what the heck is a reverse blade sword???

i jes' don't get it! out of all the swords i have seen, what the heck is a reverse blade sword!!?

 

A reverse blade sword is a sword with it's blade on the other side! So the blade can't cut anything!

 

hepl d

Well a Sakabatou or Reverse Blade Sword is a sword with a blade on the wrong side.
In American or English swords the a sharp all around,, but a Katana or Japanese Sword is lighter and has a blade on one side and is more slender with a slight curve and they both have a tip that can stab.
the sharp part is facing you not the enimey so the part that is blunt can only bruise or hit someone, but a reagular japanese sword has the blade to the enimey and has the potential to cut or even kill someone.

If you're talking about why he has the sword, it's because he want's to repent for all the killing he has done, cause he knows that even if he tries to undo the past his hands will allways be staind with blood. Anyway Kenshin thinks that he does'nt need to kill to protect his friends.

Well, look at the picture of kenshin holding his sword, and look how is faceing. sorry i dont have a good picture of the swords but here's something of an o.k. example.
(if there are any further questions pm me and I'll answer them for you)

 

yeah Saka=reverse ba=is a sound change on the word "ha" which means edge tou=sword..

 

On a normal katana, only one side is sharp becuase if teh blade was pushed back into you, you'd go byebye if the side facing you is still sharp. So they make it blunt. Alot of times, you see people pushing thier hands against the side of teh sword facing them, and they're obviously not being cut by it. ^_^ Now just make the sharp side blunt, and you've got a sakabatou!

 

a sakabatou is not possible btw. a regular katana is made with certain special designs.

1. a katana has a slight to deep curve. the measure of this curve is called a sori and is measured from the kissaki *tip* to the mune-machi *place where the tsuba *gaurd* is placed* this is usually between 1/2-3/4 deep although Musashi Miyamoto's katana had a 1 inch sori imparting tremendous cutting power to the blade. anyway the point of the curve of a katana is so that when a stroke is made it is pulled through in a similar fashion to using a razor blade *note* a katana is often called the three foot razor *note end* also unlike European swords the katana is built on the slash and on the draw *battou* when drawing a straight bladed sword one has to reach a good distance to draw it fully. with a katana one can draw the sword and strike down an opponent in one fluid motion. this particular art is called Iai-jutsu.

2. the katana is not a single piece of forged metal. unlike European swords the katana is made from several different style of steel. the back of the katana known as the "mune" is very soft allowing for it to bend slightly instead of breaking. the front of the katana called the "ha" is very hard somewhere about 60 on the rockwell scale. this is so when two swords meet it wont break off pieces of the edge.

3. a katana is not just shaped into the form of a sword. the metal is hammered out until it is twice the width of a normal sword *usually 1 inch* then the it is folded over and hammered out again. this process can create from 100-30,000 folds making the sword incredibly strong.

in the process of making a katana it goes through many peoples hands before it is finished. the katana is forged by a swordsmith using only a hammer and a chisel *traditionally at least* from there is is sent to a polisher to finish the blade. then it is sent to a woodworker to specially fit a scabbard to it. then it is sent to a special worker who makes the toso *sword furniture* *koshirae*

so through all these process comes a katana that is considered to be one of the most deadly of all edges weapons on the face of the earth.

anyway to my point, the sakabatou is not possible. you cannot have a soft front because then it would bend the opposite back against the edge and since it is hard it would just snap. also the front would sustain massive damage from having a regular katana's edge hitting that soft metal.

 

what i dont get is couldnt you make any sword a reverse blade sword by just turning it opposite? (maybe thats y kenshin turns his sword when he gets serious)

 

yes you could except his entire sword art is based on Battou Jutsu...so technically he wouldnt be able to perform this technique so in a sense no he wouldnt be able to use a regular katana. besides the point of the sakabatou is that is more of a symbol than a weapon. it symbolizes that he has put down the Hitokiri's sword and took up a weapon that cannot kill...

 

well thats debatable...but the fact that he couldnt use it as a regular sword and still not kill would create a large handicap against such people as Amakusa Shougo and Shishio Makoto...

 

I guess you could just not sharpen a katana, but then, would it still even be considered a katana? It would probably be easy to break at the hands of an unskilled swordsmith, but remember, it was made by Arai Shatku! ^_^ I;m sure there's a way to use it, and put the force of the blow somewhere else, but that completley changes his style. Then again, I guess that explains where he's been for ten years!

 

well they make such katanas now but back then they didnt...and its Arai Shakku...

 

Yes, the evil of typos.
I don't know much about Katanas nowadays... I just have my sad little bokken... *sigh* Have any of yall ever seen a real Sakabatou.

 

no such thing. numerous athourities on japanese swords have stated that there is no such thing. shortly after the bakumatsu a ban on swords was once again put on Japan. only members of the military and Police forces could carry swords. on top of that the katana fell as the main design of sword. from then to World War 2 most swords were made to resemble French and German Military swords. it wouldnt be until World War 2 that the japanese katana would be made again. even then they were mass produced and often made from single pieces of steel resulting in a tempered tsuka which must have made it tiring to use. on an interesting note during world war two katana were given to the officers in a squad who believed them selves to be on the samurai class. actually in a lot of books about the japanese military given to the american soldiers it says that if you see an officer with a sword first shoot him for two reasons 1. because of the danger of his sword *kick *** neh?* and 2. to decrease moral within his squad. anyway after the war kendo started to become a national sport eventually it was even used as a gym activity for schools. from then on swords were slowly made again for replicas and as martial arts weapons. *Aikido teaches bokken technique although its more as a way to teach defense than to use a sword*

 

Swords are sill made today in Japan -- although Japanese law by convention limits the quanitity of the special steel given to each swordsmith. About 2 tons or so of the special steel is given in porportions to all swordsmiths. They can crank out only a limited amount of swords per year. I'll re-check my source of info in Japan and get the deep-down on the sword production. Each sword can have up to 30,000 folds of steel precisely pounded into it, talk about sharp and wicked swords!

Sanosuke!
Japan - July 2003

 

yeah i think it may be 2 tons of steel...actually the result of folding can range from 100-65,000 folds...

 

Mirk? Noooo... make Katanas... there's a store called silk road at the mall near my house. It has swords from Japan, and they're pretty cool. They have antique ones that even date back to the Meji Era... but they're SoOoOoO expensive! XP I can always go stare at them though. And the storekeeper even let me pick one up. It felt liek a feather! I was surprised at how frikkin light it was.

 

well they're light but not as light as one would expect they usually weigh between 2.5-3 pounds which is a good deal of weight...

 

Bokkens are much heavier. I'm used to them. o0