12-31-2014, 07:07 PM | #31 |
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Maitland, NSW, Australia
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Re: Improving the Tonfa
If there were realistic options to make the tonfa better then we would already see them in real life. As soon as you put a parrying/disarming prong on a tonfa, you lose half of the other techniques it can be used with.
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12-31-2014, 07:25 PM | #32 |
Join Date: Nov 2011
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Re: Improving the Tonfa
Another "any useful hoplological improvements must already exist" thing? It's not a bad guideline but it's simply not that absolute. Every improvement people came up with had a period of time before during which it didn't exist, many improvements don't appear until the right need appears, some improvements are marginal enough that not spending the resources on developing them makes sense, not all weaponry options appear everywhere they could be developed and many improvements make something worse in the wrong hands. It's ridiculous to just automatically refuse any possible improvement to low tech equipment because it doesn't already exist.
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12-31-2014, 07:51 PM | #33 |
Join Date: Jul 2008
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Re: Improving the Tonfa
Even if we suppose that that's true for the real-life purposes, the constraints Sindri is analyzing under are very different from those that lead real people to use tonfas. So there's no reason that the 'optimal' real-world tonfa would be the best version for the purposes here.
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12-31-2014, 09:06 PM | #34 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: MO, U.S.A.
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Re: Improving the Tonfa
I'll raise you the Compound Bow. A massive improvement in usability that could have been created by Rome, if not earlier.
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01-01-2015, 12:30 AM | #35 | |||||
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: France
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Re: Improving the Tonfa
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Oh, I forgot to tell... Some people think that tonfas are that: http://www.google.fr/imgres?imgurl=h...ed=0CCoQrQMwAg They may be. And these seem not to be very effective, indeed. The tonkwas I am talking about are that: http://www.google.fr/imgres?imgurl=h...ed=0CCQQrQMwAA Mine weighs 1 pound (a piece) and are just training tonkwas. If the craftsman who made them (a black belt kobudoka) had to make true weapons, he would use an even harder wood. Quote:
Just note (but I'm sure you already know it) that in Okinawa, the police weapon was the sai, not the tonfa. Quote:
In kobudo, it is taught after bo (quarterstaff) and sai because it is harder to learn. Quote:
But it is a pity that GURPS tonkwa has not such a treatment in GURPS rules. As I said previously, it strikes much faster than any other kobudo weapon... It's ability to kill with one blow to the skull or to destroy knees are not really handled, because it doesn't do enough damage. One of my karate and kobudo sensei is a tonkwa specialist. She has something like ST 10, ST 11 at best. So, in GURPS terms, she is only supposed to deal 1d+1 cr with a swinging tonkwa blow. Hard to kill an average guy with that. Even hard to knock him out... Quote:
Furthermore, allowing a karateka to use a tonkwa to punch and parry freely is neither realistic, as I said above. Maintaining the tonkwa firmly on the arm requires a lot of training. And the hikite is very different. A karateka not specifically trained to use tonkwas would inevitably hurt himself. Despite 2 years of kobudo training (and 16 years of karate training), I wouldn't use it in a true combat. I'm not trained enough. I would rather use the bo, which is less dangerous but inflicts (in reality, not in GURPS) less damage. Last edited by Gollum; 01-01-2015 at 12:42 AM. |
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01-01-2015, 12:56 AM | #36 | |||||
Join Date: Jan 2009
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Re: Improving the Tonfa
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You think it deserves more damage? How much more? Quote:
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Last edited by Toptomcat; 01-01-2015 at 01:03 AM. |
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01-01-2015, 01:17 AM | #37 | ||||
Join Date: Nov 2011
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Re: Improving the Tonfa
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Last edited by Sindri; 01-01-2015 at 01:23 AM. |
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01-01-2015, 01:44 AM | #38 | ||||
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: France
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Re: Improving the Tonfa
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8V--2H9lj0 Not very much. Something like swing+2 would fit, in my humble opinion. And it would allow to make a difference between heavy and lighters tonkwas. Quote:
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:-) To stop kidding, here is another video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILzmQoAkirU Wait for the kata done at full speed, to understand what I want to mean. And don't be surprised by the posture on one foot. It is not unbalanced because there is a kaisai (hidden technique) inside: a kick that is not shown during the kata. Last edited by Gollum; 01-01-2015 at 02:03 AM. |
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01-01-2015, 01:57 AM | #39 | |||
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: France
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Re: Improving the Tonfa
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Last edited by Gollum; 01-01-2015 at 02:25 AM. |
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01-01-2015, 02:29 AM | #40 |
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: France
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Re: Improving the Tonfa
Oh, I forgot to tell... Happy new year to everyone!
I really enjoy GURPS and people here because you all make me think a lot, open my points of view, understand things better... Thank you very, very much to all of you. Have an amazing year, full of GURPS, of course, and all other things you like! |
Tags |
house rules, low-tech, martial arts, tonfa, weapons. |
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