Posted in Swords on 02/21/2010 07:23 pm by Blade Runner
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which japanese swordsmith forged the best short katana or long wakizashi?
um, well, i was thinking which sword has the strongest blade. Is that samurai using wooden swords real by the way cuz wood breaks easier than metal doesn't it?
Masamune Okazaki is thought to be the best sword smith of all time - not just of Japanese blades, but the best period.
Wooden swords are called bokken (bok(u) for "wood", and ken for "sword"). They can be very effective weapons, but are not used for cutting (obviously), but for blunt force trauma. Regardless, the techniques are the same regardless of material.
Bokken are often used as 'safer' alternatives for sharp blades in practice as is another device called a shinai - a bamboo sword used mostly in kendo. The bamboo weapon is meant to sting but not cause serious harm. A Hardwood bokken can indeed case alot of damage.
As far as danger levels, a real sword can cut, but it probably would not cut through a bokken and would more likely get lodged into the bokken and then broken. Musashi Miyamoto is rumored to have stopped using real blades, switching to bokken exclusively because he apparently was of the opinion that bokken were more dangerous than a live blade. At the time, duels were not always to the death and sometimes duelists would use live blades or wood depending on what was at stake. Musashi would enter duels with bokken regardless if his opponent was using bokken or live blades.
Seeing as how Musashi is considered the greatest swordsman to ever have lived, I don't question his thoughts (assuming its not just rumor or some kind of revisionist history but really was his opinion)
Posted in Swords on 02/21/2010 07:03 pm by Blade Runner
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Can any body list a battle where one of the sides had their swords break during the fight?
Apparently the swords broke during battle. I REALLY need to know. If you have any ideas please let me know. Thank you!
Somebody told me it was a battle between France and England but I'm not 100% sure if that's right.
Well, swords could break, and every now and then they did. In every medieval battle there probably were some broken swords. However, there is no battle between France and England that is notable for for only one side's swords breaking.
