need some katana help

S

sledheavy

Joined
Oct 18, 2005
Messages
15
Well I purchased a Hanwei practical about 2 or 3 weeks ago, and wanted to put it to good use. The thing cut through a wooden chair, cardboard, aluminum, what have you, with no problem at all. In fact the blade wasen't even fazed. But for some really odd reason, either the blade or the scabard have been tweeked. The katana will fit in the scabbard up to the about 3 inches from tsuba and then get hung up. Any suggestions?

Also, does anyone know if there are any generic options or accessories to the practical hanwei line?
 
As far as accessories go I'm not sure it would be worthwhile to spend the money, quality tsuba, tsuka, ito etc. all cost money all out of proportion to what you buy a practical chen sword for...

Of course spend a gazillion dollars to add flashy stuff to honda civics too so what do I know? :)

I agree with the thought that your blade has probably been bent. Saya have be fit pretty closely any change to the blade can lead to the sort of problem you are having.
 
ah crap, well on to the musashi I guess. It did meet my expectations, so I'm not going to complain. Thanks for the help.
 
If you're progressing linearly through the Hanwei lineup, why not consider skipping a step or two and saving up for something nicer? The PK is pretty thin, and will bend, but if (you'll have to pardon me here, I'm not insulting you, just the actions) you're going to continue doing foolish things like chopping up chairs and metal with a bladed weapon designed exclusively for soft targets, then a bent blade is what you'll end up with regardless of the quality of the weapon you buy.

Bending is the most common salvageable failure mode in Japanese style swords - especially in mass produced stuff which may be less springy than a one-off custom piece. It's possible to repair bends - you just have to make sure someone who knows what he's doing is at the tools.

It's good that the PK met your expectations, but if cutting furniture and light metals were part of them, then I'd say you should revise those expectations... swords aren't meant for that sort of abuse, and even the very best won't come out unscathed.
 
sledheavy;
I have to say, that I personally would never purchase a Hanwei, and then go cutting up a wooden chair....
As knife saber stated, they are not really designed to take that abuse, and if you do certainly plan to just go up to the next models, and slice through chairs, then you sure have alot more money to spend than I do, as that is a sure way of ruining your katana's, and after the Mushashi, you'll be onto the Orchid, than after that,... who knows, point is, your katana's are not going to last.

If I can also add, that if you are untrained, it can also have an impact, for proper sword technique is a very detailed, and skilled area, and it takes alot of skill to cut an object correctly, and an individual whom is untrained will often damage the sword, and all it takes is one indirect hit to bend a fine katana, yet to repeatedly cut in one, swift slice takes time, patience, training, and years of skill.

I'm glad the PPK stood upto your expectations, and it is the entry level katana of the Hanwei line. I personally own a Mushashi Daito, yet I would never cut anything, and I wouldn't expect it to last too long if I did. It's upto you what you wish to do with your swords, and you may have much more money than I, so you may be able to support breaking a katana each month, however I can only suggest that you treat and respect your katana's, however if you do plan to enjoy the results of what a standard production katana can do, than it is probably better that you chose a PPK, since I too would use that sword, since it is the more affordable of the line.
 
Isn't a good katana suppose to cut through the obsticles like armor, clothes, flesh, bones, etc... all-in-one slice?
 
betablue said:
Isn't a good katana suppose to cut through the obsticles like armor, clothes, flesh, bones, etc... all-in-one slice?
Click to expand...

A katana is only steel, it is no more a lightsaber then any other type of sword. Does a katana cut? Well yes, but it like everything has its limits. Good armor will stop a sword. As will bone and even bundled clothe on occasion.
 
I'm waiting for someone to ask about cutting machine gun barrels with a katana...;)

As Infamous said, good swordsmanship plays a very large role in cutting harder targets without damaging (or breaking) one's sword. We've all seen videos of masters making some pretty amazing cuts through some very hard targets, but hand that same sword to me and I probably won't be able to do it. The sword is the same and I may be physically stronger but my technique is not as refined, and the technique is vitally important.

That being said, Triton is preaching the gospel. There is no magic here. If someone is interested in cutting steel, I'd advise them to use a chisel - that's what it's made to do. (And even a chisel is damaged by this. Imagine what happens to a katana...)

In the history of Japanese warfare, has a katana ever been swung at armor? Of course. Was it a good idea? No. (That's what your yari was for.) Could the situation make it necessary? Yes, and I suspect that that's why it was sometimes done. If you break your sword killing me (saving your life in the process) you can always buy another sword afterwards - but that doesn't mean that breaking your sword each time you fight should be part of your strategy.
 
I've heard about those "Certification" procedures in early Japan, where they were testing how good the sword is by cutting through corpses or prisoners and engraving results on the tang (with some swords going through 8-9 bodies at once). Is that a fact or a legend?

No, I don't see any good reason to cut through the gun barrel, but when looking at Japanese sword techniques: usually long, deep slices through the body (shomen, kesa-giri, etc...) it only tempts to assume, that they didn't really care if the opponent wore the armor or not.
 
Testing was done on convicts, yes - but there are also stories of convicts who'd swallow rocks and other hard objects in an attempt to get a last laugh...

The Japanese were as concerned about armor as they had to be - many thrusting techniques were developed to get into the cracks between armor plates, and the katana itself evolved to remedy deficiencies discovered when Japanese forces took on armored opponents (the Mongols, as an example).
 
one of the legendary samurai masters was able to cut (not all the way) a kabuto (helmet) in front of the emperor...there is also a contemporary master who was able to achive the same feat. both did no damage to their blades. i saw it in the internet somewhere...please forgive me if i can't remember the names of the past and present masters.
 
The modern master was Obata Toshishiro Kaiso of the Shinkendo group. Here's their page describing modern and historical attempts: http://www.shinkendo.com/kabuto.html

It's more a test of the swordsman than of the blade proper, though of course anything less than a masterfully crafted blade wouldn't cut it (har, har, har).
 
Not to knock anyone here, but two things about the kabuto test:

1. Consider the source.

2. One pic of the master posing, two pics of him swinging, one pic of the kabuto afterwards...no pic of the sword afterwards. That speaks volumes to me, but I may be reading too much into it.

Just stuff to think about.
 
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