The Samurai Lives On
All about the Katana Sword
Image via Wikipedia The Katana is a curved, single-edged Japanese sword traditionally used by the samurai. Pronounced [kah-tah-nah] in the kun’yomi (Japanese reading) of the kanji, the word has been adopted as a loan word by the English language; as Japanese does not have separate plural and singular forms, both “katanas” and “katana” are considered acceptable plural forms in English. In battle, katana was typically paired with the wakizashi or tanto, a similarly made but shorter sword. Both were worn by members of the Japanese warrior class. The two weapons...
[Read more...]Japanese Fighting Arts
The Japanese Fighting Arts
History Of Japanese Fighting Arts The origins of karate are somewhat obscure. The most popular tradition traces them to the arrival in China of the fierce Indian monk Bodhidharma, or Daruma taishi, to give him his Japanese name. He is said to have arrived in Canton in AD 520 and he was also the First patriarch of Zen Buddhism in China. Bodhidharma imposed the most severe discipline on the monks under him at the monastery of Shaolin. His students and their successors became famous for their physical prowess as well as their mental discipline and Shaolin was to give its name to one of the foremost...
[Read more...]History
A brief history of the Samurai Sword
The history of the Japanese Samuari sword is one that goes back many hundreds of years, with the first signs of the Japanese swords being traced back to around thirteen hundred years ago. The very first blades were a basic variant of the Chinese straight bladed, double edged sword called a jian. The very first precursor to the Japanese katana was seen at around 700AD which were straight swords with a curve at the tang only. Around the tenth century saw Japan cleaving close ties with China and begin developing its own social and class divisions and it was in this time that the palace guards and...
[Read more...]Viking Era Weapons
Viking Era Weapons
Viking Era can be also called the Swords Era or the Era of Valhalla Warriors (who praised Norse supreme god – Orin). First of all, this is because of the fact that Vikings have opened a new historical war and weaponry chapter. Secondly, they also were the most active traders of weapons. In total, there were discovered about 2000 artifacts and elements of Viking Era swords dating with 9th-10th century Roots It is considered that most of the Viking Era swords had continental origins – the blades were forged in Rhenish workshops. This is confirmed by the Latin inscriptions found on the...
[Read more...]Sword Polishing
Japanese Sword Polishing
Sword polishing process is considered even more important than the forging process. There are needed more skills and experience to correctly polish a sword than to forge one. Polishing is what distinguishes professional sword makers from amateurs. You can easily determine the quality of a sword by closely watching the ridgeline down the middle of the blade. When talking about Japanese swords it is called Shinogi. When studying this interesting theme I decided to mainly refer to Japanese swords. I discovered a very rich tradition of sword polishing. This reaches beyond technology and becomes an...
[Read more...]Ancient Ritual Blades
Ritual blades
Human Sacrifices A special role the bladed weapons played in ceremony of obtaining military virtue symbols. The most appropriate example is the ritual scalping of the wounded or killed enemy which existed in the Indians tribes from Northern America. A similar ritual was spread in Turkmenia for analogical purposes. Usually, they used European knives to cut the nose and ears of the killed enemy. The Aztecs sacerdotes used knives with obsidian blades and golden hilts to cut off the hearts of the scarified humans in the name of Huitzilopochtli god. The in the well known “Night Sorrow”...
[Read more...]Samurai Swords Articles
All about the Katana Sword
Image via Wikipedia The Katana is a curved, single-edged Japanese sword traditionally...
The Bushido Samurai Creed
Samurai Creed I have no parents; I make the Heavens and the Earth my parents. I have...
The art of the samurai still lives
In today’s modern society, samurai and the art of sword fighting has an immediate...
Background on the Way of the Samurai
“The tramp of warriors sounded like a thousand convulsions of the earth. ”...
More Samurai Sword ArticlesLatest Blog Posts
Secrets of Ninjitsu
Ninja were the Ultimate Warriors of feudal Japan. Cloaked in darkness and secrecy,...
Secret Techniques of the Ninja Knife Throwers
A knife is the first weapon given to a Ninja. He or she learns Tanto-jitsu, knife...
Tools Of Trade for Ninjas
Tools of the Trade Oriental cultures feature many weapons not commonly found in western...
Japanese Sword Polishing. Part 2
A polisher of Japanese swords is a real master called Togishi. A Togishi possesses...
More Samurai Sword Blog PostsSamurai Sword Videos
Shamshir
Image via Wikipedia Hello All, I am Ric Furrer of www.doorcountyforgeworks.com...
Ninja Training In Japan…
www.bjkninja.com Ninja Training online through Live video is not a substitute to...
Ninja Warz – Mecha Genbu Music
A epic facebook game! Awesome boss! Download: www.megaupload.com Share and Enjoy: [Read more...]
Anthony Bourdain learns Kendo in Tokyo
Anthony Bourdain travels to Tokyo and meets up with famed chef Morimoto and receives...
More Samurai Sword VideosSamurai QA
Need to find family’s ancient scroll in Korea. Who do I ask for help or information? Where do I start?
BigBuggie5 asked: During WW2, my great grandparents who are Japanese lived in Seoul,...
How do i make the shape of a katana sword on a cardboard?
littlefarrie asked: I see that katana from the side is not really that straight.....
Where can I obtain katana swords? (High quality, originals or authentic replicas?)?
Light Yagami asked: And it would be nice if I could get one that was made using...
Let’s have a hypothetical duel?
Old Scratch asked: The year is 1450 AD and the duel is between A European knight...
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