Sakabatou

It's not a question of whether or not you take it serious, it's the mere fact of use and experience. It would be best advised to buy an iaito first, even if you're not intending on doing iaijustsu. They may not be as strong as as a shinken but they are strong just the same. The questions are, how old are you and how long have you been practicing?

 

Well,I have been practicing with bokkens since I was 8,and I am know 15.
I have practiced with real swords for about 2 years.

 

Real swords as in "cut your finger off with slightest twitch" or the novelty ones?

 

They did not come real sharp,but they are sharp enough that they will cut your finger of.But basically the novelty ones.

 

I myself have to practice with these on account of the moeny thing. These are not actually real swords but you should treat it with as much care and respect that you would give a real sword, that you should. That sword is not part of you, that it is.

 

I treat my sword with the utmost care.But it has some rust on it because my grandfather touched the blade without me knowing and now theres a rust finger print.But when I do use my sword,it really does feel like a part of me,I think I understand why the samurai considered it there soul.

 

Well there is little more information that makes the manufactor of the Japanese Sword that makes forging a Sakabatou impossible.

The Japanese Sword is forged straight. But when its tempered its covered in about 2 mm of clay. then some of the clay is scraped away from the edge creating the hamon or temperline. Then the whole sword is heated to about 2000 degrees and then dunked in water. This creates a metallurgical phenomenon in which the uncovered edge harders much quicker into a form called Martensite and the covered back hardens slower into pearlite, the martensite is made of much larger cystals thus the edge forces the blade to curve, giving it the traditional and much recognized curve of the the Nihontou.

 

Wow,so thats how they forge them. But dosen't it take like 4 years to finish one?

 

Months, maybe a year, but not that long. It all depends on how many times the blade is folded and what style the blade is made in.

There are MANY different styles of blades and many styles of folding which range from 65 to 40,000 folds. Great care and much time is put into making each blade and has a special feel that will never be replicated in another blade. You can purchase a "Shinsakuto" blade from a reputable smith within the Masters of the Japanese Cultural Arts, a award given by the Japanese Government, for about 750,000 yen, which equals out to be around 6,500 USD. This includes, a handforged folded, authentic Nihontou, in full polish with fittings as well as the registration fees with the Japanese Cultural Affairs Bureau.

*When ever any Japanese Sword leaves the country is HAS to be registered with the Japanese Cultural Affairs Bureau so that they can keep track of all swords that have left the country. As a vice versa type thing, it is almost IMPOSSIBLE to bring a Nihontou INTO Japan that was made on foreign soil. and again it must be registered with the Culture Bureau.

 

Well,lol,I guess if you go to Japan you can forget about bringing your sword with you. Wow,65,000 times,thats gotta take awhile! hmmm,but isn't the swords edge diffrent depending on how many folds there are? I mean,the more folds the better,right?

 

well, the Japanese Sword is forged like so, a single bar of steel is hammered out and then folded over, which makes 2 folds, then its folded again which makes 4 folds, remember, each time the blade is folded again, it doubles the folds made before it, 4 becomes 8 becomes 16. so its always rising in number so by the time you get 65,000 the blade itself is been folded somewhere around 5000 times or so, which is a much different number than 65,000, but the results of these 5000 fold turns into 65,000 times the the blade has been "folded". its a tad hard to understand but if you watch someone forge a nihontou itll be a bit clearer.

and yes the more folds the better, as it produces a tighter knit cyrstaline structure. but it takes a lot of time and is very expensive.

 

Its not confusing,I get what you mean. I thought the more the better,I read that in a book somwhere,not quite sure where though. So how do they sharpen a Nihontou? my father always sharpens his knifes with a wet stone.

 

Its a very long process. Togishi (sword polishers) have a 10 year apprenticeship. There are up to 15 grades of stone used depending on the condition of the blade. Each stone has a particular use and is used to bring out certain features in the blade such as the hada (grain) or the hamon (temperline). The Nihontou has a very unique shape of blade known as a moran edge in which its a convex edge which provides extreme sharpness as well as amazing edge holdin properties and it CANNOT be sharpened by simple whetstones or "miracle" sharpeners. it can only be sharpened by a fully practiced Togishi.

 

Cool,I never knew that. Well,I better by my sword sharp(LOL) Cause im pretty sure there ain't no Togishi here in maine(LOL)

 

there are maybe.... 5 in the US at the moment, and its also EXTREMELY expensive. a Tameshigiri polish is 55 an inch, and a full polish is upwards of 75 to 80 an inch.

 

*whistles* WooooW,that is expensive,only five,not a hole lot. And how many in Japan?