The history that surrounds the Katana is no less important than its outcome and that is a beautiful but lethal, curved, razor sharp blade. Almost everybody knows that it was the Samurai, Japanese militants of the feudal era, who carried this long sword (katana) into battle to chop off the limbs and heads of their enemies.
The Japanese samurai sword is not the only thing that made this weapon so fearful, it was its wielders that put the fear of God into their opponents on the battlefield. Ever since its creation, the hard but brittle katana sword has been used to swiftly cut through the flesh and bones of one’s enemy.
In the old days, when real samurai roamed the streets of Japan the young ones were taught each and everything by their masters from the ways of drawing and wielding the blade to the way of the warrior (Bushido) and Zen Buddhism.
Kendo in the Modern Age
In the modern day, the only way beginners can learn this martial arts form ‘kendo’, previously kenjutsu, is with blunt practice swords made out of wood and other similar materials. The leading factors that many people, especially kids and teenagers, have tried to mimic fighting with a plastic samurai sword is after watching cartoons like Samurai Jack or even a much more impactful media example is Kill Bill in which the katana sword is the protagonist’s main weapon.
If this blog is awakening the warrior within you then you must be thinking of getting a trainer blade or a replica by this moment. This is the reason why you should know that you are surfing the right platform, once you are done with the reading, you can quickly start buying the best quality samurai swords for sale from Knife Import on the lowest wholesale rates in the market.
While we are on the topic, don’t you think we should also discuss all the other blades that the ferocious Japanese militants used to carry along with their Katana? I think we should!
Additional Samurai Swords
It’s obvious that the US military provides side arms to its soldiers along with a main weapon, similarly, we cannot expect that the Japanese militants at that time could do without additional blades. So, let us put forward some of the extra blades that real samurai carried with them.
- Wakizashi
This was the second most important blade in a samurai’s possession and it was supposed to be kept at their side at all times, even at night during their sleep. The wakizashi is a small sword that shows its optimum potential while fighting in limited spaces (or indoors). The duo of the wakizashi and katana swords, when carried as a set, is known as Daisho.
You might already know the wakizashi blade because this is what the feudal era warriors utilized to carry out the ritualistic suicide (seppuku) to save their honor once they had no chance for victory in a battle or they have brought shame to themselves.
- Tanto
Even though a samurai warrior was extremely deadly with just one blade but if he wanted to equip himself with another blade along with a daisho, he chose to keep a tanto with him. You can say the tanto blade is much more like a fixed blade knife than a sword due to its small size.
Making of the Legendary Sword
Historians tell us that Amakuni, a swordsmith of Yamato Province, created the first curved blade with a single edge in 700 AD. Before that the warriors used a straight and double edged blade designed after Chinese swords. An interesting myth surrounds Amakuni where people say that he never died and became immortal due to all the blood his creation spilled and absorbed.
The Katana still prevails over most other blades because of the process it goes through at the time of its forging, or perhaps even before that. The artisan who made the blade in the old times was blessed by priests before he started forging the samurai sword, and once he started the process, he would put all his soul and spirit into forging and tempering of the metal.
But that’s not all— great attention was given to the details of other parts of the blade as well, for instance the hand guard, hilt, works of art on its scabbard with different precious materials like gold, silver and ivory.
The End of an Era
The time of the Samuri came to an end in 1877 after the Satsuma Rebellion, when the Japanese government declared the aspects of samurai life as illegal. But not before gathering all the top masters to train the— as of that time — young police force. Following this historic moment, the country was finally able to use sword fighting with the modern weapons such as guns and rifles.
Now, kendo is taught to the younger generation in order to preserve the thousand-year-old traditions, history and spiritual teachings of one of the most feared warriors on the planet. This martial art is still often portrayed in films and Japanese anime, which influences people to buy cool katanas to practice fighting with blades.
Lots of individuals have gotten involved in buying real samurai swords for sale or their replicas to add to their blades collection. Do you have any favorites you want to purchase? If yes, then what are you waiting for? Go make this beautiful and elegant weapon yours as soon as possible!