Samurai swords - Japanese sword art in masterful quality

There are many myths about the Japanese samurai warriors and endless stories about their battles and heroic deeds. Originally, they were farmers who were commissioned by the emperor to protect their own provinces. Encouraged by their success in defence, some family houses specialised in carrying out imperial missions and so the sword nobility was born. Large and well-known clans emerged as early as the 8th century.

For about 400 years, from 794-1192, samurai were mainly imperial palace guards and sword-bearers whose constant task was to improve martial arts with sword and bow. In the course of time, the samurai established themselves as a ruling class, taking power away from the emperor himself and relegating him to a ceremonial function.

For many centuries the samurai played an important role, fighting many battles and repulsing attackers with great success. In the course of time, Japanese culture changed until the samurai finally lost their importance in the 18th/19th century.

However, the warriors in their extraordinary armour are kept alive by legends and sagas to this day, and their weapons in particular are still extremely popular. Always armed with long sword (katana) and short sword (wakizashi) or sabre (tachi) and combat knife (tanto), the Japanese fighters were ready at any time. The usual equipment for a samurai was a pair of swords, the so-called daisho.

The blades are elaborately forged and differ in their steel patterns. Varied and usually very colourful in appearance, the swords can be differentiated into various types of construction. The sword tang (nagako) is traditionally held in the hilt with two mekugi bamboo pins. This is also known as the tsuka (sword hilt) and, like the saya (scabbard), is wrapped in a cord or ribbon. Even the type of wrapping tells a story with these swords and provides information about the background.

If you want to own high-quality Japanese swords nowadays, you should turn your attention to the traditional forge John Lee. Hand-forged and equipped with natural materials, John Lee swords are perfect for every fan of the samurai. These are by no means exhibition pieces, John Lee swords are good for much more. They are even suitable as weapons for exhibition fights and for cutting tests (the so-called Tameshigiri). The sword manufacturer also offers practice swords called Iaito, which are not sharpened. Besides John Lee, Magnum and Cold Steel also regularly prove themselves in the production of beautiful samurai swords.