[BLACK PANTA]

http://www.bugei.com/tenthings.html

from Bugei.com

[MrPeabody]

I wanna pick one up when i'm teaching in Japan.

[zefff]

Here is my 10 things to consider (Answer each one honestly then proceed):

1) Why do you want it?

2) Why do you really want it?

3) Can you use it?

4) Could you really use it for practice?

5) Do you live with your parents or alone?

6)Do you find yourself regularly excluded from groups and have you ever been called a weirdo by your peers?

7) Do you have a counsellor, probation officer, psychologist or social worker?

Have you taught yourself to use nuchuku at any time in your life?

9) Do you eat, sleep and breathe martial arts and have a bruce lee poster on our wall?

10) Do you make a "WAAAAATAHHHH!!!" sound twice a day and carry a pained expression or furrowed brow for no rational reason whatsoever?

answers:

1-5 = please be responsible and do not practice in the livingroom next to expensive ornaments and electrical goods.

5-10 = why not save money and order the 'rickety bamboo baby cart' with flip-out spears and darts. Those assasins intent on your demise wont know what hit em! Go on, listen to the voices in your head and order today!

[nbotary]

Zefff - I think I'm a combination of all ten...

[Iron Knuckles]

LOL zefff.. thanks for the laugh and the reality check.

[NathanRahl]

Originally Posted by zefff

Here is my 10 things to consider (Answer each one honestly then proceed):

1) Why do you want it?

2) Why do you really want it?

3) Can you use it?

4) Could you really use it for practice?

5) Do you live with your parents or alone?

6)Do you find yourself regularly excluded from groups and have you ever been called a weirdo by your peers?


10 things to consider in practical real world terms, here you go.


1. First, what kind of steel is it, this is rather important actually.

2. Will doe's it have a full tang, a push tang, or a rat tail. Is it penned, how is it held together.

3. What will you be using it for. Cutting siolids, cutting air, what exactly?

4. Do all the parts fit aolidly together, no rattle.

5. Does the blade fit securely into the scabbrd, without excess rattle.

6. Is the blade able to pass several flex tests without staying bent, this tells you if it is heat treated properly or not, very important.

7. What is the grip made out of, hardwood or soft. Avoid hard wood, doe's not absorb vibration nearly as well as a softer wood.

8. Edge angle. How sharp is this sword, and what kind of edge angle does it have. Is it heavily beveled, or not at all, or somewhere in between. This will greatly effect both the sound as well as the overal cutting of the sword, so pay careful attention to this. If it is not beveled at all, like many Japanese swords are, your not resharpening it yourself, so keep things like this in mind.

9. Blade length, and over all length. Is the sword too long for you. If you can not hold it parallel to the floor without the point clearing it by at least two inches, then the blade along is too long. Some people say one inch is enough, until they see sparks flying from where it scraped along concrete. Two to three inches.

10. Look at the blades balance, is it suitable for cutting, and for what you will be doing? Typically 5 inches is a good balance point for cutting. Lower, down to 4, is also acceptable. Any lower and it's cutting abilty decreases really. How doe's the blade feel, this is important, looks are largely irrelevant.

11. Weight. Most people use a sword far too heavy. Weight is one of the major things with a sword that throw off ones technique and control. too many think it is macho to use a big swod, and kep trying and trying to master a blade, even though it may be far too heavy. Lighter is better, to a point. That point being as long as it has enough meat to it to stand up to cutting bone, and meeting other steel, if necessary.

There are actually more categories I could list, however I wil leave it at 11. Basically chosing a good sword includes many factors, so you shoudl not take it lightly, or do it quickly. Take care.






7) Do you have a counsellor, probation officer, psychologist or social worker?

Have you taught yourself to use nuchuku at any time in your life?

9) Do you eat, sleep and breathe martial arts and have a bruce lee poster on our wall?

10) Do you make a "WAAAAATAHHHH!!!" sound twice a day and carry a pained expression or furrowed brow for no rational reason whatsoever?

answers:

1-5 = please be responsible and do not practice in the livingroom next to expensive ornaments and electrical goods.

5-10 = why not save money and order the 'rickety bamboo baby cart' with flip-out spears and darts. Those assasins intent on your demise wont know what hit em! Go on, listen to the voices in your head and order today!

[NathanRahl]

10 things to consider in practical real world terms, here you go.


1. First, what kind of steel is it, this is rather important actually.

2. Doe's it have a full tang, a push tang, or a rat tail. Is it pinned, how exactly is it held together?

3. What will you be using it for? Cutting solids, cutting air, what exactly?

4. Do all the parts fit solidly together, with no rattle?

5. Does the blade fit securely into the scabbard, without excess rattle?

6. Is the blade able to pass several flex tests without staying bent, this tells you if it is heat treated properly or not, very important.

7. What is the grip made out of, hardwood or soft. Avoid hard wood, doe's not absorb vibration nearly as well as a softer wood.

8. Edge angle? How sharp is this sword, and what kind of edge angle does it have? Is it heavily beveled, or not at all, or somewhere in between. This will greatly effect both the sound as well as the overall cutting of the sword, so pay careful attention to this. If it is not beveled at all, like many Japanese swords, your not resharpening it yourself, so keep things like this in mind.

9. Blade length, and over all length. Is the sword too long for you. If you can not hold it parallel to the floor without the point clearing it by at least two inches, then the blade is too long. Some people say one inch is enough, until they see sparks flying from where it scraped along concrete. Two to three inches.

10. Look at the blades balance, is it suitable for cutting, and for what you will be doing? Typically 5 inches is a good balance point for cutting. Lower, down to 4, is also acceptable. Any lower and it's cutting ability decreases really. How doe's the blade feel, this is important, looks are largely irrelevant.

11. Weight. Most people use a sword far too heavy. Weight is one of the major things with a sword that throws off ones technique and control. Too many think it is macho to use a big or heavy sword, and keep trying and trying to master a blade, even though it may be far too heavy for them. Lighter is better, to a point. That point being as long as it has enough meat to it to stand up to cutting bone, and meeting other steel, if necessary.

The Japanese swords, being very thick, are often used as a model for how thick a sword should be. This is rather misleading. Japanese swords were so thick more so they could be repolished many more times before they were useless, then for any real practicality. 1/4 to 5/16 of an inch at the base were not uncommon, nd many did not taper very much, both in thickness or width. 3/16 as a sworss thickness is actually acceptable, as long as it is the right steel and made expertly, which is hard to find cheap. Honestly it is hard to find period. Yes thicker at the base can be fine, but most smiths just don't taper it enough from base to point to give it acceptable weight and balance, it's a shame. Many smiths fancy themselves swordsman, and think they know what a swordsman needs, truth is they are just wannabes. They often don't know what a swordsman really needs, they are sword makers, not realy sword users. This is another reason why it is so hard to find swords with grips that are not super thick, or thin, or properly balanced. *Sigh*

There are actually more categories I could list, however I wil leave it at 11. Basically chosing a good sword includes many factors, so you should not take it lightly, or do it quickly. Take care.

[Robert_RedBeard]

I just bought a new Bud K Katana.

Because I like to chop some pumpkins in the fall and watermelon in the summer.

We have a watermelon chop on the 4th of July. Then a Pumkin Chop the weekend after Halloween.

We also wet down cardboard and roll it up. This has worked okay for cutting.

I do it because it is fun. I have no delusions of being a swordsman.

I could take most idiots that picked up a bokken but little else. So I stick to my faithful adivisaries the pumpkin and watermelon.

[NathanRahl]

Originally Posted by Robert_RedBeard

I just bought a new Bud K Katana.

Because I like to chop some pumpkins in the fall and watermelon in the summer.

We have a watermelon chop on the 4th of July. Then a Pumkin Chop the weekend after Halloween.

We also wet down cardboard and roll it up. This has worked okay for cutting.

I do it because it is fun. I have no delusions of being a swordsman.

I could take most idiots that picked up a bokken but little else. So I stick to my faithful adivisaries the pumpkin and watermelon.

Yikes, which Katana did you buy. I am very familiar with Bud K. Most of what they sell is Junk, thought they have started to carry some higher end blades made by cold steel, and some other as of yet unkwown Chinese smiths. Well, unknown to most. Cutting pumpkins though is a low enough risk activity, however many of their katana's could not handle it. It is good that you could take most idiots with your Boken, though idiots provide little challenge. Hope that Bud K works out for you, was it a higher end or lower end commercial piece?

[Robert_RedBeard]

Originally Posted by NathanRahl

Yikes, which Katana did you buy. I am very familiar with Bud K. Most of what they sell is Junk, thought they have started to carry some higher end blades made by cold steel, and some other as of yet unkwown Chinese smiths. Well, unknown to most. Cutting pumpkins though is a low enough risk activity, however many of their katana's could not handle it. It is good that you could take most idiots with your Boken, though idiots provide little challenge. Hope that Bud K works out for you, was it a higher end or lower end commercial piece?

So far I have 2 Bud K Swords.

The Full Tang Katana: It was in some ugly shape. Bad edge and the hendle was very slick. Plus the Scabbard sucked.

I have had the Full Tang for many years now. Bought it for $50.

I spent a week hand sharpening it and making a new scabbard. I also burned a checker pattern into the handle as well as modify the tip.

The New one:

Item # BK1100 $80

3/4 tang.
Very Sharp
Traditional katana shaped blade.

I haven't taken it apart yet to check it out. So I am not sure about the shape of the tang. It does feel a little loose. But that is nothing a little taking it apart and fitting it better won't do.

My first Martial Art was Robert Bussey's Ninjutsu. I don't think he even calls it Ninjutsu anymore. I learned the wonderful skill of tinkering to make things better from my teacher.

So far I am imoressed with the Full Tang Katana. I have cut many pumpkin and watermelon. As well as about wrist sized trees and bicep sized rolls of damp cardboard. I use it as a machete when we are clearing out brush at the range.

P.S.

My Full Tang has bitten many a fool. People that have thought they could handle it after my many warnings of how sharp it was. One guy just grabbed the thing and started flipping it around.

He lost it in mid swing and then tried to catch it by the blade. Messed his hand up.

Another fool about gutted me when she grabbed it all the sudden and swung at a pumpkin. Almost got me with the follow through. Luck that I am fast. If I hadn't moved it would have gutted me. It missed so close that I wasn't sure it missed.

Many moons ago I stabbed myself in the back. That was real funny. LOL