SPORTS CHANBARA(Yari)

　It is really meaningful to explore the yari as a sport.
　With the exception of missiles, no other swords have achieved such an exclusive performance as the yari has done. Characterized by its simple, direct power, it used to contribute to battles to a great extent in old times.
　Nowadays, you can still find in traditional houses a kakeyari on nageshi, which explains samurai's prosperous past. The yari was so much familiar to people of that time.
　If swoedsmanship is three times as advantageous as unarmed combat, spearmanship could then be three times as advantageous asswordsmanship is. Despite its excellency, the art of yari only remains in some old martialarts, and otherwise does not attract attention. Taking care of the yari as a sport would be part of our responsibility, which we have so far failed to do. In the Olympic Games, one can only find it used in javelin. In Japan, it would be more familiar for us to hold it with two hands.
　We need, as learners of sports chanbara, to recognize this linear, elaborate, and powerful sport.

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