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I am just a die-hard fan of action movies, especially those that feature sword combats. I grew up watching Kurosawa films like Seven Samurai, and I was very much impressed with how artistic the katanas were crafted carefully. Samurai swords combine beauty and fierce.

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The Precious Treat of Samurai Swords

There's a tale that once said Samurai swords remain so sharp and strong that they can even pierce through your soul. Indeed, they are priceless treasures reminiscent of the former struggles in Japan. Although we see them more in Quentin Tarantino's Hollywood movies like "Kill Bill," even the smart grooves of Uma Thurman can't rival the mystic charms of this ancient Japanese weapon of war. Just looking at it will make you stop in great reverence and while you run your hands on its delicate surface, you'll also feel the perplexity behind it.

We've witnessed how World War I and II came up with more deadly weapons of destruction, only to ruin lives of many innocent people around the globe. But the early Japanese brought more honor to the duel by...

http://japantraveltour.blogspot.com/200 ... words.html

yeah it`s a pity that nowadays everybody could weare them.

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Thiophosphoracidderivate

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: zer on 2006-09-06 01:02 ]</font>

well, ya know, there's always the side of history that never sees the light.. like how many samurais were sort of "strange" people, probably mentally disturbed by moderns tandards, who would kill if they get upset. People would try not to get in a samurai's way when walking, sometimes out of respect, but also out of fear. There were plenty of bad samurais around. Especially in the ronin years when they were essentially mercenaries.

But of course, the craft that goes into making a sword is almost magical. There are several of these legendary swords, one of which is a sword made by Muramasa, a famous swordsmith. It's one of those cursed swords that prompt anyone who yields the sword to kill in excess. It's said that the sword could keep cutting, despite the fact that even the best swords would go dull after cutting 5-6 people due to the blood buildup. (from blood drying up) The Muramasa sword killed so many of the Tokugawa family (once ruled much of Japan), that the Tokugawa family had to take custody of the sword. Many swords of this era now lay in temples where they are sealed with a "huin" (a seal written by a powerful monk) and locked away. Superstitious and sort of "fake" sounding I know, but inspiring at the same time.

In the modern Japanese heart, the samurai "way", and the samurai sword remains a strong icon of things to be respected, and remembered. ("last samurai" was very accurate in this sense)


If there was one art of swordsmanship I would recommend, it would be the sword portion of aikido. Aikido, as you may know is a contact martial art based on submission, but it has a subsection of swords, and also the stick.

What's insteresting about aikido swordsmandship, is that it is so efficient, that the sword is almost never let fully out of its sheath. Most moves are done with the sword in the sheath, using just the handle of the sword as a lever (for joint submission), and most ending moves are done with the sword half way out of the sheath, with the exposed portion of the sword cutting the opponent's vital areas. The simplicity and mechanic finesse is astounding.

A relative of mine happened to be an aikido master and a bunch of my friends trained as a part of a theater presentation.. and the whole experience was like magic. Being thrown and brutally beat by an aikido master is exactly submissive. It's so magical and un-understandable as to why you're floating in the air, that you don't care how it works. There's no fighting it... so you submit to this strange mechanical process that's possesed you. That's aikido.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: kensuguro on 2006-09-05 17:51 ]</font>

That's very nice of you to share. I'm just curious to know if anyone of you actually owns a katana blade. Does anyone know where they can be customly made?

On 2006-09-05 09:24, stardust wrote:
wear yes but not control

Yep! Indeed

according to my faint memories from the 80s, I read an article about a (last?) swordsmith in Japan who made them in the traditional way.
He was said to make no more than 3 in a year and dedicated almost his complete life to the process.
The (symbolic imho) monetary equivalent was about 50 (or 150?)k Euro for a sword, which was supposed to cut a leaf drifting by in water...
In that context a razorblade is a blunt scissor.

It was also mentioned that the sword wasn't intended for 'fighting', but to kill by the very first (and only one) strike.
As memory comes back (strange...) the article started with the sworsmith demonstrating the technique (on an imaginary opponent, tho...)

cheers, Tom

your memory is intact, I saw this story in a documentary on telly a week ago or so (NG?)

What I found really smart about katana making was the how final cooling was made. First the metal would be hammered and bent over itself again and again, to make the blade sort of laminated steel, the more times the better. I 'd say that's why making them took so long.

And when shaped into the definitive arc, the core of the blade would be covered with clay, leaving the side to be sharpened uncovered. Then submerged into cold water for the final cooling. The cutting edge would cool fast and become very hard but glass-like fragile. The blunt side of the sword would cool much slower and become more flexible thus become the support that would keep the sword from braking into pieces too easily.

About those one hit combats you mention, I guess it is true, I remember Toshiro Mifune bragging in Rashomon about the many times his sword had crossed his enemy's before he won

It's really sad that you can walk into a shop just about anywhere in the world & buy a cheap & nasty fake katana which has about as much in common with the original craftsmanship as a photo of one. Companies profiting from puting these fake weapons on the street should be hung, drawn & quartered (shut down)

that treatment would be more appropriate to customers buying such stuff...

On 2006-09-06 00:57, ellis43 wrote:
... I'm just curious to know if anyone of you actually owns a katana ...

YES, I do - see it <a href=http://www.scythe-eu.com/products/cpu/k ... hp>here</a>

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: astroman on 2006-09-06 14:11 ]</font>

the uncle I was telling you about, used to be married to a daughter from a samurai family (a "buke", not directly meaning a samurai, but generally used to point to people of that class in society back then), and they had a real samurai sword. More of a family treasure tho. It was kept in great condition, and was rarely exposed to anyone. My uncle got divorced since then, so I'm not sure what happened.

I remember he showed it to me once, when I was very small, telling me that it took a lot of training even just to swing the sword in the air without disaligning its axis.. not sure what it meant, but I guess there's some sort of balance in the sword that gets messed up if you swing it wrong enough.

I think you can still get custom made swords, but I doubt too many people are in the position of asking for one. And there's only a handful of craftsmen in Japan who can actually do it.

As with fake swords.. well, I've seen better ones and shabby ones.. I guess atleast you can use them to practice and not worry about having spending a life time savings to buy a real sword that gets misaligned easily. I think by swinging around the fake ones, it's easy for anyone to feel the practice it requires to keep good control over the sword's trajectory, and also to make swift, accurate swings.

that's what bamboo swords are for.

even in classical times there were a lot of phony, junk swords around. the finer swords were for only the best, most deserving or richest customers....

It was a Hittori Hansu. Made 4 the disposing of serious vermin.

On 2006-09-06 18:13, kensuguro wrote:
... telling me that it took a lot of training even just to swing the sword in the air without disaligning its axis.. not sure what it meant, but I guess there's some sort of balance in the sword that gets messed up if you swing it wrong enough....

the concern is most likely for the condition of the sword keeper's body and not the blade
when that thing gets serious momentum and you loose the balance it might as well cut your own body...

cheers, Tom

oops...my! that thing is sharp. didn't even feel my arm coming off...

Hey guys
this time last year I saw the sword that Elizabeth 2nd knights people with . I wasn't being knighted . To be exposed to two wonderful high civilisations in the same month .
Aikido ... the art of standing still and watching people that hate you giving it to themselves....thats a wonderful thing too


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: skwawks on 2006-09-08 05:30 ]</font>