Cold Steel Japanese-Swords are Battle Swords

by Y.F.
(Michigan)

I have read other people's opinions on this website, and feel inclined to include my own. My background: I have been training in Japanese martial arts for 25 years, spending 7 of those years living in Japan, training with some of the best instructors in my art.

I speak, read, and write Japanese, not native-level, but not too far away either. I am not an expert, but I have handled about 200+ authentic Japanese swords, dating back from modern times, to several hundred years ago. I have visually inspected (not handled) several hundred more, again dating from several hundred years ago, to today (mostly in Japanese museums and private collections). It is somewhat of a passion of mine, and I have been lucky enough to meet many people and organizations with good sized collections.

I own a few Cold Steel Japanese-style swords. (I only say "Japanese-style" because they are not made in Japan, nor are they made using established Japanese manufacturing sword processes, but this also describes 99% of the manufacturers out there.) Cold Steel also doesn't claim to do this, and I don't have a problem with their swords not being authetic. If I did, I would shell out the $25,000 for a gendaito ("modern" Japanese sword) made by a well-known Japanese swordsmith. My goal was to get a Japanese-style sword for self-defense training (specifically swords I can use for my martial art training), and ideally would be able to trust if I had to use one in an actual fight, as a worse-case scenario. Not that I see that as a significant (or desirable) possibility, but slight as the chance is, a sword that I have confidence to use in actual combat would be ideal, from my individual perspective.

The styles of Japanese sword blades have changed dramatically over the past several hundred years, but putting aside particular schools and other aesthetics, it is important to understand that most of the swords we see today are from within the past 3-400 years. In other words, most of the swords we see are from the time period in Japan when wars were no longer being waged with swords anymore. In fact, excluding some "skirmishes", war within Japan was over by 1600, the beginning of the Tokugawa shogunate. This is the beginning of when the use of swords began changing focus from martial necessity, to ceremonial uses. Slowly, martial traditions began to become focused less on fighting skillsets, and more on character refinement and sporting contests. This was exacerbated with the Meiji Restoration in the late 1800's. Unfortunately, most of the "traditional" sword schools in Japan trace the majority of their influence from this period as well. Being able to cut a soaked, rolled-up tatami mat became more important than surviving a battle that would never happen, and swords became thinner and lighter. Thus better able to develop the speed that so greatly helps deliver lethal strikes to tatami mats, or impress people with the speed of their drawstroke during iaijutsu practice. Kinetic energy is equal to one half the mass multiplied by the square of it's speed; lighten the sword, gain more speed, get significantly more kinetic energy delivered to your wet tatami mat. Lose the integrity needed for combat, but since the last person who made a battle sword died about 400 years ago, not too many people around today have that knowledge...

Many of the swords I have examined from the past 1-400 years have very thin blades, with small girths, that many people seem to believe are representative of all Japanese swords. Going back farther than this, to the Sengoku Jidai (Warring States Period), the blades tend to be much thicker, though many of the girths seem to still be somewhat "thin". When you speak to experts, they quickly point out that these swords that are still in existence, have been around for several hundred years, and almost always have been carried (and used) by several generations. After countless sharpening and polishing operations over two, three, or even four hundred years (before being put away for good after the Meiji restoration), many of the blades have been refitted at least once or twice, and the size of blade we see now is rarely representative of the original design. When you are able to see a true sword designed for battle that is more than 400 years old and in original condition (original fittings), it is a very rare thing, but it has a heft and feel to it that is hard to describe. The blades that modern Iiaido and most Kenjutsu practitioners use today are not comparable. Deadly and dangerous as they are, they are not designed to withstand the rigors and demands of a Warring States Period combat battlefield. The closest thing I have seen today to the battlefield swords of Japan from the Sengoku Jidai (Warring States Period) are the Cold Steel Japanese-style swords.

As I said earlier, I am not a Japanese sword expert, but I have been lucky enough to meet several of them over the past 25 years of my training and study. My focus has been to own a Japanese-style sword that I can train with, and ideally have the confidence to use to defend my life if I had to. That's why I own 4 Cold Steel Japanese-style swords, and I use them regularly for my training. I bought them at Cold Steel's tables at the Crossroad of the West gunshow in AZ a few years ago at very good prices, and was able to meet the owner, Lynn Thompson. I found him to be a very sincere and enthusiastic person, deeply dedicated to putting out only quality products. I personally trust Cold Steel, and show it by carrying their products every day.