Practice Swords

If you're looking for something with the weight and feel of a real samurai sword, but don't want to risk cutting your ears off while practicing, you can either by a bokken (wooden sword) or an Iaido sword (a real, steel sword, but not sharpened). For beginners, a cheap bokken is plenty of sword to handle.

After you're comfortable wielding a bokken, it may be time to invest in a nice Iaido sword. This way you can get the feel of how a live sword would handle. Plus, you can practice drawing techniques with relative safety, and look really cool doing it!


Functional Swords

A functional Japanese sword that can actually cut stuff and not break is probably what you're really after. If so, this is where things get interesting. You'll need a sword that is tough enough to take some abuse, while maintaining the qualities of a well-crafted work of art. And on top of that, you don't want to spend 1,000s of dollars to get what you want.

Good news is, there are plenty of great swords in the £200-£700 range. Anything below £200 probably falls into the decorative sword category (and I wouldn't swing one of these things around if my life depended on it).


Decorative Swords

There's absolutely nothing wrong with owning a beautifully made samurai sword and simply admiring it on display on your wall or in a case. Don't let the die-hards discourage you by telling you it's not a "real" sword.

Yeah, 95% of the "wall-hangers" as they're called, couldn't cut through butter on a hot day. In fact, most wall-hangers would break if you just looked at them the wrong way. But the 5% of "real" decorative swords hanging on display somewhere are the real-deal.




he katana is a type of Japanese sword, also commonly referred to as a "samurai sword", and generally defined as the standard size moderately curved (as opposed to the older "tachi" style featuring more curvature) Japanese sword with a blade length of greater than 60 cm (23.6 inches).
The katana is characterized by its distinctive appearance: a curved, slender, single edged blade, circular or squared guard, and long grip to accommodate two hands. It has historically been associated with the samurai of feudal Japan, and has become renowned for its sharpness and cutting ability.