Samurai swords. What are they? They look like big katanas to me. Or are they actually katanas and I have just been seeing mini versions of katanas?

------------------
Beware of music. It brings out the animosity in everyone.

[This message has been edited by Kieran Horn (edited March 31, 2004).]

I believe that's what they are. At least, that's what I think.

------------------
Kids must be shot by Monday.

Honesty tests for workers can't be trusted, report says.

Psychopaths are unpredictable.

Jay Leno's Headlines > Everything

which is longer: a katana or a broadsword/longsword?

------------------
Beware of music. It brings out the animosity in everyone.

[This message has been edited by Kieran Horn (edited March 31, 2004).]

[This message has been edited by Kieran Horn (edited March 31, 2004).]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katana

------------------
"Music is the universal language and the
dialect we speak in is Hip Hop!" - King Solomon

I've heard that those katanas are kept ridiculously sharp. They're heated red hot and then hammered sharp about 18 times, right?

(although I doubt that it will cut metal like morpheous did with the sword in reloaded. Even if it did cut metal (steel, not aluminum), it would be dulled to the point of uselessness, probably.)

------------------
Old aunts used to come up to me at weddings, poking me in the ribs and cackling, telling me, "You're next." They stopped after I started doing the same thing to them at funerals.

[This message has been edited by Pagewizard_YKS (edited March 31, 2004).]

A Tanto is a knife that looks like the Samurai sword.

A Wakizashi is the miniature version of the Samurai sword. Was roughly 2 feet in length.

A Katana was the Samurai sword. Around 40 inches in length.

Then there was the Tachi and No Dachi which were longer.

The peasants were not allowed to carry anything larger then the Wakizashi. The Katana symbolized the Samurai class to the peasant class, and to carry a Katana was to symbolize that you were a Samurai and knew how to use it.

------------------
I can't think of anything to put here right now.

The No Dachi just looks like a really big katana

------------------
Beware of music. It brings out the animosity in everyone.

Tanto:


Wakizashi:


Katana:


Tachi:


------------------
"Just remember -- No matter how bad things get, Northern Minnesota will always be there"
-- Garrison Keeler

I went to a scottish festival once. They had swords there. There was a broadsword that stood 6 feet tall, bottom of the hilt to the point of the blade.

Was heavy as kak, too.

------------------
MadQuack on Military school: Pro's: I get to shoot a gun. Con's: Everything else.
"I'm going to beat you until the laws of physics are violated!!" ! Maeve's Warcry

RIP -MaDaVentor-. You will be missed.

Yes, they were. Sharpness was gauged by how many heads could be lopped off in a single swipe.

------------------
I'm not an actor. I just play one on TV.

More than 18 times, and they could cut through CONCRETE, and still be fairly sharp. If done right. The tip was/is the sharpest point of the blade, and I've heard soem stories about the things katanas/wakizashis can do. Stories only though.

------------------
There is no signature

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katana



------------------
"Music is the universal language and the
dialect we speak in is Hip Hop!" - King Solomon

That may have been a replica of William Wallace's sword, which is frelling huge, to match the guy who wielded it. However, overall i think broadwords and b@stard swords are longer then katanas, although samuri were much more skillful then english and scottish warriors, and therefore did not need the longer blade.

------------------
"No good can ever come from staying with normal people"
-Outlaw Star
"Some people play tennis. I erode the human soul"
-Tycho, Penny Arcade
"I'm a Cannabal-Vegitarian. I will BBQ an employee if there is no veggie option"
-DX:IW

I love life

------------------
Fight fire with fire! Fight EVERYTHING with fire!

"True as toasted toads!"

I need Hattori Hanzo steel.

------------------
You're entering a world of pain.

What is ironic is that the steel on the katana could be bent very easily.

------------------
I can't think of anything to put here right now.

In fact, Samurai swords that were actually made for real Samurai a long time ago, would take about ayear to make each, and were heated and folded over hundreds of times.



------------------

"Run Away!"

No no no. Don't touch that subject with a ten foot pole. The subject is far too complex.

The katanas found from the Terrakotta statues still have to be handled with thick safety gloves.

------------------
People who get murdered are victims, people who get killed in war are casualties and people who don't get killed at all are just plain boring. -Said by me-

In my dream world people wear trenchcoats and piss on sanity's grave.

Wow. But katanas?
The terracotta warriors are from the tomb of the first Qin emperor. The first emperor, who conquered and unified China . This is from around 200 BC.

Back then, even the japanese would have used straight-edged swords.

I correct my statement: The SWORDS that were found had to be handled with safety gloves

------------------
People who get murdered are victims, people who get killed in war are casualties and people who don't get killed at all are just plain boring. -Said by me-

In my dream world people wear trenchcoats and piss on sanity's grave.