PDA

View Full Version : Katana



Jenny1000
16th August 2002, 16:22
is it true that Japanese swords were folded only because the steel from Japan is such poor quality and that European swords are far more superior in strength and flexibility?

Jenny Lynn, OH

David T Anderson
16th August 2002, 18:30
Originally posted by Jenny1000
is it true that Japanese swords were folded only because the steel from Japan is such poor quality and that European swords are far more superior in strength and flexibility?



Folding the steel blades of katana was originally done to drive out the impurities of the low grade iron ore. Nowadays it is done mainly for traditional aesthetics...monosteel blades are just as strong as historic folded blades, and are in some ways superior. However this does not mean that the historic katana blades were made of 'bad steel'..it would be more correct to say that Japanese swordsmiths went to more trouble and effort to make their steel 'good.

European swords were made from steel that was easier to refine, but their characteristics were determined by their shape and tactical purpose. A rapier was more flexible than a katana because it was designed to flex, not because it was inherently better. I doubt that a euro-blade, shape for shape and cross section for cross section was stronger than a katana blade...certainly any well-made katana is as strong as it needs to be.

As usual, trying to compare katana with Western swords is comparing apples and oranges. The differences have more to do with design and workmanship than any inherent properties of their respective materials. Arguments elevating one over the other boil down to chauvinism rather than demonstrable fact.