Katana with a long handle. Kenjutsu is the Japanese art of swordsmanship. Sword strip terminology

Very often you can come across the question: “What is a katana?” Many people who are interested cannot find the difference and think that it is simple. In fact, the katana is a very interesting and difficult weapon that you need to know a little better.

Difference

IN Japanese this word is used to refer to the single bladed form. A katana can be called a blade of any origin, but it has some differences:

1. One blade.
2. Subtlety.
3. Square or round hand protection design.
4. The handle is long enough to allow you to hold the sword with both hands.
5. Very high sharpness.
6. The blade has a special curve that makes cutting easier.
7. Large variety of blades.

History of creation

In order to fully answer the question of what a katana is, it is necessary to study the appearance legendary sword. The blade was invented as a competitor to the straight tachi and has its origins in the Kamakura period.

In those days, a split second was enough to win a fight. Therefore, the katana became widespread due to its speed when unsheathed.

The length of the sword remained virtually unchanged. It became a little smaller in the 15th century, but by the end of the 16th century it returned to its size (70-73 cm).

Today, real katanas are serious weapons that have a deadly edge.

Manufacturing

To understand how to make a katana, you should carefully study the process of its manufacture. It consists of large quantity stages:

Use and storage

Real katanas are formidable weapons. They are uniquely sharp and require very careful handling. There are several fencing techniques for this blade.

• Kenjutsu. It dates back to the 9th century and coincides with the emergence of a separate class of warriors in Japan.
• Iaido. This technique is based on surprise attacks and lightning-fast counterattacks.
• Battojutsu. The emphasis is on drawing the sword and deflecting the blow during a quick draw.
• Iaijutsu. Based on outstretched arm techniques.
• Shinkendo. The youngest technology, which appeared in 1990.

The blade must be stored only in a case and in a certain position in which the blade is directed upward. If not used for a long time, the blade should be polished, coated with oil and powder. The sword does not like long-term storage, so it must be taken out periodically.

By linking together all the provisions considered, we can answer the question of what a katana is. This is a powerful and formidable weapon that in capable hands can be fatal to anyone. You need to be careful with the sword, and also understand that without experience and skill it can not only injure, but even cripple an ordinary person.

There are many legends about Japanese swords, often unjustified. Probably a lot of people when asked what it’s called japanese sword, they will answer - Katana. This is partly correct, but only partly. Classifying Japanese swords is not an easy task. The simplest classification, in my opinion, is by length.

It is known that the samurai carried two swords - long and short. This pair was called Daisho(lit. “greater and lesser”) and consisted of Daito (“greater sword”), we will call it Katana, which was the main weapon of the samurai, and Seto (“smaller sword”), in the future Wakazashi, who served as a spare or additional weapons, used in close combat, for cutting off heads or hara-kiri, if the samurai did not have a Kusungobu or Tanto dagger specially designed for this. If only samurai and aristocrats were allowed to wear the large Katana sword, then artisans and merchants had the right to wear Wakazashi.

Kusungobu - melee dagger

So the long sword was called Daito (Katana)— 95-120 cm, short — Seto (Wakazashi)- 50-70 cm. The handle of a Katana is usually designed for 3.5 fists, Wakazashi - for 1.5. The blade width of both swords is about 3 cm, the thickness of the back is 5 mm, while the blade has a razor sharpness. The handle is usually covered with shark skin or wrapped in such a way that the handle does not slip in the hands. Katana weight is about 4 kg. The guard of both swords was small, only slightly covering the hand, and had a round, petal or multifaceted shape. It was called "tsuba".

Katana and other Japanese swords were stored on a special stand - Katanakake.

Katana has several varieties, one of them is Ko-katana (kokatana) - a variant of a short katana, included together with a katana in a regular samurai set of edged weapons. The handle of the kokatana is straight without a bow, the blade is slightly curved. The specimen described in the domestic literature has a length of 690 mm and a blade length of 520 mm.

Kokatana is a type of katana

The katana was attached to the belt or behind the back. Tied with a special Sageo cord, this cord could also be used to bind the enemy. To carry a katana behind the back, a special sheath was used (Watarimaki is the part of the sheath of a Japanese bladed weapon that touches the back when worn). The sheath has a coupling - a ring that covers the sheath, with the help of which it is attached to a sword belt or belt.

Katana is the most modern and advanced type of Japanese edged weapon; its production has been improved over the centuries; the predecessors of the katana were:

Tati - a sword common in Japan from the 10th to the 17th centuries, equal in length to the Katana. Although Katana swords also have a decent amount of blade curvature, it is generally less curvature than Tati's. Their external decoration also differs. It is much simpler and stricter than Tati’s. Has a round tsuba. The tachi was usually carried with the blade facing down in tandem with a koshigatana.

Tanto - small samurai sword.

Kozuka - Japanese combat knife used as a bladed weapon throwing weapon. IN Everyday life served as a household knife.

Ta-chi - a single-edged sword of slight curvature, worn behind the back. Total length 710 mm.

In addition to Daise, a samurai could also wear Nodachi - "field sword" with a blade more than a meter long and a total length of about 1.5 m, sometimes its length reached three meters! Several samurai wielded such a sword at once, and its only use was to defeat mounted troops.

Nodachi

Katana is the strongest sword in the world

The technology for producing a katana is very complex - special processing of steel, multi-layer (multiple) forging, hardening, etc. Katanas are the strongest swords in the world, they are capable of cutting materials of almost any hardness, be it meat, bones, iron. Masters skilled in the art of fighting with a katana in a battle with a warrior armed with an ordinary European sword could cut this sword into two parts, the force of a samurai’s blow and the steel of a katana allowed this to be done (Monuchi is the part of the blade blade of a Japanese bladed weapon, which accounts for the main force blow).

The katana could be used to stab and chop equally easily. The long handle allows you to actively maneuver the sword. In this case, the main grip is the position when the end of the handle rests in the middle of the palm, and right hand holds her near the guard. The simultaneous movement of both hands allows you to describe a wide amplitude with the sword without much effort. Both the Katana and the straight European sword of a knight weigh a lot, but the principles for performing cutting blows are completely different. Most of blows are applied in a vertical plane. There is almost no division into “block-strike” accepted in Europe. There are knocking blows to the enemy's hands or weapons, throwing his weapon away from the line of attack and making it possible to deal a damaging blow to the enemy at the next step.

Weaknesses of the katana

Speaking about the features of the manufacturing technology of a samurai sword, it is worth noting weak sides This process, namely, gaining greater hardness and power along the axis of the blade, makes this type of sword more vulnerable if hit on its flat side. With such a blow you can break the Katana even with a short mace (or Okinawan nunchucks, which were specially used to break samurai swords). And if a European sword usually breaks at a distance of a palm or two fingers from the guard, then a Japanese sword breaks at a distance of 1/3 or 1/2 of the length of the blade from the guard.

Yes, those stories are also true when metal was cut with a Katana. It's possible! It is documented that when a master is hit with such a blade, the speed of the tip of the sword (Kisaki) exceeded the speed of sound. And if you take into account the fact that Katana swords are among the most durable in the world, then the conclusion suggests itself.

Tati - a sword equal in length to a Katana

Japanese long sword tachi. The wavy hamon pattern on the blade is clearly visible.

The most ancient katana self made(the sheath for the katana was also handmade and decorated with ornaments) are most valued and passed down from generation to generation as a family heirloom. Such katana are very expensive, especially if you can see Mei on it - a mark with the name of the master and the year of manufacture on the shank of a Japanese bladed weapon - of any famous master.

Many master gunsmiths from different countries tried to copy the katana, which resulted in such famous swords as: Three - a Tibetan sword copying a samurai sword; Taijinjian (Chinese sword of the great limit) is a type of jian; Korean sword, Japanese name katana in the 7th-13th centuries; etc. But real katana can only be found in Japan, and if a katana is not made in Japan, it is no longer a katana!

Components of a katana:

• Decoration adjacent to the tsuba, a ring that strengthens the handle (coupling) - Fuchi,
• Cord - Ito,
• Blade - Kami,
• The upper ring (head) of the handle is Kashira,
• Entrance to the scabbard - Koiguchi,
• The tip of the scabbard is Kojiri,
• Tie loop - Kurikata,
• Bamboo wedge for fixing the blade in the handle - Mekugi,
• Decoration on the handle under (or above) the braid - Menuki,
• Shank - Nakago,
• Ties - Sageo,
• Stingray leather on the handle - Same,
• Scabbard - Saya,
• Gasket between guard and ring (washer) - Seppa,
• Hammer for disassembling a sword - Tetsu,
• Blade - Tosin,
• Garda - Tsuba,
• Handle - Tsuka,
• Braid - Tsukamaki,
• Clutch for fixing the sword in the sheath - Habaki.

Japanese short sword wakizashi. Blade and sword in sheath.

Wakizashi is a short traditional Japanese sword.

Mainly used by samurai and worn on the belt. Blade length - from 30 cm to 61 cm. Total length 50-80 cm. Wakizashi is similar in shape to a katana. It was worn in tandem with a katana, also tucked into the belt with the blade facing up.

In a pair of daisho (the two main samurai swords: long and short), the wakizashi was used as a short sword (shoto).

Samurai used the wakizashi as a weapon when the katana was unavailable or unusable. In the early periods of Japanese history, the small tanto sword was worn instead of the wakizashi. And also when a samurai put on armor, instead of a katana and wakizashi, tachi and tanto were usually used. Upon entering the room, the warrior left the katana with the servant or on the katanakake. The wakizashi was always carried with him and was removed only if the samurai remained on a long period time. The Bushi often called this sword "the guardian of their honor." Some fencing schools taught the use of both katana and wakizashi at the same time.

Unlike the katana, which could only be worn by samurai, wakizashi was allowed to merchants and artisans. They used this sword as a full-fledged weapon, because according to their status they did not have the right to carry a katana.

A more correct classification: It is somewhat conditionally possible to classify weapons according to the length of the blade. "Tanto" must have a blade no shorter than 30 cm and no longer than 40 cm, "wakizashi" - from 41 to 60 cm, "katana" - from 61 to 75 cm, "tachi" - from 75 to 90 cm. "Odachi" from 3 shaku 90.9 cm. The largest odachi that has survived to this day has a length of 3 m 77 cm.

Katana- long Japanese sword (daito). Current Russian standard GOST R 51215-98 katana is characterized as a “Japanese large two-handed saber with a blade more than 60 cm long.” In modern Japanese, the word katana also means any sword. Katana is the Japanese reading (kun'yomi) of the Chinese character 刀; Sino-Japanese reading (on'yomi) - then:. The word means "a curved sword with a single-sided blade." The shape of the blade of the katana resembles a saber, but its handle is straight and long, which allows the use of a two-handed grip. The pommel is missing. The slight bend of the blade and the sharp end also allow piercing blows. The absence of a pommel makes fencing with one hand extremely difficult, despite the standard weight (about one and a half kilograms) for a bladed hand weapon. Perhaps this is explained by the anthropometric data of Japanese warriors (there is another explanation - Japanese blacksmiths at the time of the development of edged weapons did not know how to produce high-quality steel; the blades quickly dulled, and the weapon was effective only with slashing blows, which initially predetermined a two-handed grip. More later, when high-quality steel was discovered, the long handle was already established as a tradition). Unlike tachi, the katana is also civilian weapons samurai, like the sword of European nobles of the 14th-19th centuries.

History of development.
The katana appeared in the 15th century as a consequence of the evolution of tachi and was used from the end of the 14th century (early Muromachi period) as traditional weapons samurai, primarily in combination (daisho, lit. “big-small”) with a short wakizashi (shoto, lit. “small sword”). The katana is similar in many ways to the earlier Chinese Miao Dao sword. A genuine Japanese katana can be easily recognized by its hardening line (jamon), which is explained by the use of special forging and hardening techniques, as well as the handle (tsuka), covered with stingray skin and entwined with a silk ribbon. Ordinary leather was also used for covering. Carved hardwood or ivory hilts are found only on decorative and ceremonial swords. The blade of a katana consists of at least two different types of steel: tough for the base (core) and hard for the cutting part. Both components were first refined by repeated folding and welding before being forged into a blade.
In the narrow sense, a katana is curved (cutting part outward) bastard sword with a blade two or more shaku long (2 shaku is approximately equal to 60.6 cm) and a handle of varying lengths. Weight 750-1000g. If the length of the blade is less than two shaku, then it is a wakizashi, if less than one shaku, it is a dagger (tanto, aikuti, hamidashi). The scabbard for all three types of swords is called saya; they are made of wood and varnished. Only mass-produced swords of the 20th century have a metal scabbard, however, they are also equipped with a wooden lining...

Katana and wakizashi are always worn on the left side of the body in a sheath, tucked into the belt (obi), with the blade facing up. This is an accepted way of wearing in society, formed after the end of the wars of the Sengoku period in early XVII century, when carrying weapons became more of a tradition than military necessity. When the samurai entered the house, he took out a katana from his belt. In case of possible conflicts, he held the sword in his left hand in a state of combat readiness or, as a sign of trust, in his right. When sitting down, he placed the katana on the floor within reach, and the wakizashi was not removed (the samurai wore it in a sheath in his belt). Mounting the sword for outdoor use is called koshirae and includes the lacquered sheath of the sai. If there was no frequent need to use the sword, it was stored at home in a shirasai mount made of untreated magnolia wood, which protected the steel from corrosion. Some modern katanas are initially produced in this version, in which the scabbard is not varnished or decorated. Such installation, in which there was no tsuba and other decorative elements, did not attract attention and became widespread in late XIX centuries after the imperial ban on wearing a sword. It seemed that the sheath was not a katana, but a bokuto - a wooden sword. In the 20th century, camouflaged swords appeared, similar in design to Western cane swords: the blade of the sword rested in a sheath imitating a staff made of bamboo or wood.
Up to early period Muromachi was armed with a tachi - a long sword that was worn on a belt with the blade down. However, starting from the end of the 14th century, it was increasingly replaced by the katana. It was worn in a sheath secured to the belt with a ribbon of silk or other fabric (sageo). A tanto dagger was usually worn along with a tachi, and a wakizashi was usually worn together with a katana.

Design.
A blacksmith making a sword has long had the task of creating a weapon that is sharp and at the same time for a long time retaining its fighting qualities, not losing its sharpness, not rusting or breaking. Depending on the carbon content of the steel and the hardening, it could produce a sword with a high martensite index, therefore very hard and retaining its sharpness for a long time, but brittle and brittle. Conversely, a blade made of softer steel becomes dull faster.
This difficulty is overcome by using a multilayer structure. In the traditional technique, the inner layer is made of low-carbon steel and covered with hard high-carbon steel, which forms the top layer: the smith folds a long, narrow block of hard steel into a U-shape and welds a block of soft steel into it. From the resulting combined whetstone, a sword blank is forged, with the closed side of the “U” subsequently becoming the blade. This combined workpiece is no longer folded.
Other designs feature different combinations, such as placing hard steel in a U-shaped piece of soft steel, or combining hard steel on the blade with soft steel on the back and medium-hard steel making up two additional side inserts. There are numerous complicated techniques, which, however, do not guarantee more High Quality. They are practiced mostly by low-class blacksmiths, who thus seek to bypass the difficult hardening process. Very short blades are sometimes made from one type of steel (mono-material)

Larger samples require a more complex design.

• Maru- the cheapest of all designs, also used for tanto or ko-wakizashi; Such single blades are not subject to differential hardening and consist of one single type of steel.
• Kobuse- a simplified design of the sword, which, due to its low cost, was widely used in military conflicts that required large volumes of weapons until the Second World War
• Khonsammai- the most common design. The side parts are reinforced with additional plates made of medium-hard steel. The sword is highly durable and has the advantage that back side The blade (butt) is not hardened and does not allow it to break. Some old swords show similar impact marks.
• Shihozume- a design similar to the honsanmai, in which the back of the blade is protected by a rigid iron strip.
• Makuri- a simplified design in which the soft iron core is entirely hidden in a hard steel shell.
• Wariha tetsu- simple but very flexible design.
• Orikaeshi sammai- a slightly improved form of honsanmai
• Gomai- a slightly unusual option with a core of hard iron, which is surrounded by a middle soft layer, in turn covered with a layer of hard steel
• Soshu kitae- one of the most complex structures, having seven layers of steel. Practiced by the blacksmith Masamune, it is considered an exemplary work.

The katana was used primarily as cutting weapon, sometimes as a piercing weapon, allowing both two-handed and one-handed grips. The oldest schools of katana art date back to the 15th and 16th centuries.
The main idea of ​​the Japanese art of swordsmanship (kenjutsu) and the techniques based on it (such as iaido) is that the longitudinal axis of the sword during an attack should not go to the target at a right angle, but along its plane, delivering cutting blows. Therefore, it is more appropriate to talk here not about blows - in the form in which they are characteristic of Western sword techniques, but about cuts. This is why the blades have a curved shape. Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi wrote the book “Gorin no sho” (“Book of Five Rings”), in which he reveals his two-sword technique (niten-ryu) and substantiates it from an esoteric perspective. Working with katana and wakizashi is similar to eskrima techniques ( modern name- Arnis de mano). Kenjutsu, the practical art of fencing with a sword, evolved into its modern form - gendai budo. The art of surprise attack and counterattack is called iaido and is a meditative type of combat fought with an imaginary opponent. Kendo is the art of fencing with a bamboo sword (shinai), in which it is mandatory to wear a set of protection, similar to European fencing and consisting of a helmet with a lattice covering the face, and armor. This type Sword fencing, depending on the specific style (ryu), can be practiced as a sport discipline. In Japan, there are still numerous traditional fencing schools that managed to survive after Emperor Meiji's general ban on wearing swords. The most famous are Kashima Shinto Ryu, Kashima Shin Ryu and Katori Shinto Ryu.

Main parts:

• Ha- cutting edge
• Habaki- fastening sleeve (so that the blade is fixed in one position and does not move)
• Kasira- handle head
• Koi gucci- entrance to the scabbard
• Monouchi- hitting surface
• Mune- blunt end of the blade
• Mekugi- a bamboo pin that secures Nakago in the handle of the blade
• Nakago- blade base
• Sageo- rope
• Saya- scabbard
• Tsuba- guard
• Tsuka- handle
• Shinogi- edge of the blade

Minor parts:

• Ada patterns (concentric, wavy and linear patterns created during rolling)
• Ha mother- edge of Ha
• Jamon- hardening line
• Boti- hardening line on the tip
• Yokote- dividing line of the tip
• Dzi-ada- blade
• Itsu- groove for Kozuka (knife)
• Kogai- (multi-profile pin), or Uvari-Masi (shelves)
• Kissaki- point
• Kojiri- tip of the scabbard
• Ko-shinogi- edge of the blade at the tip
• Kurikata- loop for Sageo
• Mune machi- region of Mune
• Mai- inscriptions on Nakago (name of the blacksmith, year, testing on those sentenced to death or corpses, etc.)
• Mekugi-ana- hole for pin
• Manuki- handle ornament
• Nagaza- blade length
• Nakago-jiri- tip of Nakago
• Nioi or Nie- martensite particles (large ones are called Nie, small ones - Nio)
• Same-hada- the skin of a huge stingray covering the handle
• Shitotome- hole for Kurikata
• Sorry- deflection
• Sepa- washers
• Footy- handle coupling
• Tsuka-ito- cord wrapping around the handle
• Shinogi-ji - flat part blade
• Yaki-a (or Yaki-ha)- hardened part of the blade
• Yasuri-me- file notch on Nakago

Katana.

Katana and Wakizashi swords.

Today, almost everyone can answer the question of the name of the samurai sword - katana. In general this is the correct answer, but not entirely. The classification of samurai swords and the terminology of their names is actually not such a simple matter. The easiest way to distinguish Japanese swords is by length. It is a widely known fact that the Japanese warrior always carried two swords with him: long and short. This pair was called “daisho” and consisted of “daito” - a large sword, and “shoto” - a small sword. It is precisely the daito that should be called a katana, while the shoto will later receive the name wakizashi, which serves as a melee weapon or extreme case a device for ritual suicide if there was no weapon at hand specifically designed for this. Traders and artisans had the right to wear wakizashi, but only samurai and aristocrats had the right to wear daito.

Katana and Wakizashi paired.

Katana is a two-handed curved Japanese sword 95-105 cm long (the blade itself was on average 70-75 cm, but in any case for a katana there are more than two shaku (1 shaku = 30.3 cm).
Along with the short sword, the wakizashi was part of the samurai's weapon set.
Japanese swords were stored on a special stand - Katanakake.
The handle of the katana is 3.5 fists long. The width of the blade is about three centimeters, the thickness of the back is from 5 mm. The handle is covered with the skin of a stingray, shark or other material and braided with a silk cord. There are more than ten braiding methods. The weight of a katana depends on its length, blade thickness and other parameters. In any case, a steel katana weighs more than 1 kg. There are katanas weighing 1.9 kg. A well-hardened katana can cut through softer metal without harming itself.

Stand – Katanakake

Tamahagane-Japanese steel.

pieces of steel after primary smelting

The unique tamahagane technology has amazing story. It miraculously turned out to be not lost for us, modern connoisseurs of knife art, and was revived in the 70s of the 20th century. What is unique about the famous Japanese tamahagane steel, and why is it - which has such ancient roots - so highly valued throughout the world, in the age of robots and nanotechnology?
Tamahagane steel has a non-uniform structure, that is, different degrees of hardness in different areas canvas, which allows the knife blade to better absorb shock, and therefore provides it with long life. The heterogeneous structure of tamahagane is explained by the uneven carbon content, which is unique to this technology. In addition to high technical characteristics Tamahagane steel has an incredibly luxurious appearance (of course, already at the final stage - after polishing) - the unusual patterns on the surface of Tamahagane fascinate anyone - from a professional to an ordinary user. It was these qualities of the legendary tamahagane that formed the basis for the creation of the series kitchen knives Samura Tamahagane.
Tamahagane, tamahagane, tamahagane is the main and basic Japanese steel for making blades of swords, katanas and knives. On the western coast of Japan, in Shimane Prefecture on the island of Honshu in the 6th-7th centuries AD, where iron “black sand” - satetsu - was mined in river beds, the history of the origin of tamahagane steel begins. It was here, in the unique smelting furnaces of the Tatars, that the first pieces of legendary steel for swords were born Japanese samurai. Tamahagane production is an interesting, complex and rather expensive process.

Tatara

Tamahagane were made in special disposable Tatara furnaces; one smelting process requires 5 days - one day to build a Tatara, three days to smelt, and one day to extract the smelted iron. Essentially, a tatara is a trench made of clay, approximately 5 feet wide, 15 feet long and 48 inches high. Charcoal is poured into a specially prepared place, directly under the future furnace, which will be burned until the entire place is dry. will be filled to the brim with ash. After the construction of new walls, a fire is lit at the bottom of the Tatar, into which charcoal and small pieces of oak are continuously added for three hours. The resulting coals are covered with satetsu iron sand, and charcoal is poured on top. The process of adding iron and charcoal is repeated every half hour for three days! As a result, the smelted iron is saturated with carbon.

A drawing by artist Nagashio Setsuzan (1774-1833) on a silk scroll depicts the workings of a Tatara kiln.

Jamon— the hardening line of the blade of a katana. The katana's capabilities are based on advanced technology. The genius of Japanese blacksmiths was manifested in the fact that they managed to create a blade that was both sharp and flexible. The secret lies in the heat treatment of the finished blade. By covering the blade with clay, you can control the cooling rate - as a result, two types of steel are formed in one blade: flexible and very hard, i.e. the sword turns out to be sharp and shock-resistant. The boundary between the two types of steel is unique to each sword.

Components of a katana: Decoration adjacent to the tsuba, a ring that strengthens the handle (muff) - Fuchi, Cord - Ito, Blade - Kami, Upper ring (head) of the handle - Kashira, Sheath entrance - Koiguchi (Koiguchi), Sheath tip - Kojiri, Tie loop - Kurikata, Bamboo wedge for fixing the blade in the handle - Mekugi, Decoration on the handle under (or above) braid - Menuki, Tang — Nakago, Straps — Sageo, Leather on the handle — Same, Sheath — Saya, Spacer between the guard and the ring (washer) — Seppa, Hammer for disassembling the sword — Tetsu, blade — Tosin ,Guard - Tsuba, Handle - Tsuka, Braid - Tsukamaki, Clutch for fixing the sword in the sheath - Habaki.
Tsuba

the guard of Japanese bladed weapons, such as the katana and other swords (tachi, wakizashi), tanto or naginata.
Tsubas are usually decorated with elegant decoration and are highly collectible these days. The craft of making tsuba in Japan was a handicraft passed down from generation to generation. Bushido condemned the wearing of rings, earrings and other jewelry by samurai. However, the samurai found a way out of the situation by decorating the scabbard and tsuba. Thus, the taste and wealth of the samurai were formally shown without violating the code.
It is a mistaken belief that the tsuba served as a guard. Guard - crossbar, part of a European sword. The guard is designed to protect the hand from enemy weapons. On early weapons the guard did not exist at all. The first versions of the guard were a bar perpendicular to the blade and handle, and located in the same plane. Starting from the 16th century, round guards began to appear, as well as guards that protected the entire hand with the help of a curved part running from the top of the handle to the bottom. The Japanese fencing school does not know katana blocks in principle. The katana was made of steel of fairly high hardness, but very brittle. The cost of a katana reached incredible proportions, depending on its quality. However, both katana are forged on the production line, and katana are manufactured according to special requirements. order, when hit by another katana, they had a high chance of flying apart. Blocks are not provided by the blade, tsuba, or any other part of the katana. Tsuba, in addition to a purely decorative function, served as a rest for the hand. The pressure experienced by the hand when resting on the tsuba is several times less than the pressure when resting on the guard, since the area of ​​application of force is significantly larger than that of the guard. This and a number of other reasons determined the appearance of lunges in kendo. With a heavy European sword, lunges were much harder and more inconvenient.

Terminology.

Often used in literature Japanese names to designate varieties of Japanese sword and its parts. Brief dictionary most frequently used concepts:
Tachi is a long sword (blade length from 61 cm) with a relatively large bend (sori), intended mainly for mounted combat. There is a type of tachi called odachi, that is, a “large” tachi with a blade length of 1 m (from 75 cm from the 16th century). In museums they are shown in the blade-down position. The katana is a long sword (blade length 61-73 cm), with a slightly wider and thicker blade and less curvature compared to the tachi. Visually, it is difficult to distinguish a katana from a tachi based on the blade; they differ primarily in the manner of wearing. Gradually, from the 15th century, the katana replaced the tati as a weapon for foot combat. In museums they are shown in the position with the blade up, according to the manner of wearing. In ancient times, daggers were called katanas, but since the 16th century this name was transferred to uchigatana swords.
Wakizashi is a short sword (blade length 30.3-60.6 cm). Since the end of the 16th century, paired with a longer katana, it forms the standard set of samurai weapons, daisho (“long and short”). It was used both for fighting in close quarters and in tandem with a katana in some fencing techniques. Unlike the katana, non-samurai were allowed to wear it.
Tanto (koshigatana) - a dagger or knife (blade length< 30,3 см). В древности кинжалы называли не «танто», а «катана». Меч тати, как правило, сопровождался коротким танто.
Tsurugi is a straight, double-edged sword, common in Japan until the 10th century. Many samples do not belong to real Japanese swords (nihonto), as they are made using Chinese or Korean technology. IN in a broad sense the term was used in ancient times to refer to all swords. At a later time, it was replaced by the term ken to designate a straight sword. Naginata - intermediate weapon between a sword and a spear: a strongly curved blade up to 60 cm long, mounted on a handle as long as a person’s height. Koto - lit. "old sword" Swords produced before 1596. It is believed that after this time many techniques of traditional technology were lost. Shinto - lit. "new sword" Swords produced from 1596 to 1868, that is, before the industrial revolution of the Meiji period. With rare exceptions, Shinto swords are not considered highly artistic creations of blacksmiths, although they may have luxurious finishes. Externally they resemble koto swords, but are inferior in metal quality. Gendaito - lit. "modern sword" Swords produced after 1868 to the present. Among them there are both showato (literally “sword of the Showa period”), mass-produced for the army using simplified factory technology, including shin-gunto (Japanese sin gunto:?, lit. “new army sword”), and swords , forged after the resumption of production in 1954 by modern blacksmiths using traditional techniques, for which it is proposed to use the name shin-sakuto (yapsin sakuto?, “newly made sword”) or shin-gendaito (lit. “new modern sword”).
History of Katana.

Katana - Tati.
So, katana or daito originates from the fact that the first iron swords were brought to Japanese islands in the 2nd half of the 3rd century by Chinese traders from the mainland. This period of Japanese history is called Kofun (lit. “mounds”, III-VI centuries). The kurgan-type graves preserved, although heavily damaged by rust, swords from that period, divided by archaeologists into Japanese, Korean and, most commonly, Chinese designs. Chinese swords had a straight, narrow, single-edged blade with a large ring-shaped pommel on the tang. Japanese examples were shorter, with a wider, straight, double-edged blade and a massive pommel. During the Asuka period (538–710), with the help of Korean and Chinese blacksmiths, Japan began to produce its own iron, and by the 7th century they mastered the technology of forging multilayer steel. Unlike previous samples, forged from a solid iron strip, swords began to be made by forging from iron and steel plates.
At the turn of the 7th-8th centuries. Japanese swords now have a curve. Legend connects the appearance of one of the first such swords with the name of the blacksmith Amakuni (English) from the Yamato province. Amakuni is said to have forged the famous sword Kogarasu-Maru (Little Crow) in 703, and although exact dating is unknown, this sword is considered to be the oldest curved Japanese sword.
At the beginning of the 8th century, as a result of the strengthening of the emperor's power in Japan, the Nara period began (710-794). The production of weapons was placed under the control of a centralized state, and blacksmiths were ordered to sign their products. The purchased swords were stored in imperial warehouses and issued to soldiers for the duration of the war or their service. The development of technology for local hardening of the cutting blade by applying heat-resistant paste to the blade is noted. However, the nobility of the Nara period preferred long straight and curved swords of Chinese and Korean origin, perhaps due to their luxurious jewelry decoration. In Korea, 44 Daito swords ("great swords") were made, which the emperor, over the following centuries, presented to a military leader or dignitary as a symbol of the granted powers for the duration of the campaign.
The fighting qualities of the katana.

The fighting qualities of the best Japanese swords cannot be assessed. Due to their uniqueness and high price testers do not have the opportunity to conduct a test and compare them with best works gunsmiths from other regions of the world. It is necessary to distinguish between the capabilities of the sword for different situations. For example, sharpening a sword for maximum sharpness (for tricks with cutting handkerchiefs in the air) will be unsuitable for cutting through armor. In ancient times and the Middle Ages, legends were spread about the capabilities of weapons that could not be demonstrated in modern times. Below are some legends and facts about the capabilities of the Japanese sword. The swords of the master Monju from the Chikuzen province (Heian period) were incredibly sharp. The sword Higegiri (“Beard Cutter”) was so called because when cutting off a head, it cut off the victim’s beard. Another sword, Hizamaru (“Lord of the Knees”), when executing convicts while sitting on their knees, cut off the head, and in addition, by inertia, cut off the knees. The sword of the master Nagamitsu from the Bizen province (Kamakura period) was called Azuki (bean), because the bean that fell on its blade was cut into two parts. The sword tester Ono Hankei (17th century) cut the barrel of a gun with his sword. During World War II, Japanese soldiers were shown a propaganda film in which a master cuts the barrel of a machine gun. The myth was refuted in the TV show “Mythbusters” - even a robot, whose impact force was many times greater than that of a human, could only bend the barrel of an M2HB machine gun. In 1662, tester Yamano cut two bodies (corpses) laid one on top of the other with a Shinto sword. This was not considered a unique finding.
Modern assessment of Japanese swords.

After the surrender of Japan in World War II, the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition issued an order to destroy all Japanese swords, but after the intervention of experts, in order to preserve historical relics of significant artistic value, the order was changed. The “Society for the Preservation of Artistic Japanese Swords” Nippon Bujutsu To:ken Hozon Kyo:kai was created), one of its tasks was expert review historical value sword. In 1950, Japan passed the Law on Cultural Heritage, which, in particular, determined the procedure for preserving Japanese swords as part of the cultural heritage of the nation.
The sword evaluation system is multi-stage, starting with the assignment of the lowest category and ending with the awarding of the highest titles (the top two titles are under the purview of the Japanese Ministry of Culture):

National Treasure (kokuho). About 122 swords have the title, mostly tachi from the Kamakura period, katana and wakizashi in this list are less than 2 dozen.

Important cultural property. About 880 swords have the title.

A particularly important sword.

An important sword.

A particularly guarded sword.

Guarded sword.
In modern Japan, it is possible to keep a registered sword with only one of the above titles, otherwise the sword is subject to confiscation as a type of weapon (unless it is classified as a souvenir). The actual quality of the sword is certified by the Society for the Preservation of Artistic Japanese Swords (NBTHK), which issues an expert opinion according to the established standard. Currently in Japan, it is customary to evaluate a Japanese sword not so much by its combat parameters (strength, cutting ability), but by criteria applicable to a work of art. A high-quality sword, while maintaining the properties of an effective weapon, should provide aesthetic pleasure to the observer, have perfection of form and harmony of artistic taste.