Description:
The Sleeping Samurai is actually a company that specializes in Japanese culture. We make boffer weapons (foam weapons) and sell Japanese knickknacks. Our goal is to bring chivalry back into this rather corrupt world. Shoot us a message if you're interested!
Here's what Sleeping Samurai means, in the words of the owner and manager of the company.
Many people ask me what my business name means. Well… To me, it represents the fact that in this world there are still Samurai. These Samurai could be your average Joe. The kid that packs your groceries, the person that delivers your mail, the firefighter down the street, the person at your local park that picks up the trash, the police officer that you hate because he/she gave you a ticket for breaking the law, or the person that serves your burger at the fast food joint. All of these people could be Samurai. They just don’t realize it. Therefore, they are “Sleeping”. They are Samurai because of how they treat you, respect you, protect you, honor you and most of all, (some) would die for you. Yes, some would even give their lives for you, a complete stranger. These are the type of people that I would consider Samurai. So, the next time you are about to take for granted the person who bagged your groceries, delivered your tax return, saved your grandparents from a gas leak, picked up your trash, arrested the criminals, or served you your food, just remember, they could be “Sleeping Samurai”.
Are you sleeping?
And here's a breakdown in my ([
RainCloud]'s) words.
We'd love for you to take our survey at
http://thesleepingsamurai.com/Contact/tabid/59/Default.aspx
(sorry the link isn't pretty.)
Thank you!
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Terms you have to know/understand/love. And forgive the original author (RainCloud) if she got some stuff wrong. She’s still in training.
AmtGard:
Simplest Terms- a game where people go out and beat each other with foam weapons (such as those sold by The Sleeping Samurai)
More Complicated Terms- its a LARP (in my opinion) that includes fighter practice (so you can learn how to fight better) and is heavily influenced by the arts and sciences (ie armorsmithing, costuming, "weapon"smithing, etc). If you're looking for something lax and fun that gets out stress (and improves you as a person in many different ways), this is definately it.
If you want to start a group in your area, ask. You need 10 or more people interested to start a group. Contact us for help.
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Foam Weapons? Are you kidding?
Well, sorta. They’re not completely foam. The swords have a carbon fiber core that has supports. Then there’s foam.
They don’t hurt badly, especially if used properly (i.e. USE THE FLAT SIDE, THATS THE BLADE!!!). They can leave bruises but that only happens when you get people that are crazy good into the pit and they start beating each other (PROPERLY).
If you interested in getting one, thesleepingsamurai.com is our beautiful website. We also make staves (bowstaves, naginata/glaive, spears) and other items (flails, tonto/daggers, warhammers, and other items as we get creative). Those are made a little differently depending on the item, to ensure a safety standard is maintained. As we expand, we are creating more weapons. Check out the website to see the recent weapons!
Side Note: if you purchase a weapon, you get a 15 minute training session with that weapon by one of our "swordmasters" (who can use many types of weapons, that’s just the easiest way to put it) To make them last longer, don't be trees or other inanimate objects. Please. It ruins the foam.
If you're already into Amtgard and are thinking "pfft, I'll just make my own," I want to tell you to look at the website. These are excellently made, attractive looking, and enhance the experience by being as close as possible to the actual weapon (we spend a lot of our free time making them more realistic). All of our weapons are Amtgard legal and can often be used in weapons training arts (ask first, your dojo may have specific weapons rules).
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Ooo, cool. Where can I see you guys?
Anime conventions. I will post the list here but it also viewable on our website. We have done a Medieval Faire but we are focused and geared towards anime cons.
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What do you do at anime cons?
We have a pit (a roped off area) where we conduct one-on-one battles. We try to hold tournaments throughout the day (2 a day or so).
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The Rules
So we don’t have to wear our voices raw explaining the rules when you do battle (or in case you forgot):
No neck or head shots. Two limbs is a death. Core body (anything that is not limbs or neck or head) is death. If the hand is on the weapon and the blade hits the wrist or hand, it is considered hand-on-weapon and doesn’t count. The blow must be solid.
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Questions? PLEASE ASK!
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Upcoming Cons: (definate)
~Anime U.S.A.
November 20-22
Arlington, VA
~Ikkicon
January 1-3
Auston, TX
Samurai-graced Anime Conventions
