Samurai Sword | I Didn't Know That

[@XxxSPARTAN1337xxX]

I'm a Kendo and Iaido practitioner and we bow or rei to show respect or equality to comrades or opponents alike... he just verbally said that his skill is on equal level as that mat which to me is pretty accurate...

[@crossbreedpriscilla8966]

+XxxSPARTAN1337xxX says the master weaboo

[@shierufantomuhaivu2412]

+XxxSPARTAN1337xxX You are neither a Kendo nor a Iaido PRACtitioner. You're simply a nerd trying to be a Weaboo. Just stop. Makes us other nerds look bad.

[@milanhenke343]

+Shieru Fantomuhaivu Holy fuck stop that "weaboo" shit it doesn't matter where you come from you can act like japanese, chinese, german, english or whatever. Why do you guys even care about those so called "weaboos" let them do their own thing and live their lives.

[@khorps4756]

+Milan Henke weaboos are usually american or english people, or jsut someone who isn't japanese that shows great interest in japanese culture to go as far as trying and failing to speak japanese and acting like they know everything there is to know about it basically japanese wannabes, now I haven't watched OP's one video and I'm not sure why everyone has gotten the sudden impression he's a weaboo but he may very well be

[@shierufantomuhaivu2412]

Milan Henke That is called a "poser". Acting like something you're not? It's pathetic.

[@MysteryHipster]

This is the worst episode of Bleach ever

[@failslife5925]

omg lol!!!!

[@mrcasualboi]

+Grant Turner I laughed more than I should have for this comment X'D

[@UltraSpyAgent12345]

YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAA ZANKAPUTON

[@shierufantomuhaivu2412]

+ExtremeLightWarrior "Zankaputon"? The hell is that? x'D

[@elijahsdestruction1705]

+ExtremeLightWarrior I think you meant zanpacktou

[@lemonboy53]

No....the process the Japanese used in obtaining the steel they utilised for their swords, tamahagane resulted in many fragments which needed to be smelted together. Folding the steel during this process improves the quality of the steel greatly.

[@ultima15]

he wasnt bowing to the target, he was showing his respect to his style and art.

[@101celkins101]

"And yes its fairly easy to cut tatami,but not to easy to do so ecfficiently and with control." This is a good response and true through and through.

[@reine71658]

You don't normally cut on the draw but i loved his humility."The sword will make up for my lack of skill",what a cool guy.And yes,it does hurt like hell when it cuts you.I specialize in staff,medium length & short swords, knives,and stick fighting.But I love knives a little more than the others.

[@101celkins101]

Thanks for the thoughtful and most importantly respectful response! This was my first post in awhile bc so many people respond with inappropriate thoughts. I love when a forum works like this. Cheers mate!

[@EuronGramz]

this is an act of respect done in matrial arts, in combat no one really bows to their opponent.

[@Jamessawyer010]

At the beginning of the video, I saw a knife sharpener and wanted to say that I have the same one and that it;s shit and it ruins the knife, not sharpen it.

[@n00bman100]

+Jamessawyer010 I use proper wetstones/sharpening stones, works really nice, and to finish it of i use "brynstål" to get it shaving sharp. :3

[@ericsierra-franco7802]

The Japanese truly elevated sword making to an art form.

[@alteye1]

You may, if you like, but you can also look it up. I don't know whether you understand German or not, but there are also translated version of his work. Dr. Stefan Mäder, metallurgist, blacksmith and historian. He wrote some very interesting books about this subject and found that for instance roman damascene spathas were at least as complex in smithing technique as japanese katanas. I leave it up to you whether you believe me or prefer to read it yourself :) greetings

[@ugn669]

I used to have a friend who was into collecting old, rare, weapons. Not sure how true this is but he told me that the reason these japanese swords are so strong while remaining flexible is because they were made out of HUGE blocks of steel, that would sit in a swamp/bog somewhere for a really long time, to get all the rust prone bits to rust away, and then the remaining steel was much superior to steel produced and treated in a traditional way.

[@Cretaal]

@Pete Berol No, it's not a secret to strength, it helps get rid of impure slag, and it homogenizes the steels impurities with the rest of the steel so there aren't any weak points. Steel doesn't get stronger when you fold it, it gets stronger when you quench and temper it.

[@alteye1]

The makers of the video you suggested to me don't seem to care much about historical accuracy, or they wouldn't try cutting hard materials with a longsword. They were mainly used to defeat very lightly armored opponents. In a man-to-man armored knight fight, you would have to be extremely accurate and precise with your sword, because it wasn't made to cut throguh plate armor. This is why in knight-battles, most men were using maces or morning stars. Greetings!

[@AnakinSkyobiliviator]

The katana is truly a cutting sword at its best. But it does have its limitations, such as plate armor piercing ability.

[@MCWren]

No, there are many better cutting swords than a katana.

[@AnakinSkyobiliviator]

JR Vids And what are you referring to? Scimitar?

[@suhaibal-nakhebi399]

+Anakin Skyobiliviator Aren't those middle eastern swords; Arabian swords?

[@AnakinSkyobiliviator]

Suhaib Al-Nakhebi Yes.

[@choiettech]

Well even European swords couldn't thrust through plate armour 😅 No sword can.

[@lebkha]

thank you... and I agree with you on the points you said about internet and media

[@GoodwillWright]

Details. It goes without say that the term "great" is used in perspective. On another note, folded steel isn't the only trait that has made the katana famous. Some people could care less about the steel. The curvature or aesthetic design are also traits to admire. I like katanas and all, but European swords definitely have their own charm.

[@AbigailTheFox]

Samurai armour was made of leather steel and silk, designed for light protection and flexibility, I work with the stuff a lot at the museum

[@101celkins101]

Thank you for ur response. I find that u can even learn a lesson on youtube. Thank u for the friendly banter! Sometimes you can reach people other times you can't. This is one of those times where a video is just a video and people are just people. I do like how u spun the Taoism into your martial arts comments, not many people see the similarities between them. I won't comment on ur response's anymore it seems to upset you. In the end though look how much you contributed to the conversation!

[@mcapanelli]

There was also, just like in Europe, variations on sharpness depending on what service the sword would see. A sword meant for civilian dueling would be much sharper than something meant for the battlefield that would face armor. We see this trait displayed on original surviving swords from both Europe and Japan.

[@KrikitKaos]

They fold the steel to evenly distribute the carbon in the high carbon steel. Also, it makes a beautiful hamon.

[@WhitEagle7]

Totally agreed! Plus he bowed with his eyes down exposing the top of his head to the opponent. What kind of bowing is that?

[@EuronGramz]

Agreed, the wielder of the blade decides whether the sword is good or bad.

[@sam_barris]

Learning about metallurgy is less exciting than the myth. Folding steel was necessary to make strong weapons back when we were smelting ore in earthen wood-fired furnaces, but once we learned to control carbon content and so on, it because unnecessary. Modern swordsmiths who still fold swords (and some do) do it mainly for the beauty of the patterns, not because they need to to keep the sword from breaking. But again, it's much more fun for some people to believe in magic. :-)

[@Alemag_]

This must be the most eloquent reply ever.

[@richardlopez3374]

and oh by the way, the broadsword was ideal cutting weapon, and the katana are for slashing.. two similar cutting performance but very different fighting technique, the broadsword relies on BRUTE STRENGTH and the katana relies on SPEED and Fighting FINESSE. i hope this is enough proof that the katana "is the finest sword ever made"

[@sunshineman143]

I know, traditionally a longsowrd was only sharpened at the top part because the lower half would be gripped to stabilize it for a thrust.

[@101celkins101]

I believe that the argument being made is not of techniques but of materials being used to make a sword.

[@macdaddymario]

I accept one man's claim because I know it as fact, as I have been a fan of the art of blade battles my whole life. If you what to continue to try and insult someone because you seem to only think they are basing their opinions off of a single video, then the one who needs to "take up arms" and "find the truth" is no further from you then a brief glance in the mirror.

[@kaindrg]

the invention of the maxim gun was really what came as great help in subjugating natives which most imperialist cultures credited for their colonization efficiency. “Whatever happens, we have got The Maxim gun, and they have not.” ― Hilaire Belloc

[@hellomate639]

Indeed. Longswords win in my book. I'm now also curious about how a true Viking technique would stack up against a Samurai, since, little is known about their techniques, but the best we have to go on is that they attack with their sword and shield at the same time, temporarily disabling the opponent, opening an opportunity to strike.

[@jorimsim]

Sorry but the bloke cutting the cucumber was doing it wrong and could have lost a thumb.

[@levi12howell]

I had no idea a samurai sword could cut thru bamboo!!! That's amazing, I made a stick once that could do the same thing!

[@KageRyuu6]

First written accounts of the Gladius Hispaniensis were in 361BC and it was very likely that the Gauls of Spain had been producing similar swords made of fairly high quality steel for centuries and continued to do so throughout the Dark Ages into the Middle Ages and well through Moorish occupation of Spain, which if anything likely refined Spanish Steel even further with Damascus steel being common in the Muslim world.

[@walkofblood]

as i said, he is not bowing to the post for being a post. but instead he is bowing to the martial arts itself as a form. giving respect to your opponent (in this case a mat post) is a general rule of this martial art called Bushido.

[@EuronGramz]

its true that they didn't use much steel in their armor, but they wore laquered bamboo plates and chainmail (different patterns than western chainmail.)

[@huaren6229]

Which samurai used his sword on a daily basis like for cutting cooking ingredients

[@hanzu5910]

+Viknesh Jay a fake one.

[@AJudgeFredd]

Guess what is really hard to find on islands? Good iron, because it corrodes quickly in salt water.

[@Shokukumi]

Oh yes, that one... I needed quite some time to process what I had just seen. I think by now, this should be trivia.

[@crazywaffles9138]

He bowed at a fucking mat

[@HipposHateWater]

Not everyone wore armour. And even if they did, it's a simple matter to cut where they where exposed--which can be seen on the remains of the dead from the Battle of Visby. (Many had both legs lopped off at the thigh in one stroke. Very sharp.) Now if they where fully-clad in maille ala Crusader-era... a sword wouldn't exactly be your first choice for getting past it, but they did have rounded (but still sharp) points, which helped to pop links &"tear"maille open enough to kill the knight inside

[@macdaddymario]

You can say 'debunked' all you want. The facts are in the video. Every person on this Earth knows that in battle, FAR more back then, your weapon was just as important as a the person using it. You were fighting for lengthy periods of time so the weapon needed to do some of the work for you, otherwise you would be to tired to soon into the battle to be of any use and end up dead. The swords used in the video were era swords. To claim this as false would be to deny facts presented in said video

[@HipposHateWater]

I know, right? You can even cleanly cut bamboo and tatami with a blunted sword! Sure it takes a bit more effort, but it can still be done.

[@squidlybytes]

I recognize that my statement was oversimplified-a complete dissertation on the relative strengths and shortcomings of various swords would be *far/ over the 500 character limit on here. I never meant to say that the katana was *only* good at drawstrikes, I meant that the katana was only *the best* at drawstrikes. It is certainly a perfectly viable weapon beyond that. Also, I'll not get into metallurgy, as that's not the issue here^-^;

[@sam_barris]

Fiction. "Rust prone bits" would pretty much include every single atom of iron in the universe, and nobody was making huge blocks of steel until the industrial age. There are several books and documentaries describing how tamahagane steel was made, and why folding produced stronger weapons. If you're interested in the metallurgy behind it, you might enjoy them.

[@M0DiFiEDZ]

If I had a sword as sharp as the knives on my channel, that sword would easily have a head rolling on the ground.

[@DarkAngelSyler]

True, I suppose. I want to start learning some martial arts myself, I just don't have the time right now. What do you practice?

[@1977Yakko]

Now I just want one more than ever.

[@squidlybytes]

I'm gonnah have to back this up-Although I'm little more than a backyard warrior with blades, I've still done some extensive testing of Japanese, Arabian and European blades of comparable quality, and I can already tell that there is no such thing as a perfect blade; every well engineered sword is optimized for specific scenarios, and will tend to be the best in their field. What I've found the katana *is* best at, is speed and fluidity of draw, nothing else.

[@BangTheRocksTogether]

People call the gladius a Roman sword all the time (I talk about swords to all kind of people in my work) because not everyone knows what a gladius is. Same with the katana. Have you heard of the messer, katzbalger, estoc, zweihander, spadone, and colichemarde?

[@momon8738]

ah, fortunately, I've read enough histories to know those :D

[@alteye1]

To be honest, if I had the skills in both Katana fighting and Longsword fighting, I believe that in a fight, I'd still go for the longsword any day. Even if you take away all the advantages it has in terms of techniques that are due to the way it quite simply is (hitting with the knob, lever techniques or the ability to grab the blade), it still has two sharp edges and that's quite simply a huge advantage.

[@Johnwalter88]

The sword he is cutting with,Im pretty positive is a modern Hanwei practical plus.The steel used in Japan was crap,hence the need for folding and complex laminations.And the hamon has nothing to do with the impurities,it is done to harden the edge more than the mune and is done with clay and heat.The hada is a result of folding the blade and its style is determined by the method of fold.And yes its fairly easy to cut tatami,but not to easy to do so ecfficiently and with control.

[@Kayem237]

Well, if we were to get technical, 'Katana' is the Japanese word for 'sword'. Just like how 'Anime' is the Japanese word for animated shows. The distinction is something that the rest of the world uses for ease of speech in separating the styles. 'Samurai sword' is a much better definition than when someone uses the term 'Ninja sword', as Ninja's would very, very rarely be able to afford a katana, whereas it was a symbol of status for a samurai.

[@Giagantus]

This is true, we even have records of Japan exporting IRON to China during the middle ages (the records I am referring to where15-16th century). They would not do that if iron was scarce.

[@Humster]

Yes, there is a "hard" form of Tai Chi meant for fighting. There is a Cantonese documentry on this on youtube.

[@alteye1]

exactly and actually, you don't need more than cutting through "material" or rather tissue thicker than a mat in a fight. In some videos, I've seen so-called experts (not that I would consider myself one of course) testing the swords by trying to cut huge ice blocks, (the katana made it through) but what's the point? What culture's soldiers in history have ever protected themselves with ice block armors in a battle?

[@Vampmonkey616]

I've seen a guy hack through a tatami mat with a sword that was blunt. Being simply sharp isnt enough

[@crossdaisuke]

even thousand year old swords will still look nice if the swordsman take care of it

[@101celkins101]

As I've gotten older I have found it hard to make time for practice too. I used to do jujitsu and thai and now I have found a good iado/kendo school where I live so I do that now. Honestly I would like to try tai chi. 1 of my instructors does it everyday and he looks like he is 45.......hes almost 70!

[@charly345mstl]

In much older time, dead bodies of death-executed criminal were used for testing how it's sharp and tough the sword is, but nowadays we can't do that, so they uses rolled-mat

[@Yonigirii]

+charly345mstlneo i like your profile picture :D

[@charly345mstl]

Just SkiLLz YES. THANK YOU.

[@mooneyes2k478]

+charly345mstlneo Oh, how this legend keeps repeating.

[@SidewaysGts]

"when a person was beheaded with an axe sometimes it would not cut all the way.. again fact. It is because of the methods are weapons were made and sharpening techniques" Its a fact that the axes did not cut all the way through, it is not a fact that it is related to the "sharpening techniques" employed on the weapon. There is more to cutting capabilities than simply how fine the edge of a blade is. It IS a factor, but there are many, MANY other things to consider. Shape, weight, geometry, etc

[@Gilmaris]

Tamahagane was the *finest* steel they had. Not the only. Tamahagane itself was (and is) very pure, but the other, more impure steels, need folding. Tamahagane is typically folded with nabe-gane. Why not forge a sword purely from tamahagane? I don't rightly know, but can think of a couple of reasons: 1. Tamahagane is scarce, and a sword made entirely from tamahagene would be prohibitively expensive 2. With all the things that can go wrong in the process, a fatal error would be very dear indeed.

[@chopsui899]

I feel like the everyone thinks that the Japanese made the "greatest swords of all times" because when people talk about the japanese sword smith making the swords they talk about how they perfected it and how they spent long lengths of time making and perfecting their techniques.

[@GoodMomBeauty]

Yes because that fact that the Japanese created incredibly sharp and effective samurai swords by folding the steel 15 times and tempering it with clay is pretty much common knowledge.

[@HipposHateWater]

You can half-sword with a sharp longsword. Much like the katana, they where /sharpest/ at the final third of the blade, but the rest was often fairly sharp as well.

[@flowlee3656]

I really fucking love comment sections on katana videos.. There's always many who says ''BEST SWORD EVUR! CAN CUT THROUGH ANYTHING!'' But in fact, every sword has its strong poins and also its weaker points, EVEN THE KATANA HAS WEAK POINTS AND IS NOT THE BEST ONE. Every sword is good and better than other swords in one certain thing.

[@n00bman100]

Guess what, most prperly made, properly sharpened swords can cut trough those mats...

[@mooneyes2k478]

+Adam Lundmark Guess what, you don't even need a sharp blade, just a some-what 'wedge'-shaped one, though it will require more force.

[@n00bman100]

***** True, but the cut wont be as clean, but be much more rough stead. And i prefer clean cuts, but what you say is true. :P

[@mooneyes2k478]

Adam Lundmark Well...sorta. Rough-er doesn't mean rough. Check the beginning of the 'Secrets of the Viking Sword' video(s), and see the cut that John Clemens does with a fully blunt blade.

[@manictiger]

+Adam Lundmark What's nice about lighter two handed swords (some two handed sabers and scimitars also qualify), is that you can recover for a second swing really fast. I find that 1.8-2.3 lbs. is optimal, but with things like a specialized goza cutter, you might have to sacrifice a little speed for a better blade geometry.

[@timothyedward6147]

in conclusion.... catana is not that special....

[@nonyabussiness2367]

lmao that bow to the mat was the cheesiest thing i've ever seen

[@Turboy65]

A traditional test for the sharpness of the Japanese sword is to attept to cleanly cut a piece of paper hung from the ceiling by a thread. If the blade is properly sharp and the swordsman's technique is good, the paper will be cut as cleanly as if cut by a razor or by good scissors. I've done this myself. Honestly it's not THAT difficult if I can do it as I am no expert. But it does prove that the blade is very sharp. The Japanese blade is kept at this level of sharpness by being "polished" by a specialist sword polisher who will repolish a blade whenever the owner feels it needs to be done. This is not merely sharpening the sword, or making it shiny, but involves regrinding all the surfaces of the blade using a variety of specialized stones and techniques. This is a time consuming and expensive process but when properly done by a master polisher, you can hardly believe that such perfect work can be done by human hands.

[@smithy106]

johnsoncm65 was ergsf thlpo hjppif

[@mvstrvndrhydn558]

Check out viking ships. They used iron from swamps that still have yet to rusted(They have such a ship in museums. They used them as rivets.. Go check it out.

[@castawaydotcom]

Samurais have a great one handed backhand :P

[@БогданКазаков-б3с]

You Didn't Know That - Circus Strength!!!

[@KageRyuu6]

impossible to work with, the fact that the Japanese folded their steel up to 15 times speaks volumes about the impurities found in Japanese iron, not to mention the rather inefficient way of forging tamahagane from iron sand. Look it up, there's a very nice documentary on traditional Japanse swordsmithing that follows the sword from iron sand to completion and you'd be surprised about how much steel after the process isn't considered tamahagane grade "The making of the Japanese Sword".

[@arpeemac]

apparently, the Japanese have been craftsmen for swords a couple of hundreds of years ago. even today, the best and expensive chef knives are those ones from Japanese blade/knife makers. try looking for documentaries here on youtube about making a katana or the samurai sword. you will realize why the japanese are the best on this stuff.

[@101celkins101]

Not really, I was just trying to turn the negatives into a positive! I love hearing from other people on this topic bc we all have such diverse backgrounds to make our opinions on. I don't know softndsmooth so its no worries here. He/she seemed to have alot to contribute if u can get past the insults.

[@neotekz]

you do know this is not the whole documentary? they never said that the japanese are the only ones that mastered folding steel, you came to that conclusion all by yourself.

[@Philoglossos]

Japanese swords were not flexible, they were bendable...

[@timothyedward6147]

Agreed 👍

[@xjsvg]

gr8 b8 m8

[@Philoglossos]

TheDomoBud I mean, the truth is pretty tasty, so I guess it makes good bait xP.

[@montekomusashi9398]

They actually could flex partner

[@blackout3100]

That weapons enthusiast kinda looks like agent coulson.

[@wilsonchubacca]

i would hate to get cut by those swords, i bet you wouldn't even feel it just yet either, scary.

[@Railstarfish]

Actually the only information he gives on the swords were 40-50 inches long and "often weighed as much as 4 and a half lbs" - which is contradicted by the weight of antique swords (look up online article "A Club With An Edge" gives the weights of antique swords in the Journal of Western Martial Arts). There is nothing to support the conclusion that the swords used in the video were era swords, particularly as the show uses butted mail and unhardened leather as armour.

[@alteye1]

Well, I've already seen this one, but it doesn't really prove much... The european longsword wasn't meant to cut through armors or thick materials because it was simply not as sharp. Why? Because it was part of the longsword-fighting techniques, where you would grab the blade with your bare hands in order to strike your opponent with the knob. I don't give much about youtube videos, but may I suggest you this one: Welt der Wunder Katana vs langschwert, it's German, but you'll see what I mean ;)

[@Gilmaris]

3. The process that uses pattern welding with tamahagane might yield a perfectly satisfactory result anyway, so the added quality you'd get from a pure tamahagane sword might not be worth it. 4. The Japanese are big on tradition, so... tradition? Although I admit, this reason is only valid today. They had no problem making weapons from imported European steel back in the day, and that's not particularly traditional.

[@GriefOfShadow]

They have European dueling manuals that show many dueling techniques. there are entire martial arts school based on them. primarily in Europe.

[@gothkrix]

japanese swords are said to be so good because the japanese at that time weren't able to have a quality steel like the europeans had, so they had to work on the way tey forged the swords so that with that inferior steel they could make high quality swords, and the katana was born, they developed technics to work the steel, making it better, and then ways to work the steel turning it into a resistant blade and still flexible, and they were indeed sharper.

[@SidewaysGts]

"There cutting was not as good as a Katana and would often not give a clean cut" What are you basing this assertion on? Do you have any citations/referable sources that you can offer to support this claim? Thanks.

[@prabshiro]

As someone who practices JSA ( Japanese sword arts) I agree and disagree with some comments. Katanas have been give huge celeb status thanks to Hollywood ect. And the weaboo culture behind them. However. Samurai swords would depend on their user and their production. Yes some of these swords were absolutly lethal. Now.... Their is a lot of mysticsm and spirituality sourounding these swords. These were made using prayer incantations, and some of these sword makers ( Masamune) were so skilled that their swords cut through rock material. Alot of swords would break in battle, but used by a skilled elite, these things were stupidly lethal. Swordsmanship in Japan was a spiritual path, and not just something used in times of battle or warfare. These would not be treated like european swords would be. But we should respect all weapons regardless of their national background. But anime culture has abused alot of that.

[@NordicSkullCrusher]

try cutting through chainmail, it wont work

[@thebiggamers999]

+NordicSkullCrusher cause its not made for that, same as how a longsword would have a bad time taking on samurai armour

[@NordicSkullCrusher]

thebiggamers999 well the longsword was more of a poking through holes in the armor weapon. Unlike the Katana was made for cutting unarmored targets.

[@minhquando100]

+NordicSkullCrusher you can also stab with a katana.

[@minjamike]

I have a friend named Katana

[@mooneyes2k478]

+thebiggamers999 But less so than the plate armor of Europe.

[@j1pw]

This is so powerful.

[@KageRyuu6]

And yet it is common knowledge across all of Europe, regardless youtube doesn't like links in comments so you're going to have to look up "Guns Germs and Steel" it's both a book and a show produced by PBS, there are hundreds of other sources but none specifically devoted to the topic. Now you want to know what's really funny? How labor intensive Japanese swordsmithing is, and how some people equate this with quality. The truth, iron and steel can only get so pure or hard before it becomes

[@DaSillyBanana]

Damb, I didn't know so many people here were/are experts with swords.

[@MusicWeaponsFood]

They should have had James Williams demonstrate the katana.

[@jeffrickygods]

Well now that i know these things about samurai swords your title is very inaccurate.... and now i keep coming back to it, thinking that i didnt know these things

[@jeff8253]

1:56 Apparently Japanese people are so respectful that they even bow to a matress

[@bourky93]

to be fair you don't need to know everything, you just need to be better than the person you're questioning.

[@alteye1]

European steel (the one used for German Longsword for instance of the late 14th or 15th century) was found to be of equal quality in forging technique and later result of the blade, if not superior. It's just the movies and stories that created the legend around japanese katanas to be the sharpest in history,though of course not to be underestimated as I believe every type of sword in human history is a forged mircale.

[@DarkAngelSyler]

Honestly, swords are look any other tools, some are great in a specific situation and horrible in others. All things must be considered about the blade: Length, weight, how much skill it takes to use the sword effectively compared to how much skill you have with it. How confined will your fight be? I don't see the Katana as the ultimate sword, it was just used by some of the best fighters, in my opinion.

[@KageRyuu6]

One does not fold pure steel, the point of folding steel is to remove impurities. Iron sand however has plenty of impurities, silica, manganese, calcium and vanadium just to name a few, and seeing as this is Japan's main source of iron, clearly their steel is not pure. And as AnonMadara stated, by time the Japanese where folding steel around 600 AD, Toledo had been producing quality steel for over 1100 years, while Wootz or Damascus steel had been around for only 900 years.

[@shadywalker2159]

Well you are free to hold that view. I believe that as per definition a samurai is hereditary warrior class in feudal Japan. You can learn the way of the samurai, and be 'like' one, but will never be a samurai just because you live the lifestyle. The legitimacy comes from being enlisted into an established group of warriors.. Not just deciding you want to be whatever.. Its like me saying I am an astronaut, and its a lifestyle..

[@xdan87]

Amazing how these ancient smiths can made steel without the modern knowledge. I guess it was pretty much trial and error and experience. Iron + Carbon in the right amount give you steel. Heating and quenching it in water gives them quenched steel, and reheating tempers the steel a little to retain toughness. They did all these without ever seeing the micro structure of the metal..

[@PratikParija]

Even on Fight Science they had said that the katana is the sharpest sword in the world.