Thursday, July 13, 2006

Katana swords

are the traditional weapon of Japanese Samurai. They're probably the most famous Japanese weapons, and are even called 'the soul of the samurai'. Katana are distinguished from broadswords for the extremely sharp edge and the slightly curved blade. The beauty of a katana appears on its blade and edge. Its graceful form and grim beauty has been fascinating many warriors. The short sword was called a wakizashi and was worn with the katana to form a "daisho" or matched set of long and short swords. Both swords were worn through the belt edge up. The "Tachi" was the long sword (longer than the katana) that was the predecessor to the katana. They were usually 80 centimeters long with a deep curve and were worn suspended from the belt by cords edge down.