Heroic Dreams - All Things Medieval

I was browsing through my netflix account last night looking for something good to watch when I stumbled across this film: Reclaiming the Blade  (Reclaiming the Blade (2-disc Special Edition) . It is a documentary of sorts that describes the history of the sword and also delves deeply into the lasting impression that the sword has on us even to this day when swords are pretty much not of any military use. It is undeniable that the sword holds a place of symbolic power, strength and reverance in today’s world. And this film explores this theme.

There are lots of great tie ins to modern film,  and how the sword is still very much used in film, from star wars to period movies like Kingdom of Heaven. There is also lots of footage from these movies and an explanation of how the sword is portrayed and used in these movies.  There are also a lot of great interviews with archaeologists, film makers, sword makers and even actors including Viggo Mortensen from Lord of the Rings.

Another interesting aspect that is covered in the documentary is the difference between European swords/martial arts and the Eastern swords and martial arts.  Which was an extra bonus for me considering I just recently returned from a trip to Japan where I purchased a Samurai Sword.

Here are a few tasty snippets that I got from the film:

1. Want to know what brought the sword into its modern day prominence? It has got to be Oakshotts classification of Swords. you can see it here: Oakshotts classification of Swords

2. Here are some great modern movies that stay true to having the sword fighting be authentic to the period the movie was made for:

• Rob Roy
• Kingdom of Heaven 
• Alatriste [Viggo Mortensen]
• Gladiator (Widescreen Edition)
• Troy (Two-Disc Widescreen Edition)

And, there is lots of stuff about the modern practice and art of sword fighting through sub cultures like the Society of Creative Anachronism, and the HACA (The Historical Armed Combat Association). All in all, if you are a fan of swords then this is a must watch. You are going to be pleased and amazed.

If you are following along with my quest for a Samurai sword which I have here in Part 1 and Part 2 here is part 3. I do have a part 4 of this on my youtube channel: The quest for a Samurai Sword Part 4.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74IX3fjXFco[/youtube]

I was sitting in my hotel room (which was pretty darn small) and I was just trying to unwind after a very long day of adventuring around Japan. I had missed that days opportunity to get myself a samurai sword but I had some solid clues and had actually visited a couple of places that were closed. You can see this part of the adventure in my first video (The quest for a samurai sword part 1)

Anyway, I was sitting in my hotel room and turned on the television. There was a lot of very interesting stuff on! It is true that the Japanese love their crazy game shows, but these get to be quite an overload if you don’t understand the language. Surfing through the channels I found the Schwarzenegger movie “End of Days”. Well that’s a pretty fun movie and it was a real hoot to hear Arnold in a Japanese voice…. So… I took some video of it. And well, low and behold it gave me an idea about the next part of my quest to get a samurai sword.

The image below is not a real video player. It is just for display. To watch part 2 of my quest for a samurai sword click on the link below the image and either download the file or play it in your own PC player. Fun video to make!

Here is the link to watch Part 2: The Quest for a Samurai - An American In Japan - Part 2 (9.9 Mb)

 Here is a video of the beginning of my adventure in Japan.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OceFbtzJ4w0[/youtube]