Today I met this this guy while attending Easter church service with my family. He needed gas and money for food (or dope) and I could tell he was tweaked out the game. He lived in his car and brought out this sword from the backseat and offered to sell it to me. He told me to try it out and we cut some water bottles in the parking lot of the church until our pastor told us to please stop. It is actually very sharp and weighs like what the weight of a non-ornamental sword would be. He sold it to me for $25 (he originally wanted $45 but I talked him down) I don't think it's an authentic katana, but there;s this dude 45 minutes outside of my city who runs a Bladed Weapons store has the experience and tools to actually determine whether it's authentic or just an imitation, but he's charging me $30 to do it because he has to remove the hilt and guard then put it back on. If it's real (which I doubt) then it could be worth some money. If not, then at least it is very sharp and maybe I can learn battojutsu and be like fucking Kenshin or something.
It's imitation. I can tell, using my eyes.
>>84301576That's a nice find.I remember I have a black belt in kendo (jap fencing) i got when i was 6 or 7 haven't touched it in a while though. How heavy is it? You can usually tell since real katanas are surprisingly heavy. There's not really such a thing as a 'real' katana nowadays though just varying degrees of quality.
>>84301585That's what I'm thinking. I'm no expert in swords, but I don't see how some tweaker living in his car got his hands on a katana and sold it for 25 bucks. >>84301588It's pretty heavy though, maybe 2 or 3 pounds. Very solid too. Sharp as fuck. The blade lacks luster but I feel like if someone who knew how to use this cut my head off while I committed seppuku, they could do it quite effortlessly with this blade. Here's a closer look at it.
>>84301576Yeah it's not an authentic katana. You don't just buy one of those off a crackhead outside japan for $25. It's just a piece of steel. Still cool, and the guy might be able to tell you what it's made from and it's quality.But if it actually was real, and possessed my the spirit of some acient samurai I would watch that anime. NEET MC buys sword from crackhead.
>>84301576>>84301616It's hard to tell just by looking at a picture because of the light reflection, but does it have any grooves along the blade? > because he has to remove the hilt and guard then put it back on.He's gonna check whether the swordmaker signed the blade. Does it make a humming sound when you swing it rapidly?
>>84301638Too bad, I was hoping to get haunted by some sexy Onibaba who lost her husband in the Sengoku-era after a warlord required his further service, and then cursed the blade he owned, and anyone form that day on who wields it becomes prone to psychosis, hallucinations, and frequent masturbation. Then I'd have to travel to Japan to return it to the living descendants of the woman so that she can stop haunting/molesting me and then I can eat some okonomiyaki. >>84301643>does it have any grooves along the blade?Not exactly like a groove but it dips slightly before raising again right before the spine or the dull side or whatever its called (The side that Kenshin has backwards)>Does it make a humming sound when you swing it rapidly?I don't know, anon. Besides cutting water bottles and frozen meat I haven't really just swung it rapidly around and I don't know if I should.
>>84301616>It's pretty heavy though, maybe 2 or 3 pounds. Very solid too. Sharp as fuck. The blade lacks luster but I feel like if someone who knew how to use this cut my head off while I committed seppuku, they could do it quite effortlessly with this blade.That's pretty good indicator. Speaking from a function over form perspective,it can probably get the job done, overhead swings are the easiest, its all in the footwork. Sharpness goes quite far though, quality in katanas matter quite alot both might be able to cut your thumb but a very high quality katana can cut through bricks. Doesn't look like it has been taken care of very well. Seppeku is a with a smaller blade.
lmfao, talking a crackhead down to just above half value must take some charismai wonder what other incredibly lucky [or rather, unusual] things have happened to you...
>>84301576If he was willing to give it up for twenty five dollars, it definitely isn't authentic, I would save the money you retained by haggling. Also you should have posted this in /wsr/ or /k/, or /jp/. /r9k/ is too poor for stuff like sword collecting
I probably should've put it in my trunk while driving with it home. I don't think this is illegal though. Plus sometimes I drive through bad hoods.
>>84301679If it is authentic, it was probably stolen and he couldn't pawn it.
>>84301685If you live in the US, it probably wouldn't be that great against someone packing iron.
>>84301694A true master of the blade can knock a bullet out of the air.
>>84301685My grandma used to drive around with this carved club she kept in her car she called her nigger knocker. You should name your sword OP.
>>84301677I almost cut my index finger on it because I tried "prodding" it open with my thumb like how Kenshin does it in Ruroken right before he draws. Kinda like how a samurai "cocks" their weapon. I raised the blade and sheath and it fell back down and almost cut the shit out my index finger. >>84301694>If you live in the US, it probably wouldn't be that great against someone packing ironI know this, anon. I'm not seriously riding around with a katana for protection. I was just too lazy to pop the trunk.
>>84301698watch out anon, If you're two good, you'll just cut it in half and both halves will hit you
>>84301708That's why you use the flat of the blade.
This you?>>>/k/65050069Apparently ex-7th SFG. Likely a stolen valor case. I find it hard to believe someone this fucking stupid could make it past selection.
IN MY OOOOOOWN DOOOH JOOOOOH
>>84301576You must master the blade OP and become the Jew Slayer. The crackhead has chosen you.
>>84301722Dubs confirm. This is your destiny.
>>84301678He posted this in /k/ but at the end of a thread he made. He's apparently ex-US special forces and works a minimum wage job and lives with his parents and is too retarded to know what to use the GI bill for. Then at the end of the thread he posts that some crackhead sold him a katana on Easter outside of church, and that it's a sign from god to take a weaboo college course since it happened after church.
>>84301720>I find it hard to believe someone this fucking stupid could make it past selection.It sounds believable. I'm not SF, but was in Army 88M and know a lot of 18 series boys and he does describe a lot of things pretty accurately. Then again could be just well-researched. Didn't seem so much as stupid rather than misguided. A lot of NCOs who joined out of high school tend to be like that. When they're not being given commands their brains go soft. The weaboo thing and the sword being a sign from God was pretty damn stupid, though.
>>84301765>not stupid>almost cuts himself with a sword imitating an anime character
>>84301576I bought a broadsword from a korean guy who ran a hair extension/wig shop for black women. He had it in the window. Next day after i bought it he had another one in the window. All males go through their first-sword phase in their 20s.
>>84301720Car pic is new, so I think it's the same guy.
>>84301765Closest he probably got was 18X which pretty much exists so recruiters can pump up their numbers.
>>84301773Well he's obviously not a genius, that's for sure lol.
>>84301779Wonder if he kept it around for riots. That broadsword might have slain an orc.
>>84301773>almost cuts himself with a sword imitating an anime characterNot the anon you're replying to, but Battoujutsu is a real technique in Japanese swordsmanship. They don't cock their swords though like fictional samurai do or how OP seems to have tried doing, but the techniques all center around attacking and defending rapidly with the starting position being a sheathed sword. Techniques even range from sitting down, sheathed sword adjacent or to the side or even behind you. Battoujutsu techniques became a favorite of assassins during the Bakumatsu. The real-life historical figure which Rurouni Kenshin is based on favored it.
Im so pissed i never bought one of the full size FF7 buster swords that i would see at every flea market sword vendor in the early 2010s. When i finally decided to get one, all i found were scaled down ones the length of a regular sword.
>>84301804Just to further add, this is what Battoujutsu actually looked like. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFoN83UvH1wBattoujutsu is not a martial art exactly, but rather a collection of techniques which share the component of rapidly drawing a sheathed sword to attack/defend. It's essentially a fast "combat" version of Iaido. Iaido is just sword-drawing kata, and done slowly and gracefully. There were a handful of swordsmanship schools in Japan taught battou-jutsu, and it was originally intended as a defense against a sudden attack. This samurai named Kawakami Gensai (known as Hitokiri Gensai or Gensai the Manslayer) popularized its use in assassinations. He was supposedly not very good at conventional swordsmanship, like duels and whatnot. So he specializes exclusively in battoujutsu and worked for the Ishin Shishi ambushing people in assassinations. He was known just for just walking up to people then suddenly drawing and cutting them down. He'd do this in broad daylight. The only modern swordsmanship school that teaches Battoujutsu in any extent to this day is Tenshinryu Hyouho.>t. kendoka/kenshi who obsessively researches Japanese history and swordsmanshipAlso btw it's actually impossible to tell in person if OP's katana is real. There's no criteria or trademark version of a katana and while a similar shape is common among katana-type blades, slight details vary.
>>84301862>impossible to tell in person I mean impossible to tell unless in person, my apologies. Katana can both be smooth and possess grooves designed to make it lighter. While the plan to remove the tsuka/tsuba to see the tang, not all katana are signed by their makers, with usually only reputable swords makers doing that.OP. Battoujutsu is a very difficult technique. Do not attempt it with an edged katana, please. It is very easy to hurt yourself because there are many factors involved in unsheathing a sword quickly and simultaneously attacking all in one fluid movement. Every little movement can make it break it. Very advanced kenjutsu.
>>84301720>I find it hard to believe someone this fucking stupid could make it past selection.Its not that hard, you just need to pass out in a corner while someone carries you and kills all the low ranking demons for you. There's only like 2 demons that will fuck you over. Worked for Giyu.
>>84301862Yeah but should be able to tell if it was actually made by a craftsman or stamped piece of cheap steel in a factory right? Like there are a ton of imitation swords that aren't even full tang and just made to hang on a wall. Most western "swords" are the latter type, like the junk you find at the flea market.
>>84301862>video has music from Rurouni Kenshinkek. So it's essentially like a quick-draw gunslinger, but for a sword. Pretty based. Did Kawakami Gensai also start regretting his killings and become a wandering vagrant who swore never to kill again?
>>84301889Yes, even with a lack of the signature or "Mei" a katana's authenticity can be determined by the way the tang is shaped. If we're considering "authentic" katanas to be those made exclusively in Japan, then usually those tangs are secured to the Tsuka by use of bamboo pegs with vary in number. Tbqh there are high-quality imitation or "western" katanas and low-quality authentic Japanese ones. The high-quality Japanese ones are unmatched, however. The perfect sword for horizontal cutting imo. Another indicator I've noticed is that nihonto (japanese swords) tend to be more middle and hilt heavy with western or chinese made ones having more prominent tips.
>>84301903No, besides the small-stature, feminine appearance, and favoring of battoujutsu techniques, Kawakami Gensai shares little else in common with his fictional anime counterpart. Gensai had a privileged upbringing as part of a mid-tier/upper mid-tier samurai family and he apparently was kind of a jerk. He lacked skill in conventional kenjutsu, and would frequently lose in duels, and he'd reason that his losses were due to the fact that wooden swords/shinai were "for children," and beneath him. He was part of the Ishin Shishi, which in real-life were political extremists and essentially utilized 19th-century terror tactics such as brutal and public killings and leaving statements by their victims. They even killed a few prominent Americans who were in Japan at the time. The Ishin Shishi's main killers were known as the Four Hitokiri of the Bakumatsu. Hitokiri Gensai was particularly feared since he was a master at battoujutsu, he could be any random samurai who walked by you or sat by you in a public place. The fact that Hitokiri Gensai was small and unthreatening also probably helped. So yeah he was not a humble wanderer but rather a political assassin who specialized in publish ambush slayings. It's hard to say whether he regretted his actions or not before his death.
>>84301989>>84301862So since this is essentially a katana thread or crackhead katana thread, do you have a lot of experience in training or studying Japanese sword fighting? Do the martial arts that the samurai actually utilize still exist today, or is it all a bunch of fags in kimonos and decorative swords LARPing?
>>84301576It's not real you retard, however it's still a great deal for $25. The crackhead must have really needed his fix. Anyway, you're retarded. Enjoy the sword.
>>84302056>do you have a lot of experience in training or studying Japanese sword fighting?I've trained and competed in Kendo and trained in different Kenjutsu schools, and have studied a lot and even taken minor courses in Japanese history, with my focus being on their martial arts. I consider myself pretty knowledgeable of what the actual image of the samurai was like, along with their fighting arts. >Do the martial arts that the samurai actually utilize still exist today, or is it all a bunch of fags in kimonos and decorative swords LARPing?Majority of it is either LARPing and training in schools that never existed in fighting styles that never were a thing like ninjutsu. (Ninjas were never actually a thing and Ninjutsu is a modern creation) The other lesser half of "martial arts" trained were never used not by fuedal samurai but created by Japanese nationalists in the early 20th century. Throughout the history of the ever-evolving samurai caste, they were really opportunistic and used whatever weapons and tactics helped them win. The concept of "bushido" was nothing really like being noble and chivalrous and was mostly about being badass and brave on the battlefield and killing enemies. The 1-on-1 duel, which really started becoming a thing in the early Tokugawa era, probably found its origins in the recorded traditions of mid or high ranking samurai sometimes calling out a rival samurai by loudly announcing who they were and loudly issue a challenge right in the middle of a battle. They'd use full names and titles and who they were vassal to and all that. Then they'd fight and the winner would often collect the losers' head. Pre-Tokugawa samurai really liked collecting heads and would even display the heads in their households. While samurai are culturally known as swordsmen, they really used whatever weapon got the job done. Early samurai, before the development of the more modern nihonto/katana were primarily cavalry archers. cont.
>>84301576no katanas are authentic but if it's spring steel and full tang (the blade and handle are one piece of metal) you got a good deal
>>84301638they still make katanas in japan>>84301576it's not realcool toy though
>>84302156cont. Their association as swordsmen probably started during the Muromachi era when the wearing of two-swords "taisho" became essentially the symbol of the samurai caste and only samurai could wear swords like that. In combat they'd fight with any weapon that suited them and were not just strictly swordsman or even specialized in swordsmanship at all. However, according to records by foreign sources who have encountered the samurai during these time periods, their swords were known for being very sharp. Mongol, Goryeo, and Yuan sources all cite the sharpness of japanese swords. This probably helped add to the samurai's fondness for collecting heads. Sengoku-era Samurai became gunners and riflemen. The main weapon on Sengoku era battlefields were guns and lances/spears. Even Miyamoto Musashi, who is famously depicted as a swordsman, kind of used whatever weapon he could, and recorded duels have him fighting with oars, wooden swords, two swords, one sword, spears or even by throwing sand or dirt in his opponents eyes. The peacefulness of the Tokugawa era offered more specialization and also kind of allowed the samurai class to "chill out" for lack of a better term and become more culturally adept rather than just being ooga booga warrior clans fighting for dominance. This is believed to be the time period where intricate 1-on-1 duels became common, the issues of challenges (with origins in the battlefield calling out) were staples and the focus in martial arts aptitude and education became really high. Samurai became sort of "snotty" in this period and also samurai can be anyone related to samurai like grandma, kids etc. It was a social class more than a warrior "position" or job. The closest you can get to fighting how the samurai fought is judo, kendo, or kyudo. You will not get good at fighting without full-contact live sparring. All modern Judo did to jujutsu is remove the weapons/armor element, (there's little evidence of much striking) cont.
People really go to church and buy swords off crackheads, huh
>>84302194Kendo is the closest you can get to combat-tested kenjutsu. Yes, it's a combat sport. But I guarantee that any dan-ranked kendoka would smash someone who only trained in the few remaining actual kenjutsu schools. Using shinai, bokken, or real swords if they didn't care about serious injury death. In Tokugawa, 1 on 1 sparring also was kind of ritualized, and would be conducted with bokken and usually wearing no armor. Because of no protection, and samurai utilizing full-power strikes, a lot of broken wrists or smashed clavicles were probably common and injuries with symptoms mirroring things like that are recorded. Pre-kendo like protective armor and shinai were also used but by the mid to late Tokugawa, if you wanted to issue a challenge, it would be done using bokken and wearing no armor, unless you really don't like each other, wherein samurai could legally kill each other (and non-samurai too) at will for shit like bumping swords while walking past each other. There are a few legit schools still around, all in Japan. Tenshinryu Hyouho is one of them and they are great, though if you just train Tenshinryuhyouho you're not gonna learn to fight with a sword in actual combat and since there are no more fuedal lords having beefs or samurai dueling each other to death, you'll have to learn a combat sport like kendo to fully apply techniques in a live-fight. Battojutsu is really amazing but useless to know in this day and age. in a combat sense. If you ever come across a scenario where you must assassinate or defend from assassination someone with a sword, I'll be very surprised. Japanese nationalists and modern culture really mythologizes the samurai. They were ooga booga war tribes to snotty and violent ruling class. "honor" just meant not disobeying your lord and "bushido" as a concept wasn't called that and went from being really violent and successful on the battlefield to being really focused and skillful in Tokugawa
Based knower anon
>>84302194>Miyamoto MusashiDidn't he create his own sword style or is that myth as well?
>>84302294Musashi's Niten Ichi-ryu is actually more of his combat philosophy and life application than an actual kenjutsu system. Kind of like how Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do often gets confused for being a martial art when its really Lee's fighting philosophy as well. Anyways, let me tell you about Musashi. Now there's several accounts of his conflict with the Yoshioka school, but the most realistic historical account goes something along the lines like this...Musashi challenges Yoshiaka Seijiro, heir of the school and defeats him. They fight with wooden swords and apparently the fight is recorded as being in one blow. Seijiro retires from swordplay and becomes a monk. Seijiro's brother, Denshichiro challenges Musashi for his brother's honor. They fight with wooden swords. Musashi (who is described in records as being a physically large and strong individual) snatches away Denshichiro's wooden sword and beats him to death with a few blows or one, records vary, but he kills him after disarming him. The Yoshioka school, in response to such a brutal killing, go after Mushashi with swords, guns, bows, spears, you name it. Musashi's legend likes to depict this as a single brawl where he skillfully kills all of them with his two-sword style. In reality, it probably occurred over maybe a few or several days, with records stating that after the first failed attempt on Musashi's life, he began systematically ambushing them at night. It's actually likely that he didn't kill them all, but he killed a majority or most of them. In revenge for getting ambushed, Musashi goes and kills the remaining heir of the Yoshioka school, who is a child.
>>84302338>based musashi killing a kid
