Japanese Japanese Weapons!

Ive been studying the way of the sword and the making and using of a sword for about 4 years now and i totally love the ken/tou(the kanji for ken and tou are different but both mean sword(Which can stand for Katana wakizashi Tanto No Dachi Kodachi Tachi kogatana Chisagatana and a few other types)) most people think that a ninja sword is a short straight bladed sword. actually its the same thing that a samurai would wear because there is nosuch thing as a ninja sword that just a hollywood and toei studios lie. The kanji for ninjatou are the kanji for ninja and the kanji for tou which basically stands for sword therefore ninjatou is really anysword that the ninja carries. although shuriken and other assasins weapons exist the ninja sword, the straight bladed sword doesnt exist. anyway if u like japanese swords of want to lean a little bit more put up a post or PM or my AIM is HeeroYuy0021

 

No-Dachis ar pretty kewl although they were considered to be more of a naginata or a yari. as for drawing matches the art is called Iaido or Battoudo as Iai/Battou means draw and Do means the way in which u learn as for the technique its called Battou Jutsu or Iai Jutsu. actually when the no-dachi was used more or less there was a tachi and a tanto at the belt for after droppiing the nodachi. there are a few geniune nodachis that have battle marks on them which would seem more or less unusual because no dachis really were more for intimidation rather than for batttle because a sword that big has a few flaws to it 1. they were heavy like 10 pounds or so and thats really hard to swing around 2. something that big is bound to be of poor quality most found were only made with the Maru or solid temper mot japanese swords are made with honsanmaiand still are made that way. Soshu Kitae is the seven layer temper and was primarily used by the great sword smith Masamune.

 

They say that Ninja swords are nothing more than a hollywood fiction or toei animation. Ninjatou literally refers to any sword that a ninja uses. the ninja sword as hollywood put it really woulnt be very useful because: 1 the japanese sword is built on the fact thats its curved blade can be drawn from its saya (scabbard) extremely fast. now a straight blade would totally defeat that purpose so then why would they make a straight bladed short sword? i think its just because toei wants to make a good imppresion. ^^;;; most likely the Onimitsu Oniwabanshuu of Edo Castle used wakizashi or Kodachi. Kodachi are just a short sword but often times was a bit longer.

 

Kodachi and Wakizashi are almost the same thing although the Kodachi is used on its own as more of a defense sword, The Chisagatana or hip sword its almost the same things a short sword mounted as a katana deadly and small...

 

There's this type of sword that I'm obsessed with that Suzuka of Outlaw Star uses, but I don't know the name of it. It's that wooden sword... Ryoko of Real About High School also has that sword. Can you tell me the name of it please?

 

its formally known as a bokutou but its also called a bokken. Mitsurugi Ryoko (is that her name?) uses one as well. see suszuka can do everything kenshin can only with a wooden sword ^^. actually the great swordsman Musashi Miyamoto used a bokken after winning his 60 consecutive duel.

 

I like the katana, I'm not sure which style I prefer, but o well I enjoy the western style of sword making anyway^_^ wish I had Sanosuke's sword

 

well technically Sano's sword never existed or atleast not as far as i can see ive been studying japanese swords and swordsmanship for bout 5 years now so i know a pretty good deal and ive never come across the zanbatou although i believe its based off of the No-dachi. which is a horse killing sword somewhere between 6-7 feet in length swung only with two hands and was often discarded after the initial hit since it was long heavy and often times very poorly mad e using the maru temper. anyway the katana is considered to be one of the best swords ever made. Practicality made its curved so that the blade could be drawn and strike in one fluid motion. also the back of the blade was tempered using a softer steel than the edge. this would allow the blade to take a hit and bend slightly to absorb the shock of the blow rather than break. the edge was tempred so that the edge would be incredibly hard so as not to take huge nicks in the edge as in European swords. also the way a katana is held inproves the leverage. instead of placing both hands together they're ssperated by one hands length to improve the leverage. they say that a katana made by the great swordsmith Masamune has a spiritual sense where as his student Muramasa had great technical abilty making swords with edges so keen that anything that would come in contact with it would be severed.