this is that movie about the blind samurai, yes?
amazing movie

No doubt one of Tarantino's inspirations for Kill Bill type blood spews...I'm not sure if this is Kurosawa...Kenji Misumi directed Zatôichi kenka-daiko, in 1968, this may be it.

Guys, you're both wrong. This is Sanjuro, a 1962 black and white Japanese samurai film directed by Akira Kurosawa and starring Toshiro Mifune. It is a sequel to Kurosawa's earlier film Yojimbo.

So who won?

Hehe, Kill Bill blood spray.

I knew a fellow who was skilled at kenjutsu and was training under a master of iaijutsu, or Iaido, which is pretty much the art of drawing the sword, like in this clip.

It was pretty interesting to watch him practice, because when I first met him he had just recieved permission from his old japanese master to use a real sword, and with a real sword comes elaborate rituals that must be maintained when practicing. So he'd begin each attempt by paying respect over the sword as it sat in front of him, then he'd slide it under his belt, then he'd adjust to the seated or standing position he wanted to practice, and wait, and slowly move his hands to the sword, then FWOOSH!, he'd pull it out and make a few cuts in the air, then slide it back in, and commence to praying over it again. He showed me how he'd taken a few chunks out of the top of his scabbard, because a large amount of the training is knowing exactly how long your sword is, and exactly when it is free so you can make cuts.

One last note about him, his favorite move was really impressive, where, from a seated and bowing position, he would step up while drawing his sword and cut once forward on the upswing, then turn and cut downwards behind where he had sat. He noted how his master was especially respected in Japan as being incredible at seated moves in Iaido, and this form came about due to situations where maybe you're visiting the enemy to sit and discuss peace proceedings, but an assasin behind you draws his sword while you're seated and bowing in respect. The practitioner could hear the sword draw and attack both people around him while drawing his own sword.

*dead

This published video has been declared non-functional; embed code must be fixed within 2 days or it will be sent to the dead pool - declared dead by mas8705.

*dead

This video has been declared non-functional; embed code must be fixed within 2 days or it will be sent to the dead pool - declared dead by eric3579.