This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Working Title: Barehanded Blade Block: From YKTTW
Wolviepris: I don't know if this ever came up in the anime, but near the end of the Rurouni Kenshin manga, Kaoru teaches Yahiko a variant of this technique, and when he grows up this becomes Yahiko's signature technique.
Darmok: Removed the Sword over Head Pot Hole on the text "sword in the head". It uses similar words, but is completely unrelated.
St Fan: Nobody can sort out the A World Gone Mad reference? Is it a movie? Book? Comics? Googling didn't provide anything coherent, so I suspect even the title isn't right.
Removing it until sorted:
- Played straight, then subverted in A World Gone Mad. Griffin pulls off a barehanded blade block in one of the first scenes. Later, a random Mook tries the same thing and loses a good portion of his hand for his effort. Because it's just that kind of story.
- Although it's never specifically mentioned, it's entirely possible Griffin was wearing some sort of hand guard concealed in his palm. Because he's just that type of guy.
Ninja Vitis: Interesting that "this is a trope busted by the Myth Busters", since I've seen it done in real life during Aikido practice, with practitioners (all black belts) pushing and sometimes even throwing their opponent through grasping the sword blade like this. (Sensei chewed me out for gawking.) Never seen it done in a real fight, though.
