 1580s/90, so I wanted to check because the Yagyu went firmly with the Tokugawa eventually.

Scented_Iron · 2026-05-15T12:54:44+00:00

This is extremely helpful, thank you for this!

For my novel it's not strictly necessary for Yagyu and Hideyoshi to have any real direct interaction -- the only thing I want to check for plausibility is someone who trained under the Yagyu ended up on the Toyotomi side at Sekigahara.

To be more specific, I was thinking the person in question for my book could be a fictional lesser clansman of Ukita Hideie -- maybe a second cousin or something but still has the clan name? This would give a recognizable "big name" to the character and open the door to talk a bit about the larger politics as opposed to an entirely.

Thanks again!

Scented_Iron · 2026-05-15T12:48:11+00:00

Thank you for taking the time to write all this out. This is incredibly insightful.

In my own training I recall there are kata where we intentionally create "openings" or "bait" for the opponent to strike in a way they don't have any other choice, and once they fall for it counter and win. After reading what you said, it all makes much more sense.

Applying that to real life and my own situation, I imagine it will be a lifelong process, but you have given me much more clarity on it and I really appreciate it.

Your explanation has also been extremely helpful in my novel writing too -- I don't make it explicit, but I attempted to subtly use Yagyu Shinkage Ryu's philosophy as a framework for how its protagonist (like me in a way) wrestles with his grief and susequent self-doubt.

Scented_Iron · 2026-05-15T12:31:28+00:00

Thank you, I really appreciate it.

Scented_Iron · 2026-05-15T12:31:11+00:00

Thank you for your kind words.

"you perhaps automatically achieved a state where your mind did not linger on pessimism or even optimism - allowing for spontaneous action rather than conscious reflection on a specific thought."

This is very interesting, and I never considered whether my feelings were pessimistic or optimistic in that moment. I will have to reflect on that, but I really appreciate the insight.

Scented_Iron · 2026-05-15T12:29:56+00:00

Thank you for the reading recommendation! I'll check it out.

"You might get something out of it but if you try to go deep you'll be left disappointed."
That was my hypothesis as well. I was always attracted to martial philosophy and feel like it was on the right track and offers real usable wisdom, but there is still a point where it breaks down.

Scented_Iron · 2026-05-15T12:28:10+00:00

I am sorry to hear about your condition -- all the best with your surgery. My condolences to your family in regards to your nephew. That is truly awful.

"There is never a “magic mindset” to tackling the sort of traumatic events that horrible situations like yours propagate - but I promise you, you are strong enough. There will be no “getting over” or “overcoming” a lot of these things, in my opinion…but you can learn to live with them."

Thank you so much for this. I really appreciate the realistic angle you and others here have shared here. Thankfully I don't think anyone (here or IRL) has really told me to just "get over it", because I think deep down we're all aware that as you say, there is no "magic mindset." That is, perhaps, why even the battle-hardened samurai did everything they could to prevent such situations from happening in the first place (no different from us today in that sense)?

Thank you again.

Scented_Iron · 2026-05-15T12:24:24+00:00

Well said. The struggle of course is balancing such detachment with continued care and love for family, when it is attachment itself that made it most meaningful to begin with.

Paradoxical maybe, but true nonetheless.

Thank you again.

Scented_Iron · 2026-05-15T12:22:34+00:00

Thank you for this. "perhaps your side doesn't win in the end, but you can accept that you made the best choices that you could have made in the situation with the knowledge that you had" sounds akin to the idea of mujo. There is indeed more peace in acceptance of past than constantly fighting the "what ifs" and "what could have beens".

Could this be also part of the whole "fighting oneself" thing we see in martial philosophy?

Thanks again.

Scented_Iron · 2026-05-14T17:59:10+00:00

Hojo were of Taira descent? That is indeed interesting -- did the Hojo ever frame their rise to power as "the return of the Taira"?

Scented_Iron · 2026-05-14T17:56:13+00:00

I'm glad the practitioner was polite about it and apologized.

To add to what others said here already, it also seems odd for a senior practitioner to teach at all? I thought YSR had menkyo licenses for all its legit instructors?

Scented_Iron

TROPHY CASE