Are real katanas fragile?

[devil dog]

I have - and for many years my sensei always taught us to avoid deliberately trying to cut through a mass of bone.

Number one, you could break/chip your sword and number two, your sword would more than likely get stuck!

You mention the only target being the belly (due to its lack of bone), but what about ligaments and arteries etc.?

Remember, most Edo period samurai weren't heavily armoured (if at all)! And therefore it wouldn’t take a lot for a skilled swordsman to cut a man in such a way that he would die (or be seriously incapacitated) – without damaging his sword too badly.

K.

Kusotare,

I agree and humbly disagree with you on the subject of cutting bone. The swordsmiths of old would test their swords on condemned prisoners. There are swords that cut up to 4 bodies (rated the best).

They would record the type of cut on the tang. I have a sword that was handed down to me that has these recorded cuts on them.

The reason behind this was to show the quality of the sword. The most difficult cut (and I can no longer remember the actual terminology for each cut performed) was diagonally from the collar bone to the hip. Some of the lesser cuts were cutting through the arm. They even stacked men one on top of the other and cut through them to test the quality of the sword.

I agree if the angle and blade geometry is not right then the blade can be damaged or chipped when cutting through bone. However if you practice Tamashigiri you know that the bamboo through the goza mat is symbolizing bone both in density, drag, and friction. The Katana was designed to cut through fuedal armor and through bone.

I am not saying that this is or was the perfered method of dispatching ones enemy but a good quality Katana can and is designed to cut through flesh and bone.

The curvature, geometry and the way the practitioner is taught to use it was and is to cut through the human body. As horrific as that might be it is true.