Now I'm not suggesting we all go "Abbot-style" and refine our cuts so that they are the barest minimum, containing the smallest movement possible and removing all fun from our odd little activity, BUT, being able to stop the sword when and where you want it stopped is deceptively tough and needs practice. I mean what you essentially have is about 2 lbs of metal, pivoting on your right hand and controlled a few inches down by your left. Trying to get the weight around that fulcrum to stop where you tell it requires practice.
So every now and then I go out and I train _just_ my stopping distances with single cuts, nothing flash, in order to keep it focused. In a perfect world, with a full swing behind the cut, I would like to be able to stop the blade about 3 inches after it's passed through the target. I haven't reached that point yet, not with any reliability anyway.
Armchair sword enthusiasts will probably bang on about how it's not that tough. I refer them to Eric's video on aquariums. (no seriously https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAfZAup1Xto)
Having said that, heres a session training just stopping distance.
I said I'd redo these cuts but all in one session. It shows that I didn't just fluke them the last time and it's practice. I am by no means confident with these cuts the same way i am with the earlier parts of the curriculum but I can do them so here they are.
After I finished the bottle curriculum, as much as I wanted to do another video that showed all the cuts being done one after the other, I admit I did want to try something new. That last set of cuts was tricky so something fresh was needed. I decided to try multiple cuts on the same bottle. The way this is done is to place one bottle on top of another, cut the top bottle into two pieces, select a piece that you like the look of and then cut it again before it hits the ground. Sounds hard because it is, but I thought I'd give it a go.
Short story, heres the video ;)
