Kill Bill vol 1, possible?, bulls%$t? opinions?

N

nightkrawler

Joined
Jun 4, 2002
Messages
32
Just finished watching Kill Bill vol 1. Man, what a cool flick. Tarantino does some great work here. Im a huge fan of edged weapons, i just completed making my own tactical machete. I am also a huge fan of japanese katana swords, i find them elegant and beautiful. an elegant weapon from a more civilized time. now dont get we wrong, when it hits the fan i'll take my sig 220st .45 over a katana any day. but i still love them. my question is for those of you who have seen the movie. espically the big fight at the end, in specific the part where uma therman cuts the yakuza boy's sword into pieces. i know that its a movie , but is it possible that a katana could be strong enough to shatter an inferior made one? also does anyone know who made the swords for the movie and if there are any replicables available? presently i own a united cutlery "sting" from lord of the rings, and a highlander dragon head katana, it's not the good one from marto of spain but it is suprisingly strong. saw a webpage about the highlander knockoffs, it said the cheap ones have a fake red jewel in the faux ivory. mine does not, i have put it through some abuse, dropping it, choping etc. with no damage. it is suprisingly strong. my final question is what is the best functional katana available that is below $1000? thanks.
 
Can't really help you as my sword knowledge is quite limited. But Cold Steel does make some katana for under a grand (~$800 if I remember correctly), and there's the Practical Katana and others in the sub $300 level. You may want to ask this question in the sword forum for a better answer.
 
from all my research what goes down in Kill Bill is largely impossible, and the techniques used in the fight scenes not Japanese sword art techniques. I would think a sword would have to already have some fractures for it to be cut by another sword in that way, and even the highest quality blade chips when struck edge to edge. Edge on edge contact is generally avoided in swordplay because it damages the edge pretty bad regardless of the swords construction. A properly tempered sword could theoretically break a porrly tempered sword, but would not "cut " thru it like kill bill.

Using those swords you have for ANYTHING but putting them on your wall is very unwise and dangerous. I am sure someone will be able to point you towards the clip from a QVC show that illustrates this point perfectly. You want a sword to cut with under a grand, nooo problem......

Paul Chen is a maker to look into. Partnered with CAS Iberia his shop "Hanwei" is based in Taiwan and they turn out good functional swords at increadibly reasonable prices. I myself have a practical Wakasashi that I snagged for 200.....his katanas range from around 200 for clay-tempered to nearly 2000 for forge folded steel and there is a lot of selection.

Bugei is a websit that commisions specific models from Paul Chen wich undergo a more rigorous inspection for quality and polish. They are slightly more expensive than a standard Hanwei.
http://www.bugei.com/

Last Legend looks to be the best bang for the buck under 1000...several models, solidly built if not increadibly ruggedly built, custom options and from what I hear good warranty.

chens and legends can be found here...
http://www.whiteherondojo.net/sales/
I dont know this guy or ever bought from him, but his site is nice and I love lookin at steele so it was the best link I could find.

others to look into on google or searching here are:
Kriss Cutlery
Cicida Forge (spelling?)http://www.liveblade.com/cicadaforge/
Thaitsuki Nihonto http://www.thaitsukinihonto.com/

and prob a crapload of others I missed.

P.S. I would avoid Cold Steel....all thier models are mono-tempered, and the few CS peices I owned before I caught on had the poorest heat treatment...thats not a good combo, and for half the price of one of thiers you can get a far superior traditionally tempered sword.

edit to add links
 
Alright, as a practictioner of a martial art, I'll just tell you that I don't suggest you buy a katana for use before aquiring some experience with one. Study a sword art (Koryu bujutsu, don't bother with Kendo or Akido if you really want to learn the sword) for at LEAST a few months before buying a katana. The chances of damaging it (specifically, the scabbard) or yourself is very, very high without a bit of training.

A katana really isn't ideal for cutting through steel. Maybe it might, if the other one was aluminum and yours was swung very hard. But a katana is designed to cut through soft materials. Note, I said cut, NOT HACK. And it does so very effectively.

Bugei katanas are what you should aim at as far as production katanas. DGuertin makes some decent blades, but I haven't personally handled any, and I hear the wait times on those can be a bitch. Paul Chen swords are more flash than they are actually practical. Their low end pieces are sword-shaped object (a imitation of a katana). Mid end pieces are alright, but they're rather light and aren't up to serious cutting. Their high end pieces, you're better off springing for a Bugei. Really, putting down under 600$ for a katana doesn't make sense. Cold Steel, from the experience of the people I train with, are unfortunately crap.

But remember, training is definitely more important than what you're using. I've seen a new person fail to cut with our dojo cutter (a Bugei Samurai dressed up by Teynolds), while I've seen a very skilled practictioner take a crap blade (forgot what it was) which was very dull, barely sharp enough to cut paper, and cut a target almost perfectly.

PM me if you'd like to learn more.
 
Good advice...get training before you attempt to use a katana, it is not a natural skill.


ivan_yulaev said:
Paul Chen swords are more flash than they are actually practical. Their low end pieces are sword-shaped object (a imitation of a katana). Mid end pieces are alright, but they're rather light and aren't up to serious cutting. Their high end pieces, you're better off springing for a Bugei.
Click to expand...

Bugei swords ARE Paul Chen swords.....just hand selected and inspected by the Bugei staff. ...cept for them deeeeeeelicious Howard Clark's they sell.
 
That movie was waaay cool, but highly unbelieveable. Sure gets you fired up though. I stomped the guts out of half the people on the way to my car afterwards(ok, I didn't really, but I sure felt like it). Pure entertainment; that's all the movie was.
 
Shattering other swords?

If a piece of steel is extremely over-hardened and brittle, you can break it with a stick just as you can with a sword. It just takes force and an impacting object.

If you can't break it with a dull iron bar, you won't break it with a katana. A katana has an edge but it will not shear through another sword, especially with the amount of force a human puts behind it.

Can you break an inferior (over-hardened) sword with a katana? Probably (you might damage the katana though unless it's well-made). It's steel and it has an edge. Not only that, but it's a pretty damn thick piece of steel trying to "cut" another thick piece of steel. If it's a dead-soft piece of steel you're trying to cut, you will cut into it a little but you will not cut through it. You can put a hardened sword in a press and push-cut through a piece of soft steel, but you won't be developing that power manually and you won't find it happening while another person holds the sword.
 
I'd say I loved the movie, and the follow up is good too. They are cinema, pure fiction (Pulp Fiction?:D), a video comic book. You don't bang sword-on-sword in swordplay.

I have used a Himalayan Imports Khukuri (18" Ang Khola model) to cut through stainless steel butter knives and utensils, as well as thick copper wire and quarters, pennies. However, the Khuk is designed like an axe, differentially hardended, and cutting target materials that are much softer than it. If I hit it edge on edge with another khukuri, they would most surely be nicked. (Note: The khuk is a very overbuilt knife deigned to stand up to this abuse, it doubles as a hammer, prybar, drawknife, etc.)

I would consider the above tests on a sword to be abuse.

Keith
 
Just for clarification...
were your metal targets reasonably static (i.e. post in the ground, laying on top of a tree stump, etc) or was it dynamic like being hung from a tree or held in another hand?
 
I had them laid on a tree stump. I don't think it woulda worked otherwise, they'd just meet and then go their separate ways al la defletion.

It'd be pretty impessive if you could do the same trick freehanging--lots a force needed!

Keith
 
I can't remember his name right now but I've read about an American swordmaker who cuts through standing 1/4" steel rods and 3/8" free hanging heat treated steel cable. Sparky!

He uses the traditional Japanese methods but starts with some very pure iron.
I can look up the article if anyone is interested.
 
The guy is probably Michael Bell.

He makes his martial arts grade swords out of welded cable, and he makes higher end stuff with more "traditional" methods.

He's tested his swords on the cable, though I recall the cable was annealed.

These are very extreme tests and there is a bit of hype and sometimes exaggeration surrounding them.
 
Did they use functional katanas for production of KB 1/2, or did Tarantino use typical, worthless props?

What were the chinese swords Pai Mei kept at the temple? Are they tai chi swords?
 
Caradine was on one of the talk shows and showed his cutting-a-watermellon skills. He brought on a good sword, and an art sword that the movie experience had led him to buy. I think he mentioned they had dozens of swords, the vast majority made out of materials that would allow them to be used safely in fights and such. These even are of multiple types depending on what kind of stunt they are being used for. Some intermediate swords that might have been use for stuff like cutting scenes, and art swords that were used in extreme closeups and so forth.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top