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Comparison between the tangs (nakago) of a katana (left) and tachi (right). The signature (銘, mei) on the tachi tang was inscribed so it was always on the side of the tang facing outward as either sword was worn. With a few exceptions, katana and tachi can be distinguished from each other, if signed, by the location of the signature (mei) on ...
The wakizashi has a blade between 30 and 60 cm (12 and 24 in) in length. [1] Wakizashi close to the length of a katana are called ō-wakizashi and wakizashi closer to tantō length are called ko-wakizashi. [1] Wakizashi are not necessarily just a smaller version of the katana; they could be forged differently and have a different cross-section. [5]
The explanation of the difference between a tachi and a katana makes it sound like a matter of fashion. It was not, it was a change of use driven by social changes. The older swords were intended to by used on horseback in a battlefield. They were long and slung low from the belt so that they could be drawn upwards safely past the horses head.
kōgai (笄) – a skewer for the owner's hair-do, carried in a pocket of the scabbards of katana and wakizashi on the side opposite of the kozuka. [33] [34] kogatana (小刀) – any knife, particularly a small utility knife carried in a pocket of the scabbards of katana and wakizashi. ko-itame-hada (小板目肌) – see itame-hada. [35]
The Musashi Masamune is a tachi, measuring 74 cm (2 korai-shaku, 1 sun, 4.2 bun) and noted to have nearly all of the characteristics of Masamune's signature features; though it is debated that its o-kissaki is not that of his style, it is compared to blades made in his later career, which shows the transition of the Kamakura styles into the ...
[1] Generally, battōjutsu is practiced as a part of a classical ryū and is closely integrated with the tradition of kenjutsu. It is practised with a live blade , often simply as solo kata. [1] The training is for combative effectiveness, [2] through factors such as distancing, timing and targeting.
It is a sword with two cutting edges, one on each side of its blade, unlike the tachi, katana, wakizashi, or odachi, which have only one cutting edge on one side of the blade. The oldest bronze sword excavated in Japan is a Chinese style dagger from around 800 BC in the Yayoi period (1000 BC – 300 AD). [ 3 ]
[9] [1] There are various types of chokutō in the Kofun period (300－538), and there are styles originated in China and styles unique to Japan. [7] The kantō-tachi (環頭大刀) is a Chinese style, characterized by a ring-shaped ornament shaped like a dragon or a phoenix on the tip of the handle. [7]