 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
Practical Katana
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
SBCH-PER-PRACTICAL |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hanwei Folded-Steel Performance Series Katana
FREE SHIPPING!
| • | Blade is Hand Forged from High-Carbon Steel |
| • | Differentially Tempered for Strength and Flexibility |
| • | Fully Functional (Except for Iaito Drawing Version) |
| • | Beautifully Designed, Made for Martial Artists |
These swords are extremely sharp, cutting katanas. You must be 18 years of age or older to purchase them.
This page includes four different varieties of the Performance Series Practical Katana: the Elite, the XL, the XL Light, and the Iaito. All four blades feaure the same fittings and materials, but each version has a different blade cross section -- and the Iaito version is made from perfectly balanced, tempered stainless steel (designed for Iaito drawing practice). These swords are high end items and usually ship in 3-5 days.
Please select the Blade Style that you would like to purchase. For more information about each blade style, please see the chart to the left, or read the Blade Style Descriptions below.
Elite (Performance Cutting Katana) - $244
XL Light (Competition Grade, Fullered Katana) - $264
XL (Competition Grade Katana)- $254
Iaito 27" Blade (Stainless, for Drawing Practice) - $219
Iaito 28" Blade (Stainless, for Drawing Practice) - $219
Iaito 29" Blade (Stainless, for Drawing Practice) - $219
Note: Do not confuse this katana with the regular Practical Katana from Hanwei. This is the other Practical Katana, the one in the Performance Series. Make sure you know exactly what you're getting when you compare prices.
Alright, your grandmother gave you $250 to buy school books and you've decided to spend it on a good Katana instead. Great move! You can always tell her you switched majors and need another set of books later on. The important thing here is that a good katana can save your life; what's "Literature and Culture of the Third World" done for you lately?
Needless to say, you want the very best Katana you can buy at that price range. Well, you don't need a colelge degree in economics to realize that the Performance Series Practical Katana may just be your best bet.
This katana is a hand-forged, differentially tempered sword made specifically for cutting, cutting competition, and amazing looks. It's forged from a rugged 1566 Carbon Steel and differentially tempered in the traditional way. The grip is wrapped in a very rugged simulated leather which provides a fantastic grip and is sure to last for years and reays and years. The tsuba (guard) is made from black iron with an efficient, subtle style. The sheath is made from a tough, laquered wood. The Practical Performance Series katan is the best bargain of the entier Performance series, and is one of the most affordable cutting-style katanas that you can buy.
Hold on a moment, I hear some of you ask. What exactly is differential tempering? (If you've been reading all of these Performance Series descriptions and are sick of hearing it, then tough. It's our website ;P) Glad you asked. I'm going to drag this out this time for those bitter readers who are sick of hearing about this. Differential tempering is one of the things that have made samurai swords so unbelievably effective for all of these hundreds and hundreds of years. You see, the Japanese figured out that to make a rally strong sword, you needed it to have flexibility as well as hardness (similar to the Chinese Daoist concept of the grass being stronger than the tree trunk, because the grass flexes with the wind). So, Japanese swordsmiths developed a technique to make the front/cutting edge of the sword extremely hard, allowing it to take a very hard edge. At the same time, the back of the blade (non-cutting) was made a little softer, to give the blade flexibility, which alows it to take amazing amounts of punishment without breaking. I also allows for much livelier/springier blade responses when cutting.
How is this differential tempering accomplished? Well, the swordsmith applies a clay paste to the back of the blade. When the blade is heated, the cutting edge (uncoated) gets much hotter than the rear. This makes the cutting edge very very hard and the bakc edge softer and springier. This also gives samurai swords that distinctive wavy "Hamon" line between the cutting edge and the rear of the sword. Most lower cost samurai swords have a simulated Hamon. The Hanwei Performance series Katanas have actual Hamon lines. The Hanwei Performance Series katanas are much cooler than those lower cost katanas. Those lower cost katanas dream of someday having a real hamon line, and being differntially tempered. But then the dream turns into that dream where you completely forgot about a class you had and never went to it after the first couple of classes and you suddenly remembered it, but it's finals time and you're not sure if you should go to the last week of the class or just not show up at all since you're probably going to fail anyway, and you can't seem to remember what room the class is anyway because you lost your schedule .. and ... and ... um ... anyway, the Hanwei katanas are soooooo worth the money.
The Practical Katana, like all of Hanwei's Performance Series katanas, can be purchased in one of four different blade styles. To confuse things a little more, the Iaito blade style can be purchased in one of three different lengths. We describe the cutting styles below and in the diagram at left.
Elite
Frequent Cutting / Advanced Drawing Practice
The Elite Katana Blades embody the classical design elements of the most prolific sword design in history. With their strong Shinogi Zukuri shape that accentuates the differential heat treatment, these blades are traditionally proportioned to appeal to the collector but they will also perform well in general cutting of hard or soft targets.
XL
Heavy Competitive Cutting
Designed strictly for competitive cutting, the XL Katana blades incorporate the geometry, strength, weight and profile needed for successful cuts on substantial targets. Featuring differential heat treatment and a narrow edge angle, these wide blades will reward good technique with clean cuts and excellent durability.
XL Light
Competitive Cutting / Lighter Weight
The XL Light blades feature the same geometry as those of the XL but incorporate deeply cut grooves (bo-hi) to reduce the weight of the blade while retaining most of it’s strength and cutting ability. This weight reduction makes for a quicker sword, well adapted for multiple cuts in lighter targets.
Iaito
Frequent Drawing Practice
These unedged training blades provide for safe drawing for the beginning practitioner of the 450 year old art of Iaido. Forged from stainless steel the tempered blades are not only maintenance-free but more importantly provide the correct weight and balance needed for the rigors of repetitve drawing and sword motion practice. Each blade has a deeply cut groove (bo-hi) to provide audible feedback when swung properly. Also excellent for collectors.
Related Items
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |