lifestyle

Swimming the hard way in Japan - in samurai armour

13 Comments

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© 2012 AFP

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13 Comments
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It’s astonishing you don’t see many foreigners enjoying it.”

No, it's not. Ganbatte kudasai.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

As a diver and lifeguard I find this very interesting, but more as a lifeguard... and as a foreigner I would try it! Keep it up!

3 ( +3 / -0 )

I'm just curious as to why there are repeated shots of the same thing? Something start to finish would have been nice.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

And like all martial arts, its adherents say it has real-life applications.

While I think this is a great way to get into shape, learn a new skill, and do something that nobody else is doing, I really can't see how this is preparing you for the "real world" in any way.

Why can't they just say, "we're doing this sport because we think it's fun and exciting."

Why do they always say "This is better than western style because....xxx"?

Anyhow, props to those who are doing this for fun, but you'd never get me in one of those getups.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Auhh try wearing 15Kg in dead weight weight with zero buoyancy and see what will happen when you try to tread water.

The Japanese yoroi armor didn't use steel plating, they used chain mail and steel sticks woven into the yoroi for protection making them with no buoyancy.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I wonder how they tread water when the pools don't have deep ends?

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Ironic how much the Japanese revere the Samurai, yet if the Samurai were around today, they would be labeled terrorists.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

why did no one put snorkels on the helmet?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

This is too dumb.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

"My body didn't float at all"

Really!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

“Your chest was supposed to be above the water,” Tadao chastised, as his son stood panting on the poolside.

... this seems like idiocy. If I was a samurai trying to escape from an enemy, one presumably armed with bows, I would allow the armor to drag me down, use something like breast stroke to make as much distance as I could on the way down, then kick off from the bottom and resurface for a breath, then repeat.

Staying on the surface, where I could be shot, seems like a waste of effort, and strategically unwise.

Perhaps this is why the samurai died out, a complete lack of common sense.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

The Murakami marines who served the Mori clan during the Warring States Period swam in full kit.

Big ups sir

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Nice. Now try that with a 27-kilograms Hoplite equipment. That would be harsh...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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