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Dynamic Simulation of Japanese Swords During Performing Parrying in Kendo

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Technical Report · October 2016

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.34503.09129

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Dynamic Simulation of Japanese Swords During
Performing Parrying in Kendo Kata
Report based on the project leading to the thesis of Halil Yeniavci

Alexander Konyukhov and Halil Yeniavci

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany;
Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences, Karlsruhe, Germany

Abstract
During the impact simulation of for various impact related sport tools
such as a baseball bat and a tennis racket in most cases only the simple
kinematics including either single translation, or single rotation is consid-
ered. The kinematics, however, cannot be simplified in the case of the
sword mechanics. In the current article we are studying the kinemat-
ics and dynamics of the Japanese sword Katana during performing the
Kata in Kendo. In these case, the motion of both swords is described
as the arbitrary 3D kinematics of rigid body motion including both 3D
translation and 3D rotation. The contact between both swords should be
carefully modeled. The full study is, therefore, consists of several stages:
a) modeling of the control motion including the kinematics of the con-
tact interaction in a 3D computer graphics program; b) CAD modeling
of the real sword for the mass distribution and the center of percussion;
c) simplified dynamic simulation of the real sword without contact us-
ing the rigid body dynamic model. The major result is emphasized as
the proposed strategy for the modeling of complicated motions including
contact. As a result forces and moments, necessary to control the sword
during performing the fourth Kata in Kendo are derived for real sword.
Their components are derived in the local sword coordinates system and
discussed with regards to the kinematic split into “slicing”, “cutting” and
“side blade” motions. The center of percussion is computed, in addition,
for the real sword based on the rigid body dynamics model.
Keywords: sword mechanics; Japanese sword; Kendo; control
motion; rigid body dynamics; center of percussion

1
Contents
1 Introduction 3

2 Contact kinematics involved into the sword impact 5

3 Sword kinematics of the control motion 14

3.1 Simplified and exact geometrical model of the typical Katana sword 15
3.2 Computer simulation of the control motion . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.3 Description of the kinematics as a rigid body motion . . . . . . . 18
3.3.1 Initialization of contact – ”shaving“ swords motion . . . . 21
3.3.2 Parrying by the Shidachi sword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3.3.3 Counterattack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

4 Dynamic Simulation within Rigid Body Dynamics Model 29

4.1 Exact CAD Model of the Katana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
4.1.1 Mass distribution parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
4.2 Equations of motion for the sword as a rigid body . . . . . . . . 31
4.2.1 Transformation into dimensionless form . . . . . . . . . . 31
4.3 Velocity of the center of mass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
4.4 Acceleration of the center of mass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
4.5 Force vector at various coordinate systems at the center of mass 32
4.6 Moment vector at various coordinate systems at the center of mass 35
4.7 Dynamic parameters for the sword handle . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
4.8 Center of percussion with regards to for the sword handle . . . . 37

5 Conclusion 38

2
1 Introduction
Sword mechanics as the systematic study includes the following stages:
• geometry of the sword including in due course
– profile of the cutting edge;
– geometry of mass: mass, position of the center mass, tensor of inertia;
– type of handle: either one handed or two handed;
– geometrical position of both percussion point for the perfect impact;

• kinematics of the motion for typical movements;

• dynamics of the motion.
After studying of all points in combinations one can answer about the typical
usage and advantages of certain type of sword. The same approach is applicable
for a cutting device in general such a knife, an axe etc. Let us overview these
stages.
Geometry of the profile of the cutting edge gives us the split into relative
cutting and slicing velocity during typical motion of the tool. Thus only rota-
tion of the sword can deliver during an impact the combination of cutting and
slicing velocity. It is well known that slicing velocity delivering allows to split
the cutting body into pieces with less energy. The general review of the cutting
processes is presented by Lu and Calladine in [1]. Such a split allows to profile
a perfect knife for slicing – an interesting example is given for slicing salami and
cheese, see Atkins et.al. in [2], or in industrial applications in Atkins and Xu [3].
In terms of the Japanese sword this leads to amazing demonstration of tameshi-
giri technique known as a special cutting technique with swords. Another way
around large impact energy for cutting only is necessary for the perfect usage
of axe. Profile of cutting edge for the axe is dominated by cutting only. The
curve geometry in the case of sword can deliver a perfect combination of cut-
ting and slicing velocity such that during typical usage the maximum cutting
through effect will be reached with less energy, see discussion in T. Atkins [4].
The general theory for the cutting phenomena is well explained in monograph
of Atkins [5]. Study of the geometry of mass together with type of handle allows
to determine a percussion point – if an impact is delivered at this point then
the counter impact reaction in this handle is zero. All these studies allow to
determine an exact perfect usage of the certain type of sword, or even in general
cutting device.
The kinematics of motion is the most historically dominated part and in-
cludes the full set of techniques which allows to use the sword of certain geometry
in the most effective way. The same discussion is of course applicable for any
cutting device such as knife, axe etc. Everyone of us from the everyday prac-
tice can determine a certain motion (and therefore kinematics) to use knife for
slicing and cutting, or a cutting motion for the axe.

3
 Finally the dynamics studies all mentioned above points in combination in
order to find out necessary forces to control the sword (or cutting device) and
necessary forces generated at cutting edge cutting and slicing forces. Namely
this allows to answer many questions about the advantages of certain type of
sword or in general cutting device etc.
The goal of the current study is kinematics and simplified dynamics simula-
tion of the famous Japanese sword Katana. As an example of control kinematics
we are choosing the famous Kendo techniques, so called, Nippon Kendo Kata,
which is a part of study and a part of the official examination in the Kendo
techniques for the All Japan Kendo Federation and the International
Kendo Federation, see [6] http://www.kendo-fik.org. One of the most spec-
tacular Kata is the fourth Kata, so called Yohonme Kendo Kata. Though, the
technical description is even available in books see e.g. in [7], the reader not
familiar with the Kendo is highly recommended to watch this video on open in-
ternet resources (e.g. http://www.youtube.com/ ) by the reference “Kendo Kata
4”. On the ordinary level Kata is performed with the wooden swords – bokuto
and only very experience high Dan holder Sensei’s are performing Kata with the
real sword. We are concentrating on the real sword – Japanese sword Katana,
because our modeling is a part of the sword mechanics.
There are many types of the historical Japanese swords (Nihon-to) see the
large historical survey in [8]. The most known and popularized type of the
long Japanese sword is Katana and is used during the training in Kendo and in
Iaido. The historically developed manufacturing process for this sword, known
as Tatara, – a traditional steel-making system developed in Japan – is the
subject of study in both experimental manufacturing and numerical simulations
aspects, see Inoue [9] among many devoted publications and many reference
herein. Many monographs are devoted to the Japanese sword [10], [11], [12] from
the viewpoint of typical traditional crafts of arts. Various aspects of modern
science and technology for the way of making the Japanese sword are considered
in [14] and [15]. The comparison of the modern and ancient techniques are
revised from the modern technology point of view in Yaso et.al. [16]. Questions
about the manufacturing are arising concerning also various types of swords used
during historical periods in various countries, see the investigation of Williams
in [17], and in specific to a German sword “Messer” in Fajfar et.al. [18].
The study of the impact related tool in sport engineering are mostly con-
cerned the baseball bat and tennis rockets, see e.g. in Smith [19], Bower [20].
Both experimental and numerical issues are matter of interest. Thus, exper-
imental study influence of the position of the center of gravity on dynamical
characteristics is given in Maeda [21]. Maeda and Okauchi [22] studied the
“feel” of hitting a ball with a tennis racket has been quantified by vibrations to
the hand and by the coefficient of restitution.
In application to sword mechanics – investigation of the geometry of mass
and the most important characteristics such as percussion point is given by
G. Turner in [23]
In general there a few publications dealing with sword dynamics and in spe-
cific with Japanese sword, thus Masashi Daimaruya and Hidetoshi Kobayashi

4
[24] considered experimental and finite element simulation to study the inves-
tigate why a part of handle assembly (a mekugi – connection of the blade and
tsuka) cannot be broken even during the strong impact They performed mea-
surement and LS-DYNA simulation of impact forces at certain points of the
blade. As an impact simulation they have selected a simple striking at a certain
point – not a full simulation.
As an important summary for available in the literature results is that for the
computer simulation during finite element modeling ONLY SIMPLE KINE-
MATICS of the impactor is considered. These include either a single longi-
tudinal motion along coordinate axis, or a single rotational motion around a
coordinate axis.
One can see that during the full usage of sword the kinematics of the sword
motion is highly complex and is in general described as 3D motion including
all three translational motions along coordinate axes together with all three
rotational motions around coordinate axes. Thus, the the first and essential
part for the full dynamic simulation is how to move the sword within the certain
technique – or kinematics of the sword.
The essential part of the dynamics is the description of the full kinematic
motion, because in order to study dynamics in full completeness include all
varieties of contact situations one should know how the sword is moving. The
full study of dynamics for a sword as continuum deformable body is therefore
split into three stages:
1. Study of the kinematics – simulation of the control motion including con-
tact situation approximately. In other words, we are learning how to move
the sword;
2. Study of the dynamics without contact – simplified dynamic simulation
as a rigid body motion with/without contact.
3. Study of the dynamics: result of the control motion is applied to simulate
the correct motion and full dynamical simulation including all possible
contact situations is performed using the finite element method. The
sword is assumed to be deformable body continuum in this case.
In the current article we are studying two stages: the kinematics – the control
motion as well as the simplified dynamic simulation for a sword as a rigid body
motion without contact. The result, nevertheless, is allowing to compute various
dynamic values such as momentum, moment of momentum, force and moments
which are necessary to control the sword.

2 Contact kinematics involved into the sword

impact
One can clearly see that the sword dynamics and, in general, “cutting device”
dynamics is highly dominated by the contact mechanics, computational mod-
eling of which can be a very sophisticated task. Considering a typical impact

5
Figure 1: Initial reference configuration for the sword dynamics – shortly be-
fore the parrying in Yohonme Kendo Kata. Various geometrical situations are
possible for contact between the swords: Surface-To-Surface, Edge (Curve)-To-
Surface, Curve-To-Curve (Edge-To-Edge) and Point-based contact (piercing).

of swords one can see that they can meet each another by surfaces, by cut-
ting edges, by a cutting edge and a surface and, though as almost un-probable
case, by vertex and surface. Namely, such a classification has been developed
recently in computational contact mechanics, see monograph [25]. It has been
shown from the numerical resolvability that it is necessary to split the full com-
putational contact algorithm into a sequence of the following contact pairs for
which the computational algorithm should be separately constructed:
1. Point-To-Point contact pair;
2. Point-To-Curve contact pair;
3. Point-To-Surface contact pair;
4. Curve-To-Curve contact pair;
5. Curve-To-Surface contact pair;
6. Surface-To-Surface contact pair.
In application to our example of the sword impact during performing the
Yohonme Kendo Kata, the following situations starting from the reference con-
figuration, see Fig. 1, may appear:
1. contact between sword blades leading to the Surface-To-Surface contact
algorithm, see Fig. 3;
2. contact between cutting edges to the Curve-To-Curve contact algorithm,
see Fig. 4;
3. contact between a cutting edge and a sword blade leading to the Curve-
To-Surface contact algorithm, see Fig. 6.

6
 In order to construct a numerical algorithm for a certain contact pair, first
of all, it is identified that the closest distance between contacting bodies is a
natural measure of the normal contact interaction. The procedure is introduced
via the Closest Point Projection (CPP) procedure, solution of which requires the
differentiability of the function (and corresponding smoothness) representing the
parametrization of the surface of the contacting body. This procedure plays the
major role in computational contact mechanics, see various views in monographs
of Kikuchi and Oden [26], Laursen [28], Wriggers [27]. The CPP procedure is
defined as follows. First, we are taking a point rs on the surface of one contacting
body called a “slave” point, then we are searching the closest distance to the
surface of the other contacting body called a “master” body:

krs − ρ(ξ 1 , ξ 2 )k −→ min (1)

1 2
The solution of CPP are coordinates (ξC , ξC ) on the “master” surface and the
1 2
normal projection vector to this surface N = rs − ρ(ξC , ξC ). The measure of
the normal contact interaction is just this shortest distance ξ 3 = kNk which is
used as the third local coordinate along the unit surface normal n.
Analysis of the resolvability for the CPP procedure allows then to classify all
types of all possible contact pairs, see details originally in [29] and in the mono-
graph [25]. The idea can be easily shown for the 2D case in Fig. 2. We consider
a point belonging to the “slave” body and is following the path S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 .
The slave point is observed from the “master” side ABCD, as we put an ob-
server on this “master” line. Assuming, first, that the Point-To-Curve CPP
procedure is taken into account only – one can say that we observe the “slave”
point in the following local coordinate system Point-To-Curve CPP procedure:

r(s, ζ) = ρ(s) + ζν. (2)

Since a normal vector ν has jumps (points B and C), there are portions of the
trajectory which can not be described in the local coordinate system inherited
with Point-To-Curve CPP procedure in eqn. (2). They are located in the non-
allowable domain with regard to the projection onto the curve: any point S2
laying in the non-allowable domain can not be described in the local coordinate
system given by eqn. (2). The term non allowable domain with regard to the
projection onto surface resp. curve resp. point is then used for a domain where
any point can not be described in the local coordinate system corresponding to
the projection onto surface resp. curve resp. point. However, in such a situation
it is possible to create a continuous mapping of the path S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 onto the
curve by introducing a new projection operation in the non-allowable domain
with regard to the projection onto the curve. This is a projection of the point
into an angular point of curves (e.g. S2 into B and S4 into C in Fig. 2), or CPP
procedure onto the corner points. This necessarily leads to the Point-To-Point
contact pair.
In such a manner, the projection domain for 3D case can be constructed for
utmost C1-continuous surfaces. If the surfaces contain edges and vertexes then
the CPP procedure should be generalized in order to include the projection onto

7
 non−allowable domain
S1 S2
ν
O

A P1 B S3
S4
P3
S5
R C

M P5

D
domain of multiple solutions
Figure 2: Violation of C 1 -continuity leads to non-allowable domains with regard
to the projection onto master curve ABCD. Both Point-To-Curve and Point-
To-Point contact pairs are necessary to describe geometrically exact kinematics
of contact with the master curve.

edges and onto vertexes. The main idea for application for the contact is then
straightforward – the CPP procedure corresponding to a certain geometrical
feature gives a rise to a special, in general, curvilinear 3D coordinate system.
This coordinate system is attached to a geometrical feature and its convective
coordinates are directly used for further definition of the contact measures.
Thus, all contact pairs should be described in the corresponding local coordinate
system. The requirement of the existence for the generalized CPP procedure
leads to the transformation rule between types of contact pairs according to
which the corresponding coordinate system is taken. Thus, the all contact pairs
can be uniquely described in utmost situations.
A Surface-to-Surface contact pair, see Fig. 3, is based on the CPP procedure
onto the surface. Solution of this 3D CPP problem allows to define a local
coordinate system attached to the “master” surface as follows:

r(ξ 1 , ξ 2 , ξ 3 ) = ρ(ξ 1 , ξ 2 ) + ξ 3 n(ξ 1 , ξ 2 ) (3)

The vector r is a vector for the “slave” point and originally is computed as a se-
lected integration point with convective coordinates α1 , α2 on the slave surface
r(α1 , α2 ). The parametrization of the “master” surface with Gaussian convec-
tive coordinates (ξ 1 , ξ 2 ) is given as ρ(ξ 1 , ξ 2 ) and n(ξ 1 , ξ 2 ) is a normal to the
master surface. Eqn. (3) describes, in fact, a coordinate transformation where
convective coordinates are used for measure of contact interaction: ξ 3 is a pen-

8
etration, ∆ξ 1 , ∆ξ 2 are measures for tangent interaction. The contact algorithm
is constructed for the “observer” on the “master” surface, namely in coordinate
system with the basis vectors ρ1 , ρ2 and n, though the “slave” basis vectors
r1 , r2 nα are used to identify the slave point and to compute the corresponding
work of contact forces for the computational contact algorithm. Solution of
CPP procedure is not enforcing in this case that the normals are equal nα = n.
The algorithm can be applied only in the allowable domain for the surface CPP
procedure.
The Curve-To-Curve (CTC) contact pair, see Fig. 4, requires the projection
on both curves, therefore, there is no classical “master” and “slave” and both
curves are equivalent, see monograph of Litewka [30]. For the description one
of the two coordinate systems can be assigned to the I-th curve, see in [31] and
various implementation for edge-to-edge, curve-to-curve contact in [32]:

ρ2 (s1 , r, ϕ1 ) = ρ1 (s1 ) + re1 (s1 , ϕ1 ); e1 = ν 1 cos ϕ1 + β 1 sin ϕ1 1 ↔ 2. (4)

Here, the vector ρ2 is a vector describing a contact point of the second curve,
ρ1 (s1 ) is a parametrization of the first curve; a unit vector describing the short-
est distance e1 is written via the unit normal ν 1 and bi-normal β 1 of the first
curve. Eqn. (4) describes the motion of the second contact point in the coor-
dinate system attached to the first curve. The description is symmetric with
respect to the choice of the curve 1 ↔ 2. The convective coordinates used as
measures: r – for normal interaction for both curves; sI – for tangential inter-
action and ϕI – for rotational interaction for the I-th curve. Solution of CPP
procedure in the case of CTC contact is enforcing that the normals are equal
e1 = −e2 .
The Point-To-Point (PTP) contact pair is described then in a coordinate
system standard for rigid body rotation problems (e.g. via the Euler angels).
However it is very seldom case, and in computations it is rather un-probable
unless specially treated, and, therefore, in computations would fall into other
contact pair types. The more frequent case is the Point-To-Surface, e.g. while
performing piercing Tsuki in Kendo, does not require an additional algorithm.
In this case, the kinematics is described in the surface coordinate system similar
to the Surface-To-Surface case – the observer is watching the vertex, see Fig. 5,
A special development is necessary to describe a Curve-To-Surface (CTS)
contact pair precisely from the kinematic point of view. This type of contact
is the combination of the Surface-To-Surface and the Curve-To-Curve contact
kinematics, see in [33] and [34] and available analytical solutions for a rope
and surface contact in [35]. All kinematic parameters, see Fig. 6, are formu-
lated dually in the surface coordinate system eqn. (3) (via Gaussian coordinates
ξ 1 , ξ 2 ) and in the following Serret-Frenet curve coordinate system τ , ν, β (via
coordinate η) similar to the Curve-To-Curve contact, see Fig. 4:

ρ = rs (s(ξ)) + re, with e = ν(ξ) cos ϕ + β(ξ) sin ϕ. (5)

Now, rs (s(ξ)) is defining an integration point positioned on the curve, or in

the case of the beam contact on the mid-line of the curvilinear beam element;

9
 (a) Observer is placed at the master surface and observing contact in the coordinate
system ρ1 , ρ2 , n.

(b) Measure of contact is the shortest distance ξ 3 . Slave surface coordinate system
r1 , r2 , nα is used to identify the slave point and to compute the work of contact forces.

Figure 3: Geometry and kinematics of the Surface-To-Surface contact element.

10
Figure 4: Kinematics of the Curve-To-Curve Contact pair – definition of two
Serret-Frenet curve coordinate systems τ 1 , ν 1 , β1 , 1 ↔ 2 for both edges.

Figure 5: Contact between a vertex and a surface is described in the surface

coordinate system similar to the Surface-To-Surface contact pair. Performing
piercing Tsuki in Kendo.

11
Figure 6: Contact between a cutting edge and a sword blade requires the Curve-
To-Surface contact algorithm.

ρ(ξ 1 , ξ 2 ) is the parametrization of the rigid “master” surface. The integration

point rs (s(ξ)) is found in the direction of the normal n(ξ 1 , ξ 2 ) to the rigid
“master” surface. Kinematic relationships during contact can be obtained dually
considering the relative velocity of the contact point during contact interaction
in both coordinate systems eqns. (3) and (5). An auxiliary vector g = τ × n
is necessary to identify the dragging direction of the curve with regard to the
surface, see Fig. 6.
Kinematic relations during contact can be obtained dually considering the
relative velocity of the contact point during contact:
• The relative velocity on the tangent plane from the surface point of view,
i.e. in the surface coordinate system with ξ 3 = 0 in eqn. (3) is:
vs − v = ξ˙3 n + ξ˙i ρi . (6)

• The relative velocity on the curve from the curve point of view, i.e. in the
Serret-Frenet coordinate system at r = 0, attached to the deformed curve,
see eqn. (5):
v − vs = vτ τ + ve e + vg g (7)
Since, in this contact approach the point is fixed on the curve, we introduce
here notations vτ , ve , vg for projections of the relative velocity vector on
the curvilinear coordinate system τ , e, g instead of using the convective
velocities ṡ, ṙ and ϕ̇.
Summing up both equations (6) and (7), we obtain:
ξ˙j ρi + ξ˙3 n + vτ τ + ve e + vg g = 0. (8)

12
Vector e is represented in the surface coordinate system, at the contact krs −
ρk = |ξ 3 | on the tangent plane
ρ − rs
e= = −n. (9)
kρ − rs k

From eqn. (8), we can define the following components of the relative velocity
vector:
• normal relative velocity during contact

ve = ξ˙3 = ṙ = (vs − v) · n = (v − vs ) · e (10)

• pulling relative velocity

vτ = −(ρi · τ )ξ˙i (11)

• dragging relative velocity

vg = −(ρi · g)ξ˙i (12)

Since, the slave contact point rs is fixed in the curve coordinate system, all
kinematic parameters for the Curve-To-Surface contact should be defined, first,
in the surface coordinate system ρ1 , ρ2 , n as follows:
• Measure of the normal interaction – in the case of a curve edge – directly
related to the sword edges contact

ξ 3 = (rs − ρ) · n, (13)

or in the case of a curvilinear beam as another possible application

ξ 3 = (rs − ρ) · n − R, (14)

where R is a radius of the curvilinear beam with active cross-section (rope,

cable etc.).
• Measure of the tangential interaction (similar for Surface-To-Surface con-
tact) in rate form as :

ξ˙i = (vs − v) · ρj aij , (15)

where ij are contravariant components of the metric tensor computed as inverse

matrix of the covariant components aij = ρi · ρj . This approach allows to
describe kinematics of the curve and surface interaction, such as pulling and
dragging, precisely.
All described contact situations should be carefully taken into account for
considering the kinematics of the control motion which is described in the next
section.

13
3 Sword kinematics of the control motion
As an example of kinematics we are choosing the famous Kendo techniques,
namely Yohonme Kendo Kata (the fourth Kata). This part is the “control mo-
tion” known e.g. in automation and is absolutely necessary for the full dynamic
simulation. On this stage, both swords are “learning” their motions before the
full dynamic simulation
In general, this task can be resolved by the following ways:

1. by the experimental measurements - motion capture techniques

2. by various numerical algorithms in control theory
3. by direct computer modeling of the constraint kinematics and then dy-
namics

The motion capture techniques, see the survey of methods (2000–2006) in [36],
is a video-based human capture and its analysis. The method is the most precise
and the most expensive one because of the requirements for both experimental
equipments and efficient numerical methods to digitize the motion.
In many cases of the control theory the path or trajectory is given, but con-
trol should be defined using various optimization criteria such as minimization
of motion time, minimal inclination of the given parameters (time, or trajec-
tory), or stability of motion. In the current situation it is difficult to formulate
the task of minimization in order to search the optimal trajectory: from one side
the motion should be as fast as possible, from another side the motion should
fulfill the contact constraints.
In the third case the path should be first determined due to the combination
of complex constraints such as various types of contact and, therefore, two
stages strategy can be proposed. At the first stage (learning motion stage), the
control motion is modeled approximately including all types of contact (Surface-
To-Surface, Curve-To-Surface, Curve-To-Curve). At the second stage (the full
dynamic simulation), the full FEM model is applied in order to obtain the exact
motion in dynamics.
We are concentrating in the current work on the modeling of the known
motion. The Yohonme Kendo Kata is performed by two persons: by the attacker
– Uchidachi (attacking sword) and by the defender – Shidachi (receiving sword).
Our aim is to determine how both swords are moving. In other words we have
to reconstruct and describe the control motion of both swords. In order to fulfill
this the following steps are performed:

a) Geometrical model (CAD) of the simplified and the real geometry of the
typical Katana sword
b) Initial positioning of the swords for Uchidachi and Shidachi and selection
of the local coordinate systems attached to the swords

14
 c) Modeling of the control motion for both contacting swords during per-
forming the part of Yohonme Kata with regards to all contact pairs –
Surface-To-Surface, Curve-To-Surface and Curve-To-Curve (learning mo-
tion stage)
d) Dynamic simulation using the rigid body dynamics on the example of two
contacting swords – computation of main dynamic characteristics (ve-
locity, accelerations, momentum and moment of momentum) assuming
swords as rigid bodies.

3.1 Simplified and exact geometrical model of the typical

Katana sword
For geometrical model of the typical Katana sword we are first taking into
account the simplified geometry of the Katana sword concentrating only on the
precise geometry of the cutting edge. For the mass distribution parameters
and for further simplified dynamic simulation we are taking into account the
geometry of real Katana sword available on the market.Thus, only essential
parts of the blade geometry for the simplified geometry is shown in Fig. 7:

• Geometry of the cutting edge (Hasaki) and curvature (Sori) is described

by a spline with the characteristic points C0, C1, C2, C3, C4, C5 shown in
table 1, where the first five points C0, C1, C2, C3, C4 are describing the
edge of the Katana, and are used to draw the spline describing the cutting
edge, see Fig. 7. The last line between C4 and C5 is giving the geometry
of the blade tip.
• Geometry of the ridge-line (Shinogi) as well as the optional geometry of
the blade-back (Mune) is described by the extrusion of the constant cross-
section through the cutting edge spline. The geometry of the cross section,
see Fig. 8, is defined by the following characteristic sizes: a = 5.6mm,
b = 14.5mm, h = 26.1mm.
• The full length (along Y -axis) of the sword is a sum of the handle (Tsuka)
length Ts = 233mm and the cutting edge together with the tip length
NS = 711.2mm, see Fig. 7.

3.2 Computer simulation of the control motion

Initial position and further motion for both swords are described in the global
Cartesian coordinate system XG , YG , ZG , see Fig. 1. The swords for Uchidachi
(right) and Shidachi (left) are geometrically identical. The motion of swords is
described as a rigid-body motion of the corresponding local coordinate systems
atached to the sword. The global coordinates X, Y, Z of the local coordinate
system and the three angles of rotation around the global axes α, β, γ will be
determined for both Uchidachi and Shidachi swords.

15
Figure 7: Simplified Katana geometry: only main geometrical features for the
cutting edge are essential for the control motion. See Tables 1.

Figure 8: Simplified Katana geometry: characteristic sizes for the cross-section.

16
 Cutting edge point X, mm Y, mm
C0 0.0 0.0
C1 134.1 0.0
C2 290.6 5.9
C3 462.9 16.5
C4 678.5 35.8
C5 711.2 66.2

Table 1: Katana geometry: Characteristic points of the cutting edge for the
spline.

The motion of the Uchidachi sword (from the left side in Fig. 1) will be
modeled as the rigid body motion of the local coordinate system attached to
the blade point near the handle point (Tsuba) as shown in Fig. 7. The initial
position of the Uchidachi sword coordinate system is defined at the point near
the handle in global coordinate system XG , YG , ZG as xUch 0 = 0, y0Uch = 0,
z0 = 0 with the global initial angles α0 = 0, β0 = 0, γ0 = 10o around
Uch Uch Uch Uch

the axis XG , YG , ZG respectively.

The motion of the Shidachi sword (from the right side in Fig. 1) will be
modeled as the rigid body motion of the local coordinate system attached to
the blade point near the handle point (Tsuba) as shown in Fig. 7. The initial
position of the Uchidachi sword coordinate system is defined at the point near
the handle in global coordinate system XG , YG , ZG as xSch
0 = 742.7mm, y0Sch =
7.7mm, z0Sch = −2.59mm with the global initial angles αUch 0 = 0, β0Uch = 179.3,
γ0Uch = 10o around the axis XG , YG , ZG respectively. The initial position of the
each sword is described by the positioning of the corresponding sword local
coordinate system (axes are parallel to the global axes) in the global coordinate
system, see Fig. 1, such that they are going to contact at point with coordinates
xSch
0 = 455.0mm, y0Sch = 49.5mm, z0Sch = −5.31mm This initial position,
shown in Fig. 1, is characterized as “contact shortly before parrying”. The
kinematics is fully modeled as positioning of two swords in space versus pseudo-
time t. The pseudo-time is taken as t = 0, ...100. This can be understood as
the modeling with non-dimensional time whereas the final result can be scaled
for the real time applications with time determined by the real measurements.
Three following stages can be distinguished:
1. Both contacting swords at the last stage of “shaving” and shortly before
the piercing attacking (Tsuki) of the Uchidachi sword. This a preparatory
stage for our modeling.
2. The Shidachi sword is performing parrying – the most complicated ele-
ment performed by the Shidachi sword. This is the main element of our
modeling – active contact of swords.
3. The Shidachi sword is performing counterattack. This is just optional
element for our modeling in order to show the full Kata.

17
 The modeling procedure includes the step-by-step modeling using 3D Studio
Max – a professional 3D computer graphics program, see [37] The kinematics
is modeled step-by-step from the initial contact until the parrying is fully per-
formed by the Shidachi sword. At this point both swords are “learning” the con-
trol motion from the analyzer by more and more fine tuning in the software. We
are of course aware that this is highly depending on the master and many years
are spent in practice to master these motions http://www.budoclubkarlsruhe.de/,
http://www.nbkendo.com/portal.php, [38]. Of course, the very precise way would
be the motion capture method, mentioned earlier (see survey in [36]), in appli-
cation to the Kata performed by the master. But we are aiming on the sword
mechanics and so even action performed by “beginners” with swords is fully
enough for our goal.

3.3 Description of the kinematics as a rigid body motion

The kinematics of both swords is described in the global coordinate system
XG , YG , ZG as the rigid body motion of the local coordinate system attached
X, Y, Z attached to the both Uchidachi and Shidachi swords respectively. The
rotational transformation is described by the rotation around the global axis
XG , YG , ZG with angles α, β, γ respectively. The best way to describe such a
transformation is writing the quaternion and then the rotation matrix corre-
sponding to each rotation. The rotation around the axis with a unit vector n
with an angle ϕ can be written as a quaternion:
ϕ
q = q0 + q = q0 + sin n with components (16)
2
ϕ
q0 = cos
2
ϕ
q1 = n1 sin
2
ϕ
q2 = n2 sin
2
ϕ
q3 = n3 sin
2
The following rotation matrix R corresponds to the quaternion:

R = (2q02 − 1)E + 2q0 Q + 2q ⊗ q, (17)

where E is a unit matrix  

1 0 0
E= 0 1 0 ; (18)
0 0 1
Q is a rotation matrix with components of the vector q
 
0 −q3 q2
Q =  q3 0 −q1  (19)
−q2 q1 0

18
and q ⊗ q is a tensor product of two vectors q
 
q1 q1 q1 q2 q1 q3
q ⊗ q =  q2 q1 q2 q2 q2 q3  (20)
q3 q1 q3 q2 q3 q3

First rotation around XG axis with an angle α

The rotation is given with the quaternion written in the global coordinate system
XG , YG , ZG as
α α
qα = cos + n sin with (21)
2 2
n = {1, 0, 0}
(22)
with the corresponding rotation matrix in eqn. (17)
 
1 0 0
Rα =  0 cos α − sin α  . (23)
0 sin α cos α

Second rotation around YG axis with an angle β

The rotation is given with the quaternion written in the global coordinate system
XG , YG , ZG as
   
β β
qβ = cos + n sin with (24)
2 2
n = {0, 1, 0}
(25)
with the corresponding rotation matrix in eqn. (17)
 
cos β 0 sin β
Rβ =  0 1 0 . (26)
− sin β 0 cos β

Third rotation around ZG axis with an angle γ

The rotation is given with the quaternion
γ  γ 
qγ = cos + n sin with (27)
2 2
n = {0, 0, 1}
(28)
with the corresponding rotation matrix in eqn. (17)
 
cos γ − sin γ 0
Rγ =  sin γ cos γ 0  ; (29)
0 0 1

19
Full rotation transformation into local coordinate system X, Y, Z
The full rotation transformation of the global coordinates XG , YG , ZG into the
local coordinates X, Y, Z is performed as sequence of rotations with quaternions
qα , qβ , qγ and can be written via the following matrix:

R = Rγ Rβ Rα (30)
 
cos β cos γ sin α sin β cos γ − cos α sin γ sin α sin γ + cos α sin β cos γ
=  cos β sin γ cos α cos γ + sin α sin β sin γ cos α sin β sin γ − sin α cos γ  .
− sin β sin α cos β cos α cos β

Any vector rG in coordinate system XG , YG , ZG is transformed into a rotating

coordinate system with the matrix R, inverse transform is performed by the
transposed matrix RT
r = RrG , rG = RT r. (31)
We will call the directions according to the coordinate system attached to
the sword, see Fig. 7, as follows
• slicing (or piercing) direction – direction along OX-axis of the sword;
• cutting direction – direction along OY -axis of the sword;
• scraping (blade-side) direction – direction along 0Z-axis of the sword (or-
thogonal to the blade).

Kinematic parameters – velocity and angular velocity vectors

The motion of the rigid body can be described as combined translational motion
of the coordinate system attached to the sword in the reference coordinate
system
rG = XG iG + YG jG + ZG kG (32)
and the rotation motion of the local coordinate system given by quaternions in
eqns. (22), (25), (28).
The corresponding translation velocity and acceleration vectors are given in
global reference Cartesian coordinate system as

vG = ẊG iG + ẎG jG + ŻG kG , aG = ẌG iG + ŸG jG + Z̈G kG , (33)

as well as angular velocity and angular acceleration are Global Cartesian axes
given as

ω G = α̇G iG + β̇G jG + γ̇G kG , ε = α̈G iG + β̈G jG + γ̈G kG . (34)

In order to consider velocity in the sword coordinate system X, Y, Z and

its split into slicing, cutting and scraping (blade-side) velocity components, see
definition 3.3, the transformation in eqn. (31) should be performed.

20
3.3.1 Initialization of contact – ”shaving“ swords motion
We start with the initial contact of swords at the end of “shaving” motion
and then the Uchidachi sword starts to perform piercing (Tsuki). This is the
preparatory phase for the parrying and an active contact. The contact shortly
before parring includes the contacting swords with “shaving” of both swords,
see e.g. description in [7]. Corresponding motions of swords are tabulated as
coordinates XG , YG , ZG and angles of rotation α, β, γ with pseudo-time t =
0, ..., 40 and is presented as a sequence in Fig. 9. Depending on the performance
by both Uchidachi and Shidachi swords two types of contact interactions can be
realized at this stage: either the Surface-To-Surface contact, see Fig. 3, or the
Curve-To-Surface contact, see Fig. 6. Nevertheless, on the stage of meeting the
swords, not shown here, the Curve-To-Curve contact, see Fig. 4 together with
the Curve-To-Surface contact, see Fig. 6 are dominated.

(a) Time t = 0

(b) Time t = 24

(c) Time t = 40

Figure 9: End of “shaving” swords motion and shorty before parrying motion.

21
3.3.2 Parrying by the Shidachi sword
The most complicated motion is parring by the Shidachi sword. This is the
active contact phase and includes all possible contact pairs discussed above.
The parrying motion is represented by both upward motion and rotation of the
sword such that the Uchidachi sword is became dis-activated (again we address
to open source videos). We start the investigation with the simplification of
the motion that the Uchidachi does not rotate the sword during piercing (by
attacking Tsuki). The sequence is represented in Fig. 10.

22
 (a) Time t = 50

(b) Time t = 52

(c) Time t = 55

(d) Time t = 58

(e) Time t = 64

23

(f) Time t = 70

Figure 10: Parrying motion – active contact. Uchidachi sword is performing

piercing (Tsuki) and Shidachi sword is parrying the attacker.
 The control motion of the Uchidachi sword in the simplest case
is represented only by only one relevant coordinate X along the attacking line,
graph of which is shown on the left at Fig. 11. Two first stages for the time t =
0..100 are together shown. During the simplest case the attacking by piercing is
considered in comparison with the real Kata 4 (see [7] as well as on youtube)
without the left rotation of the sword around the local axis X. In this case
dX
only coordinate X(t) and velocity Vx = , see Fig. 11, are relevant for the
dt
translation as well as an angle γ including the angular velocity ωz are relative
for the rotational motion, other coordinates including the rotation angles are
zero, see Fig. 12.

600 7
Uchidachi sword Uchidachi sword − Vx

6
500

5
400

Vx, mm/time
4
X, mm

300
3

200
2

100
1

0 0
0 20 40 60 80 100 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Time Time

(a) Position X(t) dX

(b) Velocity Vx =
dt

Figure 11: Control motion of the Uchidachi sword: position and velocity with
respect to dimensionless time of the local coordinate system attached to the
Uchidachi sword.

10 0
Uchidachi sword − angle gamma Uchidachi sword − OmegaZ

8 −0.0005
Anglular velocity, Rad/time

6 −0.001
Angle, grad

4 −0.0015

2 −0.002

0 −0.0025
0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100
Time Time

(a) γ(t) (grad) (b) ωz (Rad/time)

Figure 12: Control motion of the Uchidachi sword: angle and angular velocity
(with respect to dimensionless time) of the local coordinate system attached to
the Uchidachi sword.

The control motion is obtained initially as coordinates, but for further dy-
namical simulation the dynamical values are necessary. These values includes

24
the momentum and the momentum of momentum applied to the sword. Veloci-
ties and angular velocities are necessary for this simulation. In order to compute
the velocity, just an example, the simplest numerical derivative formula as the
finite difference scheme of the first order is applied for each coordinate x, y, z :

x(k+1) − x(k)
vx(k+1) = with ∆t = 1, resp. for (x, y, z). (35)
∆t
The numerical error is estimated after the expansion into Taylor series:

x(k+1) − x(k) x(t + ∆t) − x(t)

Err = vx(k+1) − = vx (t + ∆t) − = o(∆t) (36)
∆t ∆t
In order to increase the tolerance, the finite difference scheme of the higher
order can be applied, moreover in order to keep the same first order tolerance
for higher derivatives, more advanced formula is involved. Thus, for the second
derivative, the following formula is used:

a(k)
x = x“(k)
−x(k−2) + 16x(k−1) − 30x(k) + 16x(k+1) − x(k+2)
= (37)
12(∆t)2
with ∆t = 1, resp. for (x, y, z).

The numerical error is estimated as the fourth order after the expansion into
Taylor series:

−x(k−2) + 16x(k−1) − 30x(k) + 16x(k+1) − x(k+2)

Err = a(k)
x − = o((∆t)4 )
12(∆t)2
(38)
The angles of rotation around the global axis α, β, γ are derived directly in
grads. Angular velocities are then numerically computed with the dimension
Radian
T imedimensionless , therefore the following formula is applied

π α(k+1) − α(k)
ωx(k+1) = with (39)
180 ∆t
∆t = 1, resp. for (ωx , ωy , ωz ) and (α, β, γ).

In order to obtain the non-dimensional linear and angular accelerations, the

first order formula (35) is applied consequently to the velocities and angular
velocities. The velocity component is shown in Fig. 11 (b) and angular velocity
is shown in Fig. 12 (b). Non-smoothness of the velocity for the time period
20 < t < 40 is described by the “manual fine tuning” of contact types in order
to bring the swords together before the parrying. One should keep in mind that
the contact dynamics is not yet simulated, but only the control motion of sword
is computed.
The control motion of the Shidachi sword is far more complex. The
sequence of all three coordinates together with all three angles of rotation is

25
necessary to describe the rigid body motion. The motion, presented in Fig. 10
for the Shidachi (right) sword, is described by the position (coordinates X, Y, Z)
and velocities Vx , Vy , Vz of the local coordinate system in Fig. 13 together with
global angles of rotation (α, β, γ) and angular velocities ωx , ωy , ωz in Fig. 14.

850 20
Shidachi sword − X(t) Shidachi sword − velocity Vx(t)
18
800
16
750
14

Velocity, mm/time
700
Position, mm

12

650 10

8
600
6
550
4
500
2

450 0
0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100
Time Time
dX
(a) Position X(t) and velocity Vx = of the local coordinate system (Shidachi sword).
dt
50 0.5
Shidachi sword − Y(t) Shidachi sword − velocity Vy(t)

40 0

30 −0.5
Velocity, mm/time
Position, mm

20 −1

10 −1.5

0 −2

−10 −2.5
0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100
Time Time
dY
(b) Position Y (t) and velocity Vy = of the local coordinate system (Shidachi sword).
dt
2 2.5
Shidachi sword − Z(t) Shidachi sword − velocity Vz(t)

1
2
0
1.5
Velocity, mm/time

−1
Position, mm

−2 1

−3
0.5
−4
0
−5

−6 −0.5
0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100
Time Time
dZ
(c) Position Z(t) and velocity Vz = of the local coordinate system (Shidachi sword).
dt

Figure 13: Control motion of the Shidachi sword: position and velocity with
respect to dimensionless time of the local coordinate system attached to the
Shidachi sword.

26
 0 0.05
Shidachi sword − angle alfa Shidachi sword − OmegaX
−20
0
−40
−0.05

Anglular velocity, Rad/time

−60
−0.1
−80
Angle, grad

−100 −0.15

−120
−0.2
−140
−0.25
−160
−0.3
−180

−200 −0.35
0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100
Time Time

(a) Angle of rotation α(t) (grad) and angular velocity ωx (Rad/time) of the local coordinate
system.
20 0.02
Shidachi sword − angle beta Shidachi sword − OmegaY
0 0

−20 −0.02

Anglular velocity, Rad/time

−40 −0.04

−60 −0.06
Angle, grad

−80 −0.08

−100 −0.1

−120 −0.12

−140 −0.14

−160 −0.16

−180 −0.18
0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100
Time Time

(b) Angle of rotation β(t) (grad) and angular velocity ωy (Rad/time) of the local coordinate
system.
30 0.04
Shidachi sword − angle gamma Shidachi sword − OmegaZ
20
0.02
10
0
Anglular velocity, Rad/time

−10 −0.02
Angle, grad

−20
−0.04
−30

−40 −0.06

−50
−0.08
−60
−0.1
−70

−80 −0.12
0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100
Time Time

(c) Angle of rotation γ(t) (grad) and angular velocity ωz (Rad/time) of the local coordinate
system.

Figure 14: Control motion of the Shidachi sword: angle and angular velocity
(with respect to dimensionless time) of the local coordinate system attached to
the Shidachi sword.

27
3.3.3 Counterattack
After the parring, the Shidachi is attacking the head of Uchidachi (performing
Men strike) – this is from the two swords dynamics is not active part, however
it is relevant for the Curve-To-Surface contact. This motion includes rotation
of the sword and attacking the head - (Men strike on the head). This is shown
only for the completeness even with another pseudo-time t = 0...20 in Fig. 15.

(a) Time t = 0

(b) Time t = 10

(c) Time t = 20

Figure 15: Counter-attacking by the Shidachi sword onto the Uchidachi’s Men
(head)

28
4 Dynamic Simulation within Rigid Body Dy-
namics Model
The dynamic simulation using the rigid body dynamics for the real sword can
be obtained now with the following assumptions:

1. Kinematics of contact is described based upon the simplified geometry

2. Dynamical contact interaction is not taken into account – both swords,
however, have been “learning” the exact motions with regard to the di-
mensionless time t = 0...100.
3. Exact dynamical values such as the momentum and the angular momen-
tum will be derived for the scaled real time and for the real model of the
sword.

In fact, this simplified to the rigid body dynamics model (simplified in sense
of continuum mechanics model including contact) allows to answer the question:
“Define the force and the moment applied to the handle in order to
perform the correct Kata motion for both Uchidachi and Shidachi
swords.” In other words, how large the force and the moment should be applied
if the Kendoka (both Uchidachi and Shidachi) is performing the Kata without
the partner.

4.1 Exact CAD Model of the Katana

For the CAD model of the Katana sword, available on the market for the Iaido
training has been taken, see Fig. 16. The model has been created as follows:

• The sword has been disassembled for the measurements;

• The steel blade part has been fully modeled in CAD CATIA;
• The Tsuba part has been simplified as a plate with corresponding holes;
• The made of brass part Habaki between Tsuba and blade has been fully
modeled in CAD CATIA;
• The handle Tsuka has been simplified as wooden elliptical cylinder with
the corresponding hole.
• The full assembly in Fig. 16 consists of the blade part, and Habaki, Tsuba
and Tsuka parts.

29
 Component Volume, m3 Density kg/m3 Mass kg
Blade 9.92202 · 10−5 7860 0.780
Habaki 4.11819 · 10−5 8470 0.035
Tsuba 1.85941 · 10−5 7200 0.134
Tsuka 1.36281 · 10−4 610 0.083
Total 2.58214 · 10−4 – 1.032

Table 2: Volumes and masses by sword components.

4.1.1 Mass distribution parameters

The full CAD model allows to determine all mass distribution parameters for
the sword.

• Coordinate of the center of mass in the Global Coordinate System attached

to the blade point near the Tsuba, as in Fig. 7:

rC : XC = 204.9mm, YC = 36.4mm, ZC = 0.0mm (40)

• Volumes by components and corresponding masses with regards to the

given standard densities – the total mass of the sword is M = 1.032kg.
The real sword mass used for the modeling is Mreal = 1.040kg and is em-
phasizing the high tolerance achieved during the CAD modeling.
• Components of the inertia tensor J in principal central axis for the as-
sembled sword are J1 = 29 · 10−5 kg · m2 J2 = 77 · 10−3 kg · m2 J1 =
78 · 10−5 kg · m2 . The inertia tensor in principal axis is diagonal:
 
29 · 10−5 0 0
 kg · m2 .


J= 0 77 · 10−3 0 (41)
0 0 78 · 10−3

• Rotation matrix for the transformation from coordinate system attached

to the sword X, Y, Z into principal central axis ξ 1 , ξ 2 , ξ 3 for the assembled
sword

ξ1
 
0.996 0.090 0
A =  ξ2 −0.090 0.996 0  . (42)
ξ3 0 0 1
The coordinate system coinciding with the principal axes is derived then
as a rotation of the sword coordinate system around Z axis at the angle
0.090
ϕ = arctan = 5.16o .
0.996

30
 Figure 16: CAD model of the Japanese Katana sword – sword for Iaido.

4.2 Equations of motion for the sword as a rigid body

The equations of motion for the rigid body can be written for the central axis
as follows:

d(M vC )
= F for a force acting at the center of mass (43)
dt
d(Jω)
= MC for a moment acting at the center of mass (44)
dt
Since, the kinematics of the control motion in Sect. 3.2 is described in the
sword coordinate system attached to the lower point between Tsuba and blade,
it is necessary, first, to compute velocity and acceleration vector of the center of
mass. Two standard theorems on distribution of both velocity and acceleration
in the rigid body during its free motion are necessary for this.

4.2.1 Transformation into dimensionless form

Since, all kinematic values have been computed with regard to dimensionless
time tdlt = 0...100, equations of motion (43) and (44) should be rewritten in
the dimensionless form and are scaled respectively based on the real time of the
execution of the parrying. Transformation of the time into dimensionless form
is given by
t
tdlt = , (45)
T

31
where T sec. is a characteristic time and is chosen based on the real time of the
motion execution. One can estimate from the available on youtube video the
time of execution as roughly treal = 1.0 sec. Based, on this the characteristic
time is computed as
treal 0.01
T = = = 10−24 sec. (46)
100 100
Thus, using the following transformations for the first and the second derivatives
dr 1 dr
v= =
dt T dtdlt
dv 1 dv 1 d2 r
a= = = 2 2 (47)
dt T dtdlt T dtdlt

the equations (43) and (44) can be written in the time-dimensionless form as

M d2 r
= F for the force (48)
T 2 dt2dlt
1 d(Jω)
= MC for the moment (49)
T 2 dt2dlt

4.3 Velocity of the center of mass

Velocity of the center of mass is computed as

vC = vO + ω × rC , (50)

where rC is the vector defining the center of mass, see eqn. (40).

4.4 Acceleration of the center of mass

Acceleration of the center of mass is computed as a full-time derivative of the
velocity vector in eqn. (50)

aC = aO + ω × [ω × rC ] + ε × rC , (51)
dvC dω
where aO = is acceleration of the center of mass and ε = is angular
dt dt
acceleration.

4.5 Force vector at various coordinate systems at the cen-

ter of mass
Combination of formulas (51) and (43) allows to compute the force vector ap-
plied at the center of mass. A careful treatment is necessary, because, the
vector rC is given in the sword coordinate system X, Y, Z, but the rest vectors
in eqn. (43) are given in the global Cartesian coordinate system XG , YG , ZG .

32
 First, keeping in mind equations (33) for the translational velocity and ac-
celeration as well as (34) for the angular velocity and acceleration, we express
the acceleration of the center of mass in the global Cartesian coordinate system
XG , YG , ZG as

aC = aO + ω × [ω × RT rC ] + ε × RT rC , (52)

where the vector on center of mass rC , given in the sword coordinate system in
eqn. (40), is transformed to the global reference Cartesian axis via the backward
transformation in eqn. (31). This leads with regards to the eqn. (43) to the of the
force at the center of mass in the global reference Cartesian coordinate system
as:

Fref
C = FCxG iG + FCyG jG + FCzG kG
M aO + ω × [ω × RT rC ] + ε × RT rC .


= (53)

The expression of the force at the center of mass in the sword local coordinate
system allows to split into slicing (along i), cutting (along j) and blade-side
(along k) force components. This is given via the direct transformation in
eqn. (31):

FC = FCx i + FCy j + FCz k = M RFref

C
= M R aO + ω × [ω × RT rC ] + ε × RT rC .


(54)

Taking into account that for the kinematics, the dimensionless time has been
used, eqn. (54) is transformed with regards to eqn. (48) as follows:

M
R adlt dlt
× [ω dlt × RT rC ] + εdlt × RT rC .


FC = 2 O +ω (55)
T
in which derivatives for velocities are computed with respect to dimensionless
time in eqns. (35) (39), and accelerations are computed using the formula in
eqn. (37) of the fourth order of tolerance. The result of computation of the force
in the global Cartesian and in the local sword coordinate system is presented
for the Shidachi sword in Fig. 17.
One can see, that during performing the parrying motion, the Shidachi
sword is achieving the maximum by “slicing” force components (244 N ewton
at the time tdlt = 57) by performing the strong forward motion before back-
ward motion. The ”cutting” motion is reaching its maximum directly afterward
(139 N ewton at the time tdlt = 58, which is reflecting the largest rotation of the
sword around the OZ-axis. Finally, the blade-side motion is reaching its picks
(the “scraping” force component ) by performing parrying which is characterized
as a series of motions “left from the Uchidachi sword (105 N ewton at the time
tdlt = 49, ”around the Uchidachi sword“ −170 N ewton at the time tdlt = 57
and ”right from the Uchidachi sword (117 N ewton at the time tdlt = 70, see
also the sword motion Fig. 10 for the time tdlt ∈ [50, 70] together with forces
diagram in Fig. 17.

33
Remark 4.1. One can see that the forces are varying a lot in both magnitudes
and directions during the time of performing the active parrying tdlt ∈ [50, 70].
Though, the major motion characteristics are captured, one should perform
rather finer time discretization for this period tdlt ∈ [50, 70] (e.g. with ∆tdlt =
0.01 in order to describe the forces precisely and avoid oscillatory pictures in
Fig. 17.

150 250
Shidachi sword − Fx(t) Shidachi sword − Fx(t)

200
100

150
50
Force, Newton

Force, Newton
100
0
50

−50
0

−100
−50

−150 −100
0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100
Time, dimensionless Time, dimensionless

(a) Force vector FC (t)xG in the global and in the local coordinate system x
FC (“slicing”
force).
150 150
Shidachi sword − Fy(t) Shidachi sword − Fy(t)

100 100

50 50
Force, Newton

Force, Newton

0 0

−50 −50

−100 −100

−150 −150
0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100
Time, dimensionless Time, dimensionless
y
(b) Force vector FC (t)yG in the global and in the local coordinate system FC (“cutting”
force).
350 150
Shidachi sword − Fz(t) Shidachi sword − Fz(t)
300
100
250

200 50
150
Force, Newton

Force, Newton

0
100

50
−50
0

−50 −100

−100
−150
−150

−200 −200
0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100
Time, dimensionless Time, dimensionless

(c) Force vector FC (t)zG in the global and in the local coordinate system FC
z (“scraping”

force).

Figure 17: The force vector at the center of mass of the Shidachi sword: in
global Cartesian coordinate system (left) and in the local sword coordinate
system (right).

34
4.6 Moment vector at various coordinate systems at the
center of mass
Several coordinate transformations are necessary in order to compute the mo-
ment in eqn. (44). We have to note that this equation has the simplest form
only in the principal central coordinate system, because the inertia tensor in
this system remains constant and diagonal, see eqn. (41). Therefore, eqn. (44)
is written in the principal central coordinate system as:

d(Jω)
= MCx i + MCy j + MCz k
dt
Jε + ω × (Jω) = MC . (56)

Then, all vectors ω and ε, being given in the global Cartesian coordinate system,
should be transferred first into the sword coordinate system with the matrix R
and then into the principal coordinate system with the matrix A in eqn. (42) as
ARω. The moment MC , however, is required to be written in the sword coor-
dinate system, therefore, the backward transformation AT is required. Finally,
eqn. (56) is computed in the sword coordinate system as:

MC = MCx i + MCy j + MCz k

   
J1 0 0 α̈
= AT  0 J2 0  AR  β̈  +
0 0 J3 γ̈
      
α̇ J1 0 0 α̇
+ AT AR  β̇  ×  0 J2 0  AR  β̇  (57)
γ̇ 0 0 J3 γ̇

The moment vector components in the local sword coordinate system is shown
in Fig. 18. As expected, the maximum moments are reached during performing
the rotation along Z-axis – exactly in this case the cutting rotation is executed,
see Fig. 18(c). The next large components during the performing the blade side
rotation, see Fig. 18(b) and the minimal moment is reached during the twisting
motion around the X-axis, see Fig. 18(a).

35
 2
Shidachi sword − Mx(t)

Moment, Newton m
−1

−2

−3

−4

−5

−6
0 20 40 60 80 100
Time, dimensionless

(a) Moment around the X-axis the local coordi-

nate system (“slicing” axis direction).
20
Shidachi sword − My(t)
10

0
Moment, Newton m

−10

−20

−30

−40

−50

−60

−70
0 20 40 60 80 100
Time, dimensionless

(b) Moment around the Y -axis the local coordi-

nate system (“cutting” axis direction).
60
Shidachi sword − Mz(t)

40

20
Moment, Newton m

−20

−40

−60

−80

−100
0 20 40 60 80 100
Time, dimensionless
(c) Moment around the Z-axis the local coordi-
nate system (“scraping” axis direction).

Figure 18: The moment vector at the center of mass of the Shidachi sword in
the local sword coordinate system.

36
Figure 19: Determination of the center of percussion P in the sword coordinate
system XOY with regards to the handle point H.

4.7 Dynamic parameters for the sword handle

Having in hands computed values of force vector and moment vector at the
center of mass of the sword, it is possible, to re-compute them in any other
coordinate system. From the sword mechanics point of view, it is important to
have all dynamic parameter at the handle point. We are going to compute the
at the left closest to the Tsuba point of the sword handle, see Fig. 16, assuming
that this point can have a control joint – this is actual position of the right
hand of Kendoka performing Kata. The more complex model should include, of
course, a real double handed distribution of both force and moment and require
a special kinematic model for the double handed connection. This, however, is
out of scope of the current investigation.
In the sword coordinate system, the position of the control joint (point H)
is computed in the central axis of the handle as, see Figs. 16 and 19

rH = {−4 mm, 20 mm, 0 mm} (58)

and then both force vector FH and moment MH can be recomputed at the
handle point as

FH = FC
MH = MC + (rH − rC ) × FC . (59)

4.8 Center of percussion with regards to for the sword

handle
Using the rigid body model, we can define the center of percussion with regards
to the handle point under assumption of the possible motion in the plane XOY
of the sword suspended at the handle point H. The center of percussion is
derived by the following assumptions, see Fig. 19.

• The sword is free suspended at the point H;

• The motion is restricted to the motion in the plane XOY ;

37
 • Impact with the impulse S is acting along the line orthogonal to the line
CH between the handle point H and the center of mass C and laying in
the plane XOY ;

Under these assumptions, the center of percussion is defined at a distance

s as a point P where impact S does not deliver an additional reaction at the
suspension point H. This distance is defined as
JH
s= , (60)
Mc
where
p
c = krC − rH k = (204.9 + 4.0)2 + (36.4 − 20.0)2 = 209.5 mm (61)

is a distance between the handle point H and the center of mass C, and JH is
moment of inertia along the axis HZ going through the handle point H in the
direction of OZ. Using the Steiner Theorem it calculated as

JH = JCZ +M c2 = J3 +M c2 = 78·10−3kgm2 +1.032kg(0.2095)m2 = 123.3·10−3kgm2 .

(62)
Finally, the center of percussion is defined as
123.3
s= = 570.3 mm, (63)
1.032 · 0.2095
and in the sword coordinate system as

Xs = s cos φ = 568.48 mm, Ys = s sin φ = 45.5 mm (64)

where angle φ is an angle between the line CH and OX:

36.4 − 20
φ = arctan = 4.576o (65)
204.9 + 4

5 Conclusion
The current article is devoted the modeling of the dynamical motion of the
sword as a part of the sword mechanics. As an example, the kinematics and dy-
namics of the Japanese sword Katana during performing the Fourth (Yohonme)
Kata in Kendo. The motion of both swords is described as the arbitrary 3D
kinematics of rigid body motion including both 3D translation and 3D rotation.
The contact between both swords is modeled with regards to the different types
of the contact interaction: surface-to-surface, edge-to-surface and edge-to-edge
types of contact. The full study has been performed in several stages: a) mod-
eling of the control motion including the kinematics of the contact interaction
in a professional 3D computer graphics program; b) CAD modeling of the real
sword for the mass distribution and the center of percussion; c) simplified dy-
namic simulation without contact using the rigid body dynamic model. The

38
center of percussion is computed in addition for the real sword based on the
rigid body dynamics model.
As a result the force and the moment, necessary to control the sword during
performing the Fourth Kata in Kendo are derived for real sword. Thus, the
Shidachi sword during executing parrying motion is achieving the maximum by
“slicing” force components (244 N ewton at the time tdlt = 57) by performing
the strong forward motion before the backward motion. The ”cutting” motion
is reaching its maximum directly afterward (139 N ewton at the time tdlt = 58,
which is reflecting the largest rotation of the sword around the OZ-axis. Finally,
the blade-side motion is reaching its picks (the “scraping” force component )
by performing parrying which is characterized as a series of motions “left from
the Uchidachi sword (105 N ewton at the time tdlt = 49, ”around the Uchidachi
sword“ −170 N ewton at the time tdlt = 57 and ”right from the Uchidachi sword
(117 N ewton at the time tdlt = 70. These motion features are observed by the
required moment. As expected, the maximum moments are reached during
performing the rotation along Z-axis – exactly in this case the cutting rotation
is executed. The next large components during the performing the blade side
rotation during side parrying and the minimal moment is reached during the
twisting motion around the X-axis.
One should remember, that the current simulation, though satisfying the
contact kinematics, does not include the dynamical contact simulation. The
last can imply both rigid body and deformable body models and is planned for
further investigation for which the current part is the absolutely necessary part
of the control motion for both Uchidachi and Shidachi swords.

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