Practical Pro Katana, detail review, tons of pics and video
Dec 11, 2011 3:15:26 GMT
Post by guest123 on Dec 11, 2011 3:15:26 GMT
Introduction
This was the first sword I fell in love with. The reasons where very simple:
1. It was one of the largest Japanese swords I could possibly acquire at that time. The Raptor series had just hit the market and the Nanbochuko appealed to me right from the start but it was a bit late – I had my eye allready set on the Practical Pro for some time.
2. The shape (suhgata) of the sword has that special something... More on that to come in historical overview and later in the review but for now let's just say it has tons of personality and "specialness" about it... The whole package of fittings looked very cool - simple, functional and elegant, and because I am quite tall I was looking for a bigger (12+ inch) tsuka - which is hard to find in this price range (this was a bit of a overkill in that department .
3. It was advertised as a sturdy built heavy cutter with full on blade meat (niku) and I was looking for a durable sword for some serious cutting action.
Between the ordering of the sword from England and the arrival of the sword to Serbia was a 2 year period (and that has nothing to do with the vendor, with which I have only positive experience)... : | yea, I don't want to talk about it... unless there is a certified psychotherapist here . It ended with me giving to the customs people a signed and certified statement from a certified kendo and iaido club that I am a member and that I need this sword for training (all generally true btw.) and that this sword is not actually a weapon (generally not true ).
Historical overview
The Sugata (over all shape) of this particular sword is one of the earliest in curved type swords that made Japanese swords so distinctive and famous.
The exact process of the curved sword’s creation is not yet clearly established, but it is generally accepted that the blade shape reached its final state around the middle of the Heian period (794 ~ 1185). Swords made prior to then are called Jô-kotô - pre Koto (Koto time started in about 980 and lasted till 1570), and their straight shape was inherited from the Asian continent where the Japanese sword has its origin.
What made the newly created curved swords of Latter half of the Heian Period (794 ~ 1185) to the early Kamakura Period (1185 ~ 1333) distinct from others is that they had a pronounced tapering towards the tip, and as a result the kissaki was wary small. This tapering is more pronounced than any other of the later design. The average length of swords at that time was about 75 ~ 78 cm. See picture. This type of sugata is sometimes described as "femininely" elegant.
In the Middle of the Kamakura Period (1158 ~ 1333), the sword style changed from the “feminine” elegant tapered shape to the powerful “masculine” with less tapering, but near the end of Kamakura Period there was a kind of comeback of the late Heian and / or early Kamakura’s slender structure.
Source: The Beauty of the Japanese Sword, History and Traditional Technology by Michihiro Tanobe, Senior Managing Director, Nippon Bijutsu Tôken Hozon Kyôkai,The Japanese Sword Museum
The running waves type of the hamon (notare) has been used from the late Kamamura period to present day, but ko-notare - small running waves was seen in earlier periods as a part of some hamons.
Source: www.ricecracker.com/info/hamon.htm
This is where I see the sugata of the Practical Pro adds-up - in Latter half of the Heian - early Kamakura Period, or in a comeback of this geometry in late Kamakura. In any case I think this is a very nice example of the earliest form of curved Japanese sword.
The long tsuka on a Japanese sword is a bit of a controversial subject - some say that it is as traditional as a shorter one and adds functionality, some do not... for what is worth I personally like it on this sword – more on that later.
The things that make this sword historically in-accurate are:
- the use of a plastic imitation of ray skin (samegawa) – which is my biggest complain,
- tsuka wrap cord (tsuka ito) made from synthetic leather , which is not so bad actually, and the lack of hishigami (paper triangles) in the wrap,
- it is constructed from 1060 steel which was not available at the time.
Full Disclosure
I got this sword with price match discount, which the vendor was clearly advertising as a ”best price promise” on theknightshop.co.uk . I am in no way related to them or to the sword manufacturer Hanwei and have no obligations or biases on that behalf.
This is the second Japanese type sword in my collection, but first of a katana type. Prior to this one, I have seen four katanas in person, one of them was Cheness, handled three of them, and did cutting exercises with two of them.
Initial Impressions
The guys I ordered it from, theknightshop.co.uk , where professional, delivered the sword in 2-5 business days to the designated address in UK and I even got a discount due to "price match" they advertised - they sold the sword for 225 pounds, I found it for 175 as I recall in the catalog of another British seller, told them, they checked it out and offered to price match.
Unfortunately the sword does not come with the box. On the cardboard there were a couple of big Hanwei logos and text "Hanwei Fantasy Katana" in big lettering... Talking about a mood crusher - I really do not need the word "Fantasy" on my (almost) traditionally made katana ... Anyway, when you first see this sword in person the only word that comes to mind is - "impressive!" The whole package looks nicely balanced as the size goes and it looks impressive and huge, but not ridiculously so - it still looks like a weapon that you would carry to war. And it felt quite heavy - not unbalanced, just heavy.
The blade surprised me a bit when I saw it for the first time in person - it is quite big at the base but as you go down the blade, it gets really elegant and slick... Even my waki looks a bit big and blocky in the upper part compared to it.
Statistics
Blade/Nagasa Length: 74cm ~ 29.13inch (from habaki)
Handle/Tsuka Length: 38cm ~ 15inch
Curvature/Sori: 1.6cm
Width at hamacki: 3cm
-> mune: 8mm
Width at yokote: 2.1cm
-> mune: 3mm ; between shinogi-s - around 5mm
Overall Length: 115cm ~ 45.25inch
Guard/Tsuba Width: 9cm x 5.5cm
POB (Point of Balance): 12cm ~ 4.72inch from tsuba
Weight: about 1350g ~ 2.98 pounds (without saya)
Components
The Blade/Nagasa
As I said in the Historical overview part, nagasa has this elegant tapering - more drastic then you usually see. That gives the sword a very special esthetics and make it look, in my opinion, more elegant then later made katana types.
Sori is a central one - torii-sori.
Nice mirror polish on the shinogiji and satin polish below the shinogi. Kind a nice combination for a cutting sword cause you see less scratch marks from cutting and still have a fancy mirror polish part. It would be even better that shinogi was a bit higher - for better protection of that mirror polish... The shinogi looks quite crispy because of the difference in polishes.
Running waves style hamon (notare) with a nice bit of irregularity in amplitudes and a typical Hanwei frosty etching - you can see a bit of activity on the edge of it but it's mostly covered by the frosting. There are some interesting anomalies above the hamon in couple of places. You can see them in the pictures...
Very nice and historically accurate sharpening - sturdy edge with niku that can just cut through paper cleanly enough.
Mune is two sided (iori-mune). If you want to nitpick, you could say it is not that crispy and near the kissaki it almost looks like it's rounded (maru-mune). Not sure if this is on purpose...
The ko- kissaki (small kissaki) looks very nice , and it is the best made kissaki I have seen in a long time. Miles in front of the one on my no-name Chinese made wakizashi and the one I have seen on a Cheness blade (the one that I have seen in person). If you look carefully you can see a bit of the sharpening scratches and when you look from the mune side you can see that it is a tiny bit asymmetrical. All in all, I find it quite beautiful and think that it is one of the coolest parts of this sword. You can see that there is allot of craftsmanship and a great sense for the esthetics invested in it.
The mune gets very thin near the yokote - thinner than the shinogi part, and then flares outward into that standard reinforced - rhombus shape in the kissaki part.
Habaki
Very nicely fitted - can't see any gaps. You could even say that it was made for this particular sword. I really like that - nothing worse than badly fitted habaki to ruin the esthetic ;P...There is actually one little problem with it that makes it less than perfect but you need a keen eye or a magnifying glass to see it - it looks like it is presses a bit heavily on the hamachi and that made a little defect in that part.
The Handle/Tsuka
Massive. Broad and long. The shape follows the curve of the sword nicely and has a fair bit of tapering. It feels nice in my big-ish hands.
The synthetic skin wrap is a bit rough on hands but not too bad. The hissigami would make it more comfortable. It looks nice - close to the real dill. It does not feel that tight but it has seen some abuse over a six months period and it has not moved very much - probably because of the stiffness of the material. The end knots look ok.
The fake ray skin is, well, fake... From far away it looks ok... well, this sword really deserves a real one, or at least a functional replacement (the one that Kris Cutlery make). And it deserves a real leather ito.
Menuki looks detailed and nicely molded - looks like couple of oars and a grass basket. Not sure about the material - looks bronze, but feels kind a weird - hope it is not plastic... (*EDIT march 02.12. - after disassemble - they are metal
One of the few quality control problems with this sword is that wood under the kashira looks like it was sculpted by a beaver and does not hold the kashira very tight. It won't fall off unless you pull it with force because ito holds it.
The Guard/Tsuba
Simple, functional, elegant. It was one of the features I first noticed and liked about this sword. Nothing worse than a overly elaborated tsuba that scratches your finger when you use it ;p... I really like this smooth type ones, and the whole tsuba-fuchi-kashira package has this functional simplicity and elegance that is hard to find these days.
The Pommel/Fuchi-Kashira
Simple but elegant – they are not just plane blackened – they have this random type subtle pattern of the metal, and feel nicely and strong in hand.
Fuchi looks very nicely fitted and has a bit of a brownish-reddish tone to it, kashira - badly fitted and has a bit of grayish/steel tone to it.
The Scabbard/Saya
It's nice and fat which goes nicely with the big tsuka. There is a little nick, but maybe I did that - don't remember ... The sword won't fall out of it even if you turn it upside down, but you can pull the sword out nicely. On the down side, it sometimes rattles... second quality control problem, but not a biggie... Sageo is synthetic and of ok quality and neatly tied to the saya.
Handling Characteristics
I feel it has a nice balance for this amount of sword - on SBG it is stated that a katana POB is usually around 5-7inch from the tsuba and this one has 4.72, which is a bit close but it is heavier than average, so that balances it out more or less.
It feels a bit heavy but the more I work with it, the lighter it seems ;P. I can manage it one handed on my good days. Btw. I'm 2m ~ 6.56ft tall and a bit skinny which does not help, but I train with swords and bokkens regularly. I can use it in Iaido with a bit of muscle and a slower speed.
I can see the usefulness of the long tsuka of this sword - the use of leverage helps allot and I can control it / stop it quite crisply, but this tsuka is definitely a few inches too long for a comfortable downward central swings - it stops about three inches from my belly which is manageable but a bit close for comfort. Other than that it is fine - I probably would not shortened it cause of the presence it gives to the sword.
For conclusion - It is not very light and fast but it feels really great to experience the brute force of this sword when it gets into the swing - you feel that it would cut through anything . Especially the kiriage cuts (diagonal, from lower position to the upper position) feel very powerful and natural with it - you can see one of those in the cutting video .
Test Cutting
Just a short video and only plastic bottles... Nothing fancy. Sorry for the bad technique - that was only my first cutting session with this sword, so I was (and still am) experimenting with the balance and size of it. Cutting plastic bottles really feels like an overkill and I do not enjoy it as much as I do with my waki - I'm trying to manage some tatami as we speak. It is not easy to get it from where I live, but this sword deserves it. I enjoyed the kiriage cuts with it and they feel much better than with a lighter swords...
Conclusions
It is one of the best looking swords in this price range. And It is as functional as it gets as the target selection goes - you could take on a bamboo or anything else with it (within reason ) - the construction looks durable and safe, and there is a healthy amount of niku on the blade, but it is not super-sized (except maybe tsuka ;P). The looks makes you proud and you feel safe with its performance in a one-cut-at-a-time type of situation.
If it had a real samegawa and a real leather wrap, this would be such a phenomenal showpiece on top of being functional - it has tons of character... Not in a eccentric, five dragons molded in the tsuba, foot long kissaki, glitter saya kind a way, but in a more subtile, minimalistic elegance, powerful presence and unquestionable functionality kind a way... Great shame really...
Pros
- powerful presence and sturdy geometry
- nicely sharpened blade with niku
- beautiful kissaki
- unusual and rarely used (but traditional) sugata
- differently hardened
- simple but very functional and elegant metal fittings
- nice and detailed menuki
Cons
- *badly fit and cracked tsuka
- fake samegawa
- fake leather ito
- QC problems - rattle in the saya, micro damage on the habaki, loose kashira.
- some will find it difficult to manage - the weight and the long tsuka - I'm ok with it...
The Bottom Line
The big tsuka could make problems for some... Weight also... And I would not recommend it for a simple bottle cutting - there are much better choices for that. And it is not ideal for Iaido like kata. I like it as a kind a beautiful, close to traditionally made sword that I can show off, use for suburi (gaining strength), test my form and technique with and a wicked medium/heavy cutter with traditional geometry.
I would buy it again in a heartbeat (for around 200euro or less). If it had a inch longer blade, inch shorter tsuka, maybe a bit higher shinogi, real leather ito and a full or at least real same wrap... it would be the only sword I would ever buy and use (up to 300~350euro). Like this, it is close and I like it allot.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*EDIT - march 02.2012. - the long overdued disassemble of the tsuka...
The fit was VERY tight and the disassemble was hard... I was careful as I could be - using wood blocks and medium strength taps and it was slow as hell. And soon I found out why... On the plus side, I found out that menuki are metal and habaki fit is crazy good.
The tsuka was hammered on with lots and LOTS of force because the core did not fit... I'm sure that the guy who assemble it knew that it is going to be damaged. You can see on the picture that the nakago is not all the way in but it is already starting to push the cracked back of the tsuka out. Only the fuchi held the whole thing in place.
Rolled my sleeves, filled the cracks with crazy glue, filed the core allot and the nakago a bit, tighten the fuchi fit, did a tighter ito job - allot of work and my fingers are still sore... It should be ok now, but that is just terrible craftsmanship and qc... I had no way of returning the sword, but that was probably the right thing to do in this case.
This was the first sword I fell in love with. The reasons where very simple:
1. It was one of the largest Japanese swords I could possibly acquire at that time. The Raptor series had just hit the market and the Nanbochuko appealed to me right from the start but it was a bit late – I had my eye allready set on the Practical Pro for some time.
2. The shape (suhgata) of the sword has that special something... More on that to come in historical overview and later in the review but for now let's just say it has tons of personality and "specialness" about it... The whole package of fittings looked very cool - simple, functional and elegant, and because I am quite tall I was looking for a bigger (12+ inch) tsuka - which is hard to find in this price range (this was a bit of a overkill in that department .
3. It was advertised as a sturdy built heavy cutter with full on blade meat (niku) and I was looking for a durable sword for some serious cutting action.
Between the ordering of the sword from England and the arrival of the sword to Serbia was a 2 year period (and that has nothing to do with the vendor, with which I have only positive experience)... : | yea, I don't want to talk about it... unless there is a certified psychotherapist here . It ended with me giving to the customs people a signed and certified statement from a certified kendo and iaido club that I am a member and that I need this sword for training (all generally true btw.) and that this sword is not actually a weapon (generally not true ).
Historical overview
The Sugata (over all shape) of this particular sword is one of the earliest in curved type swords that made Japanese swords so distinctive and famous.
The exact process of the curved sword’s creation is not yet clearly established, but it is generally accepted that the blade shape reached its final state around the middle of the Heian period (794 ~ 1185). Swords made prior to then are called Jô-kotô - pre Koto (Koto time started in about 980 and lasted till 1570), and their straight shape was inherited from the Asian continent where the Japanese sword has its origin.
What made the newly created curved swords of Latter half of the Heian Period (794 ~ 1185) to the early Kamakura Period (1185 ~ 1333) distinct from others is that they had a pronounced tapering towards the tip, and as a result the kissaki was wary small. This tapering is more pronounced than any other of the later design. The average length of swords at that time was about 75 ~ 78 cm. See picture. This type of sugata is sometimes described as "femininely" elegant.
In the Middle of the Kamakura Period (1158 ~ 1333), the sword style changed from the “feminine” elegant tapered shape to the powerful “masculine” with less tapering, but near the end of Kamakura Period there was a kind of comeback of the late Heian and / or early Kamakura’s slender structure.
Source: The Beauty of the Japanese Sword, History and Traditional Technology by Michihiro Tanobe, Senior Managing Director, Nippon Bijutsu Tôken Hozon Kyôkai,The Japanese Sword Museum
The running waves type of the hamon (notare) has been used from the late Kamamura period to present day, but ko-notare - small running waves was seen in earlier periods as a part of some hamons.
Source: www.ricecracker.com/info/hamon.htm
This is where I see the sugata of the Practical Pro adds-up - in Latter half of the Heian - early Kamakura Period, or in a comeback of this geometry in late Kamakura. In any case I think this is a very nice example of the earliest form of curved Japanese sword.
The long tsuka on a Japanese sword is a bit of a controversial subject - some say that it is as traditional as a shorter one and adds functionality, some do not... for what is worth I personally like it on this sword – more on that later.
The things that make this sword historically in-accurate are:
- the use of a plastic imitation of ray skin (samegawa) – which is my biggest complain,
- tsuka wrap cord (tsuka ito) made from synthetic leather , which is not so bad actually, and the lack of hishigami (paper triangles) in the wrap,
- it is constructed from 1060 steel which was not available at the time.
Full Disclosure
I got this sword with price match discount, which the vendor was clearly advertising as a ”best price promise” on theknightshop.co.uk . I am in no way related to them or to the sword manufacturer Hanwei and have no obligations or biases on that behalf.
This is the second Japanese type sword in my collection, but first of a katana type. Prior to this one, I have seen four katanas in person, one of them was Cheness, handled three of them, and did cutting exercises with two of them.
Initial Impressions
The guys I ordered it from, theknightshop.co.uk , where professional, delivered the sword in 2-5 business days to the designated address in UK and I even got a discount due to "price match" they advertised - they sold the sword for 225 pounds, I found it for 175 as I recall in the catalog of another British seller, told them, they checked it out and offered to price match.
Unfortunately the sword does not come with the box. On the cardboard there were a couple of big Hanwei logos and text "Hanwei Fantasy Katana" in big lettering... Talking about a mood crusher - I really do not need the word "Fantasy" on my (almost) traditionally made katana ... Anyway, when you first see this sword in person the only word that comes to mind is - "impressive!" The whole package looks nicely balanced as the size goes and it looks impressive and huge, but not ridiculously so - it still looks like a weapon that you would carry to war. And it felt quite heavy - not unbalanced, just heavy.
The blade surprised me a bit when I saw it for the first time in person - it is quite big at the base but as you go down the blade, it gets really elegant and slick... Even my waki looks a bit big and blocky in the upper part compared to it.
Statistics
Blade/Nagasa Length: 74cm ~ 29.13inch (from habaki)
Handle/Tsuka Length: 38cm ~ 15inch
Curvature/Sori: 1.6cm
Width at hamacki: 3cm
-> mune: 8mm
Width at yokote: 2.1cm
-> mune: 3mm ; between shinogi-s - around 5mm
Overall Length: 115cm ~ 45.25inch
Guard/Tsuba Width: 9cm x 5.5cm
POB (Point of Balance): 12cm ~ 4.72inch from tsuba
Weight: about 1350g ~ 2.98 pounds (without saya)
Components
The Blade/Nagasa
As I said in the Historical overview part, nagasa has this elegant tapering - more drastic then you usually see. That gives the sword a very special esthetics and make it look, in my opinion, more elegant then later made katana types.
Sori is a central one - torii-sori.
Nice mirror polish on the shinogiji and satin polish below the shinogi. Kind a nice combination for a cutting sword cause you see less scratch marks from cutting and still have a fancy mirror polish part. It would be even better that shinogi was a bit higher - for better protection of that mirror polish... The shinogi looks quite crispy because of the difference in polishes.
Running waves style hamon (notare) with a nice bit of irregularity in amplitudes and a typical Hanwei frosty etching - you can see a bit of activity on the edge of it but it's mostly covered by the frosting. There are some interesting anomalies above the hamon in couple of places. You can see them in the pictures...
Very nice and historically accurate sharpening - sturdy edge with niku that can just cut through paper cleanly enough.
Mune is two sided (iori-mune). If you want to nitpick, you could say it is not that crispy and near the kissaki it almost looks like it's rounded (maru-mune). Not sure if this is on purpose...
The ko- kissaki (small kissaki) looks very nice , and it is the best made kissaki I have seen in a long time. Miles in front of the one on my no-name Chinese made wakizashi and the one I have seen on a Cheness blade (the one that I have seen in person). If you look carefully you can see a bit of the sharpening scratches and when you look from the mune side you can see that it is a tiny bit asymmetrical. All in all, I find it quite beautiful and think that it is one of the coolest parts of this sword. You can see that there is allot of craftsmanship and a great sense for the esthetics invested in it.
The mune gets very thin near the yokote - thinner than the shinogi part, and then flares outward into that standard reinforced - rhombus shape in the kissaki part.
Habaki
Very nicely fitted - can't see any gaps. You could even say that it was made for this particular sword. I really like that - nothing worse than badly fitted habaki to ruin the esthetic ;P...There is actually one little problem with it that makes it less than perfect but you need a keen eye or a magnifying glass to see it - it looks like it is presses a bit heavily on the hamachi and that made a little defect in that part.
The Handle/Tsuka
Massive. Broad and long. The shape follows the curve of the sword nicely and has a fair bit of tapering. It feels nice in my big-ish hands.
The synthetic skin wrap is a bit rough on hands but not too bad. The hissigami would make it more comfortable. It looks nice - close to the real dill. It does not feel that tight but it has seen some abuse over a six months period and it has not moved very much - probably because of the stiffness of the material. The end knots look ok.
The fake ray skin is, well, fake... From far away it looks ok... well, this sword really deserves a real one, or at least a functional replacement (the one that Kris Cutlery make). And it deserves a real leather ito.
Menuki looks detailed and nicely molded - looks like couple of oars and a grass basket. Not sure about the material - looks bronze, but feels kind a weird - hope it is not plastic... (*EDIT march 02.12. - after disassemble - they are metal
One of the few quality control problems with this sword is that wood under the kashira looks like it was sculpted by a beaver and does not hold the kashira very tight. It won't fall off unless you pull it with force because ito holds it.
The Guard/Tsuba
Simple, functional, elegant. It was one of the features I first noticed and liked about this sword. Nothing worse than a overly elaborated tsuba that scratches your finger when you use it ;p... I really like this smooth type ones, and the whole tsuba-fuchi-kashira package has this functional simplicity and elegance that is hard to find these days.
The Pommel/Fuchi-Kashira
Simple but elegant – they are not just plane blackened – they have this random type subtle pattern of the metal, and feel nicely and strong in hand.
Fuchi looks very nicely fitted and has a bit of a brownish-reddish tone to it, kashira - badly fitted and has a bit of grayish/steel tone to it.
The Scabbard/Saya
It's nice and fat which goes nicely with the big tsuka. There is a little nick, but maybe I did that - don't remember ... The sword won't fall out of it even if you turn it upside down, but you can pull the sword out nicely. On the down side, it sometimes rattles... second quality control problem, but not a biggie... Sageo is synthetic and of ok quality and neatly tied to the saya.
Handling Characteristics
I feel it has a nice balance for this amount of sword - on SBG it is stated that a katana POB is usually around 5-7inch from the tsuba and this one has 4.72, which is a bit close but it is heavier than average, so that balances it out more or less.
It feels a bit heavy but the more I work with it, the lighter it seems ;P. I can manage it one handed on my good days. Btw. I'm 2m ~ 6.56ft tall and a bit skinny which does not help, but I train with swords and bokkens regularly. I can use it in Iaido with a bit of muscle and a slower speed.
I can see the usefulness of the long tsuka of this sword - the use of leverage helps allot and I can control it / stop it quite crisply, but this tsuka is definitely a few inches too long for a comfortable downward central swings - it stops about three inches from my belly which is manageable but a bit close for comfort. Other than that it is fine - I probably would not shortened it cause of the presence it gives to the sword.
For conclusion - It is not very light and fast but it feels really great to experience the brute force of this sword when it gets into the swing - you feel that it would cut through anything . Especially the kiriage cuts (diagonal, from lower position to the upper position) feel very powerful and natural with it - you can see one of those in the cutting video .
Test Cutting
Just a short video and only plastic bottles... Nothing fancy. Sorry for the bad technique - that was only my first cutting session with this sword, so I was (and still am) experimenting with the balance and size of it. Cutting plastic bottles really feels like an overkill and I do not enjoy it as much as I do with my waki - I'm trying to manage some tatami as we speak. It is not easy to get it from where I live, but this sword deserves it. I enjoyed the kiriage cuts with it and they feel much better than with a lighter swords...
Conclusions
It is one of the best looking swords in this price range. And It is as functional as it gets as the target selection goes - you could take on a bamboo or anything else with it (within reason ) - the construction looks durable and safe, and there is a healthy amount of niku on the blade, but it is not super-sized (except maybe tsuka ;P). The looks makes you proud and you feel safe with its performance in a one-cut-at-a-time type of situation.
If it had a real samegawa and a real leather wrap, this would be such a phenomenal showpiece on top of being functional - it has tons of character... Not in a eccentric, five dragons molded in the tsuba, foot long kissaki, glitter saya kind a way, but in a more subtile, minimalistic elegance, powerful presence and unquestionable functionality kind a way... Great shame really...
Pros
- powerful presence and sturdy geometry
- nicely sharpened blade with niku
- beautiful kissaki
- unusual and rarely used (but traditional) sugata
- differently hardened
- simple but very functional and elegant metal fittings
- nice and detailed menuki
Cons
- *badly fit and cracked tsuka
- fake samegawa
- fake leather ito
- QC problems - rattle in the saya, micro damage on the habaki, loose kashira.
- some will find it difficult to manage - the weight and the long tsuka - I'm ok with it...
The Bottom Line
The big tsuka could make problems for some... Weight also... And I would not recommend it for a simple bottle cutting - there are much better choices for that. And it is not ideal for Iaido like kata. I like it as a kind a beautiful, close to traditionally made sword that I can show off, use for suburi (gaining strength), test my form and technique with and a wicked medium/heavy cutter with traditional geometry.
I would buy it again in a heartbeat (for around 200euro or less). If it had a inch longer blade, inch shorter tsuka, maybe a bit higher shinogi, real leather ito and a full or at least real same wrap... it would be the only sword I would ever buy and use (up to 300~350euro). Like this, it is close and I like it allot.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*EDIT - march 02.2012. - the long overdued disassemble of the tsuka...
The fit was VERY tight and the disassemble was hard... I was careful as I could be - using wood blocks and medium strength taps and it was slow as hell. And soon I found out why... On the plus side, I found out that menuki are metal and habaki fit is crazy good.
The tsuka was hammered on with lots and LOTS of force because the core did not fit... I'm sure that the guy who assemble it knew that it is going to be damaged. You can see on the picture that the nakago is not all the way in but it is already starting to push the cracked back of the tsuka out. Only the fuchi held the whole thing in place.
Rolled my sleeves, filled the cracks with crazy glue, filed the core allot and the nakago a bit, tighten the fuchi fit, did a tighter ito job - allot of work and my fingers are still sore... It should be ok now, but that is just terrible craftsmanship and qc... I had no way of returning the sword, but that was probably the right thing to do in this case.