japanese cutting effecientcy

E

elvenbladesmith07

Joined
Jul 29, 2004
Messages
663
I was reading a book about Japanese swords and they tell how they were tested by the executioner on up to 5 people at once. my question is how these swords could cut through something as dense as bone multiple times. how sharp and how long the edge will last doesn’t matter that much. the force needed to do it I don’t think can be had with even a "horse killer" katana. Anyone know why they could even take a single person I half? I don’t get how a regular size katana can go through a persons arm, let alone 5 peoples mid sections .
I didn’t mean to sound gruesome but it cant be helped in this subject
 
Living bone is very soft, and easy to cut. You're probably familiar with bones that have been dried out.

Have you evert tried cutting with a sharp sword?
 
eleven,
Lots of stuff about this on the net.
Early, early swords were graded and marked using convicted death prisoners as you have read.
Depended on the skill of the bladesmith and the type of cut used, ie a cut that went from shoulder crosswise exiting the pelvis cleanly got a a much higher sword grade, but they were tested one convict at a time.
The kicker is that convict dietary intake was closely monitered before execution as they would injest stones and metal to screw with the testers. :) Blades were shattered in this manner. Right on dudes.
Rad
 
but they were tested one convict at a time.
Click to expand...

Actually, it wan't that uncommon for a blade to be tested on multiple prisoners. There are Nihonto tang markings indicating "cut through five torsos in one strike", and unsubstantiated reports of swords cutting up to seven people with one strike.
Supposedly one rolled and soaked Japanese tatami is equivalent in difficulty to cutting a thigh, and four mats is equivalent to cutting a torso from shoulder to pelvis. The world record now is 23 cut mats, with one stroke.
here's a video: http://angelsword.com/videos/videos.php


they would injest stones and metal to screw with the testers
Click to expand...

hehe good for them!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top