the rum soaked fist: internal martial arts forum

Why do yall assume he was a good swordsman?

Well, he may have actually had to fight for his life at some point. So, at least we know that he survived even if he was a poor swordsman.

..."With the camera technology of the time i highly doubt that he was in any motion. I would wager it is just a stylised stance for the camera and nothing more..."

if you look on his katana tip - is "blur" - I mean, visibly wider than close to the tsuba,
so
his katana is definitely in the motion

Dajenarit wrote:Why do yall assume he was a good swordsman?

I think we just assume he was a swordsman/samurai

Trick wrote:

Dajenarit wrote:Why do yall assume he was a good swordsman?

I think we just assume he was a swordsman/samurai

If he was born in a Samurai family, he went through rigorous training and practiced with sharp weapons from small age. If he was too stupid for that practice, he would either be dead already or put to do other things than humiliate the clan by not knowing how to hold a sword properly. So we can assume that he should at least have what it takes to become a Samurai.

IINM, Kubata was a commander, not just any samurai. Furthermore, things were quite "spicy" not too long before this picture was taken. The Bakumatsu period saw a lot of fighting and violence. I have seen different dates attributed to these photos, but it's certainly late Bakumastsu or just across the Meiji divide.