Now that I am almost back to normal, (my wife says I never was normal) I am picking up my swords and getting out my hakama and gi preparing to resume practicing Iaido. For over a decade I practiced kenjutsu and batto-do. My love of commando knives is equaled only by my love of Japanese edged weapons; katana, wakizashi and tanto. Recently a friend gave me a reproduction of an O'dachi, a katana nearly six feet long. I won't be swinging it around in the dojo, though I am in awe of any warrior who could have used it. Most of the Japanese samurai of the period were not much above five feet six inches in height.

​One of my favorite swords came from Bugei Trading Company many years back, they called it their "Peace" sword. That is an odd name for a weapon designed to vivisect humans on the field of battle. The theme of the sword is based on a haiku by Basho, a famous Japanese poet. The saya is black with golden tufts of grass. The menuki are golden horses romping about after a battle, freed from their riders, and the tsuba also reflects the theme of mounted samurai. 

Summer Grasses
All that remains.
​Where Samurai used to dream.

Memorial Day will soon be upon us and that brings me back to the title of his blog. Perception. Like most people I tend to romanticize what I love and demonize what I do not. Where I see noble warriors in the samurai, my mentor saw only bloody killers, in drab uniforms, in pill boxes, killing American soldiers. He was a youth during WW-II and had an unrelenting hate of the Japanese, but somehow he overlooked the equally horrendous murder of people by the Germans and Italians of the Axis powers. The Germans looked like us, the Japanese did not. For him the Japanese were the boogeymen of his dreams.

If only somehow we could all see each other as human beings perhaps we might be able to resist killing each other. As I think of Memorial Day certain words came to my mind: valor, honor, duty, chivalry, service, but also compassion, tenderness, and dare I say it, love.

Monday I am going to be officiating at a memorial service for an old friend. Like me, he was a Vietnam veteran. Did he hate the Vietcong or Communist Vietnamese soldiers? I don't really know, we never talked about it. After all "they" did not look like us either, it was easy to demonize them as the enemy. In case you are asking, no I did not, do not, hate them. What makes a people invade and attack another people? What drives thousands of men to fight and kill other people they do not know, people who never offended them? If we should hate anything it should be the governments that stir up nationalistic fervor, who create false justification for going to war with other nations. I found the Vietnamese and the Japanese to be wonderful people. They are people just like us, when divested of their governments' desire for power and greed. And who are we to put on the robes of purity after killing hundreds of thousands of people in the name of Freedom and Democracy? 

These men freely shared their 400-year-old tradition with me and asked nothing of me in return except that I stay true to the Art. If I were to hold a grudge against anyone it would not be the Japanese but the Washington war-mongers who stole four years of my life to fight communism in a foreign land, who caused the death of my father by Agent Orange, who stole the innocence of America's youth for political gain and greed, who opened the doors to the drug trade and addiction. These monsters look just like us. As the political commentary of a Pogo cartoon once said: "We have met the enemy, and he is us." Have a safe and thoughtful Memorial Day, and may God bless America.

On April 25th, I had some surgery to hopefully fix all of my recent health issues. I was only in the hospital overnight and came home to recuperate. So, this is why you have not seen any recent postings. Things are progressing well, and I have spent today getting photos and listing new knives for sale.

Honestly folks I do not need over 400 fighting knives to care for and to check for rust and oil etc.  I love them all but it makes sense to downsize. We are planning to relocate to Idaho and that is another reason to weed out duplicates and knives I have worked with and discovered their intricacies. I intend to get back to practicing sword work and my katana are calling for attention too. Carbon steel blades do not like to be neglected!

I also owe a good friend money for a knife that I intended to pay off in a month or two and it is stretching out way too long. Thanks for your patience Kevin.   

I also have other hobbies and obligations to meet. For example, I am carving a new cross for our house in Idaho. For those of you who do not know, I am an ordained priest and have responsibilities therefor to other people, serving their needs. A long way to go on the cross but the hospital stay interrupted it. So, bear with me as I get my shit together and list a few knives to sell, write a few blogs, and get back on track.  Have a great week.