myArmoury.com - Real, high quality Ninja swords...

Posts: 17 Location: Seattle, WA USA

Sun 06 Jan, 2008 11:15 am

Real, high quality Ninja swords...

Greetings all! Being the proud owner of an Albion Crecy has taught me the difference in quality between real swords and the junk that is out there. My question for you is, does anyone know where you can buy a real, high quality Ninja sword? Something of the quality of Albion or A + A, not the cheap stuff you usually see. Thanks for the advice! -Rusty Knorr

Profile PM E-mail

J Anstey

Quote

Posts: 233

Sun 06 Jan, 2008 4:39 pm

Hi there,

You will need to qualify what you mean by a real ninja sword. If you mean the typical straight sword with the square tsuba (guard) as seen in many hollywood movies then be aware that they are not historically accurate.

Without getting into the whole debate, there are some example of chokuto swords that look similar to the hollywood types but they are rare and expensive and it would ne very unlikely to have been used by a ninja.

THe best choice in my opinion would be a katana or wakizashi. A reasonable - non japanese reproduction will cost you upwards of $600.00 and then much much more.

Set a budget and then I am sure that you will get some good recommendations.

Cheers

Jason

Profile PM

Michael Curl

Quote

Posts: 487 Location: Northern California, US

Sun 06 Jan, 2008 9:43 pm

How would a ninja get his hands on either of those? I thought they were only made for samurai and nobles?

Profile PM AIM

Gabriel Lebec

Quote

Posts: 420 Location: NY, NY

Sun 06 Jan, 2008 10:02 pm

Michael Curl wrote:

How would a ninja get his hands on either of those? I thought they were only made for samurai and nobles?

Wakizashi were common and could be worn by all levels of society for self-defense. In the Edo period (1600-1868) the lower classes sometimes wore short swords while traveling, and the merchant class is said to have worn elaborately (sometimes ostentatiously) mounted wakizashi as symbols of their wealth. Katana on the other hand became formally and legally restricted to the upper classes during the Edo period; before that, sword ownership was less universally controlled.

I encourage you to read the following article by Dr. Takeuchi: Was Chonin Class in Edo Period Allowed to Wear/Carry Swords?.

Anyway it is important to note that some historical "ninja" were samurai to begin with (sort of a special forces unit), and even those who were not were either employed by daimyo or else counter-samurai. They wouldn't be worried too much about the legal ramifications. As to actually procuring longer weapons, I'm sure there were ways... a locally employed smith, illegal secondhand trade, etc.

To answer Rusty's original question: Jason is right, there is not really any evidence to suggest that historical ninja used any form of straight sword (or even any special form of sword at all). The extensive topic of ninja myths is a bit too off-topic and complex for this thread though, so suffice it to say that if you wanted a high-quality custom sword made to match the myth, it would be possible, albeit ahistorical.

Profile PM

Sam Barris

Quote

Posts: 630 Location: San Diego, California

Mon 07 Jan, 2008 4:12 am

Rusty,

I'd suggest you look at Bugei Trading Company for a high quality production katana.

Gabriel,

This might be stretching the topic, but perhaps a kodachi might be suited to what he's looking for? I don't remember the exact dimensions the law allowed for civilian carry. Under two shaku sounds about right, but I can't remember exactly. Does anyone make kodachi that you know of, or are they essentially identical to wakazashi? I thought they tended to have a slightly longer tsuka for some reason, but I admit my memory is a bit fuzzy here.

Profile PM YIM

M. Eversberg II

Quote

Posts: 1,435 Location: California, Maryland, USA

Mon 07 Jan, 2008 4:21 am

There's quite the discussion on what weapons ninja would have used, if any, on these boards and Sword Forum International. I'd check those out if you're interested.

M.

Profile PM AIM YIM MSN ICQ

Bob Burns

Quote

Posts: 1,019 Location: South Indianapolis IN

Mon 07 Jan, 2008 4:49 am

Hi Rusty, Ryan the owner of Kult of Athena has a few very high quality Chinese swords made by Hanwei, one in particular the "Song Sword" which is folded pattern steel and whistles with the slightest energy of the cut. Here are some links to particularly nice swords all of which I have wielded in the store. I live very close to Kult of Athena.

http://www.kultofathena.com/product~item~SH20...+Sword.htm <~~~~Song Sword

http://www.kultofathena.com/product~item~SH20...+Sword.htm <~~~Han Sword

http://www.kultofathena.com/product~item~SH20...+Sword.htm <~~~ Ming Sword

http://www.kultofathena.com/product~item~SH22...i+Jian.htm <~~~Qi Jian Sword

I don't know if these are anything particularly like what you are looking for but they are all of outstanding quality!
The Song Sword is my favorite and the pattern steel of the blade is so beautiful!

I hope this helps.

Bob

Profile PM E-mail

Corey D. Sullivan

Quote

Posts: 73 Location: Canada

Mon 07 Jan, 2008 10:44 am

Sam Barris wrote:

Rusty,

I'd suggest you look at Bugei Trading Company for a high quality production katana.

Gabriel,

This might be stretching the topic, but perhaps a kodachi might be suited to what he's looking for? I don't remember the exact dimensions the law allowed for civilian carry. Under two shaku sounds about right, but I can't remember exactly. Does anyone make kodachi that you know of, or are they essentially identical to wakazashi? I thought they tended to have a slightly longer tsuka for some reason, but I admit my memory is a bit fuzzy here.

I believe you are correct. I have heard that Shinobi would sometimes carry a shortened katana in a normal length saya, so as to be able to draw their weapon quicker and catch an opponent off guard. While sheathed, the sword would look like any normal katana.

Oni Forge makes one, but you'd better hurry if you want it. Looks like they're going under.

http://www.oniforge.com/3201.html

I own one of these style swords, (Oni forge as well, though a mono-tempered one) and it handles very quickly.

Profile PM

William M

Quote

Posts: 267 Location: Buckinghamshire , England

Mon 07 Jan, 2008 1:45 pm

Hi Rusty,

Depending on your price range you may want to consider asking the Zheng-wu forge in China to build you one. I was looking into the possibility of buying a tang dao, and im sure if you ask they would create a ninjato for you.

http://www.zheng-wu.com/

Profile PM MSN

George Hill

Quote

Posts: 614 Location: Atlanta Ga

Mon 07 Jan, 2008 2:48 pm

Corey D. Sullivan wrote:

I believe you are correct. I have heard that Shinobi would sometimes carry a shortened katana in a normal length saya, so as to be able to draw their weapon quicker and catch an opponent off guard. While sheathed, the sword would look like any normal katana.

Oni Forge makes one, but you'd better hurry if you want it. Looks like they're going under.

.

Corey is right. Ninja would either carry the sword everyone else had, or atleast something which looked like what everyone else had.

Ninja were NOT "samurai." Ninja were.... Ninja became warrior class at a specific point in Japanese history (in a move by the Shogun to gain the loyalty of a particular group of ninja) but were never exactly 'normal' samurai. More properly they were Bushi, and even then only after a certain point. Before that they were "technically" lower class, who would dress up as whoever they pleased. Which was quite often as a samurai, but could also be something else. If they were dressed as say, a traveling gambler or a merchant, they might carry any number of staves with something hidden in the end, but that's another topic.

What they would not carry is anything which would give them away as ninja on a casual inspection.... like a straight bladed sword.

There is a theory going aorund that the myth of the stright bladed ninja sword comes from a western student of Hatsumi, who got a stright blade made, becuase that would not be considered a 'real sword' by the japanese sword price laws, and he could therefore afford it, when he couldn't afford a 'real' sword. (Even though it might be made by the same guy.)

A friend of mine has an Oni forge shinobi katana, and is extremely fond of it.

Profile PM AIM YIM

Anders Backlund

Quote

Posts: 629 Location: Sweden

Wed 09 Jan, 2008 12:30 pm

J Anstey wrote:

Hi there,

You will need to qualify what you mean by a real ninja sword. If you mean the typical straight sword with the square tsuba (guard) as seen in many hollywood movies then be aware that they are not historically accurate.

Without getting into the whole debate, there are some example of chokuto swords that look similar to the hollywood types but they are rare and expensive and it would ne very unlikely to have been used by a ninja.

Though, if he simply wants something in the same style of a stereotype "ninja sword", perhaps a Tang Dao is to consider?

[ Linked Image ]

It's actually a Chinese sword, but it definitely looks like a nintou, no? ;)

Profile PM