Thursday, March 20, 2008

Chanbara (softsword)

I saw this attendees of anime convention hitting each other with padded sticks before. The excercise was somewhat ritualized, but otherwise looked like something silly anime fans would do. Imagine my surprise when we did it today in the dojo.

Apparently, chanbara has its own international association, and is wildly popular in Japan (or at least used to be). Of course, there are rules and all the rest.

Curiously, "chanbara" is written with no kanji.

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