Skills:
With an Odachi, Zatoshi is quite an exceptional swordsman, possibly the most skilled wielder of one in all of the Twin Rivers - this is because it's a frowned upon weapon by most skilled swordsman, who see it's extreme size as tactless and clumsy. Zatoshi has ignored these claims, and perfected his own unique style with them, and is quite deadly in it's use, unlocking it's potential because of the speed it can generate through leverage and long flowing sword strokes, and the subsequent cutting power that it results in. ( NOTE: Zatoshi's relative skill is a result of how uncommon the use of the weapon is, not because of experience. He is far from having it mastered, and I would put him at the "Adept" range just beneath Expert. He still has more he can improve upon.)
With a normal sized Tachi or average twin-rivers styled sword, Zatoshi is somewhat skilled with wielding, though his technique obviously lacks because of his neglect of Battojutsu, a cornerstone of traditional twin-rivers swordsmanship, for speed and deadliness of a strike blending drawing the sword, and sword stroke.
With the average Mesalian styled swords such as broadswords, Zatoshi is at a loss to even think about how to use one. They're clumsy and overall horrible weapons in his opinion.
Zatoshi is experienced with riding a horse. As part of a noble family, he's rather accustomed to it, and as a warrior of a noble family he's learned to ride a war horse, and fight off of one with a lance, though he is not experienced with using a sword off of horseback.
Zatoshi has learned to fight with a lance, though primarily not from on the ground, but rather upon horseback. He's very limited in experience with this, and mainly goes off of instinct rather than technique, save for couching the lance during a cavalry charge to keep his grip upon it.
As part of a noble family Zatoshi has learned to read and write traditional Twin Rivers calligraphy. He's taken the time to at least somewhat formalize his strokes as befitting of a noble.
As a member of a noble family, Zatoshi has studied poetry, though not to great depth. He does enjoy immensely writing the occasional Haiku, however.
As a warrior of noble background, Zatoshi has been instructed in the martial art of Ken-tou-ryu, a rather old and traditional style of hand to hand combat fighting. (Resembles Hapkido). He is moderately well trained, though he has never paid nearly as much attention to it as he has his swordsmanship.
The common Mesalian language used on the main continent is only Zatoshi's second language. He can read and write somewhat proficiently in it, however he does run into grammar issues with the language occasionally.
A 5 1/2 foot long 'Odachi'
A hat of woven straw
2 gold Ryon (Coins, 1 oz of gold each)
It occurs to me, as the weapon Zatoshi chooses to wield can seem somewhat unlikely and ungainly without being properly explained. In the late Kamakura era of Japan, Odachi (Or Nodachi ) were used by samurai as both status symbols and as weapons by skilled duelists and wealthy samurai.
It can be compared to another sword of extreme size, the Zweihander. Documentation on the Odachi is somewhat inconsistent however, so by looking to it's cousin, the Zweihander that's similar in extreme dimensions (Even being sometimes twice as heavy) it is heavily documented as seeing widespread and great use in warfare to good effect.
That documentation along with the knowledge that the Odachi's use is still used by renowned martial artists and has traditional schools that train in it even today (Koden Enshin Ryu, for a very notable example) allows me to make the assertion that it, in the right hands is a very effective weapon.
However, I am aware that it is not without it's drawbacks. The Odachi is wholly unsuitable for combat indoors; it's extreme size essentially disallows it's use in all but the most open spaces where impact with ceilings, walls, or other objects during a stroke is not an issue.
The Odachi is also of such great length that even the very act of drawing it from it's sheath requires a very broad range of motion, and generally requires the left hand to pull the sheath away as the right hand draws the sword out, as the sword itself is longer than the arm. As it is impractical to wear at the waist however, it is often worn on the back. If long enough however, the sword becomes wholly impossible to draw in a timely manner when worn in this fashion.
The final drawback however is not as great as perceived. Despite it's great size, the Odachi at the length provided for Zatoshi typically only weighs around 5lbs (2kg). So although being heavier than your average Katana by about 2-2.5lbs, they are far from being 'ungainly' in weight. Proper technique is harder to achieve with the odachi, but it is still quite possible.
That is not to say that it is a superior weapon - it is somewhat slower, and harder to manipulate than a sword of more mundane dimensions, but also has strength in better reach and more cutting power.
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Swordsmanship - Advanced