Reverse Blade Sword

[Swordlady]

wouldn't that thing get kinda slippery though

Probably, but from what I remember, Musashi killed his rival within a few seconds, with a single fatal blow. Duels between rival samurai tended to be VERY quick affairs. One - or both - parties would be lying on the ground seconds after the duel started.

 

[Swordlady]

o, alright. hey, i found this reverse blade sword on ebay (i got it coming in the mail) if anyone's interested, this guy sells a lot of other swords to. the reverse blade swrod is handmade, full tang, "battle ready" and the sharp side is supposed to be razor sharp. and the overall price, including shipping and handling is about $100.00. here's the link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Forged-Sakabatou-Reverse-Blade-Katana-Sword-Kenshin_W0QQitemZ140010019184QQihZ004QQcategoryZ43338QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

All I have to say is that you will get what you pay for. A ~$100 sword is most likely not going to be *that* functional. Even the auction said that this sword is more for "display" than actual use.

Rick Barrett, a well-known bladesmith, made a reverse blade katana a while ago. That sword cost $6500. I can't find any pictures of that sword, since Rick took it down from his website.

 

[karlravioli]

you're probably right, but $6500 sounds kinda overpriced :/

 

[pgsmith]

Personally, $6.50 sounds kinda overpriced for a reverse bladed sword. However, desire is in the eye of the beholder, so if that's what you enjoy, go for it. I have to interject though that getting something like a reverse bladed katana with a razor sharp edge sounds like a serious accident waiting to happen to me. I would suggest getting one without an edge on it.

Just my opinion.

 

[Risto Rautiainen]

What about the thracian rhomphia. Here's more info: http://www.thrace.0catch.com/rhomphia.htm Wait for the ads to fade away and you'll see the links on the left side of the page.

 

[Swordlady]

What about the thracian rhomphia. Here's more info: http://www.thrace.0catch.com/rhomphia.htm Wait for the ads to fade away and you'll see the links on the left side of the page.

I gather from the MyArmoury post that the rhomphia is more related to the falx. In any case, it isn't Japanese.

The second link just leads to a music site.

 

[Risto Rautiainen]

Yeah, I know it isn't japanese, but I just wanted to show that the idea of a "reverse blade" is not totally fantasy. Of course the cross section and everything is totally different from japanese blades, but this thing has really been used. The second link works just fine for me.
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[Swordlady]

Yeah, I know it isn't japanese, but I just wanted to show that the idea of a "reverse blade" is not totally fantasy. Of course the cross section and everything is totally different from japanese blades, but this thing has really been used. The second link works just fine for me.

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But the rhomphia and the falx aren't really classified as "reverse blades". Those blades happen to be sharpened inside the curve, like...say, a sickle or khukri. Those blades are specifically constructed that way for a certain purpose.

Japanese katana, on the other hand, were always made with the outside of the curve sharpened. It was never intended to be sharpened in the inside curve. That is what makes the "reverse blade katana" (a la Kenshin) a fantasy piece, as opposed to the rhomphia and falx - which are actual historic weapons.

 

[Xue Sheng]

But the rhomphia and the falx aren't really classified as "reverse blades". Those blades happen to be sharpened inside the curve, like...say, a sickle or khukri. Those blades are specifically constructed that way for a certain purpose.

Japanese katana, on the other hand, were always made with the outside of the curve sharpened. It was never intended to be sharpened in the inside curve. That is what makes the "reverse blade katana" (a la Kenshin) a fantasy piece, as opposed to the rhomphia and falx - which are actual historic weapons.

I am not a sword aficionado and I had to look these up but to be sure but I was fairly certain that neither a falx nor rhomphaia were of Japanese origin and a Katana is

Falx is a Latin word originally meaning sickle it is a weapon of the Thracians and Dacians, and later a siege hook used by the Romans.

The Rhomphaia was a close combat bladed weapon used by the Thracians as early as 400 B.C. It was a variant of the Dacian Falx.

The katana is the Japanese backsword or longsword of the type specifically in use after the 1400s

So I do not think that a Falx or a Rhomphaia are valid proof of a reverse blade katana

 

[Swordlady]

I am not a sword aficionado and I had to look these up but to be sure but I was fairly certain that neither a falx nor rhomphaia were of Japanese origin and a Katana is

Falx is a Latin word originally meaning sickle it is a weapon of the Thracians and Dacians, and later a siege hook used by the Romans.

The Rhomphaia was a close combat bladed weapon used by the Thracians as early as 400 B.C. It was a variant of the Dacian Falx.

The katana is the Japanese backsword or longsword of the type specifically in use after the 1400s

So I do not think that a Falx or a Rhomphaia are valid proof of a reverse blade katana

That was my point exactly. The rhomphia and falx are actual historic weapons, designed with the inside curve sharpened. The Japanese katana was never meant to have the back end of the blade sharpened.

 

[Risto Rautiainen]

Okay, what I had here is a misunderstanding of vocabulary as english is not my mother tongue. As here the 'reverse' seems to mean that you can 'reverse' the blades' direction. I thought this was an argument of wether weapons existed that had the edge on the inside of the curvature. My bad.

 

[jasonb]

Please describe a reverse bladed sword?

Is the blade sharp on top or is the curve the opposite way than normal?

 

[Swordlady]

The reverse-blade sword the original poster is talking about is called a "sakabato" - the sword of a popular anime character, Rurouni Kenshin. The back (mune) of the blade is sharpened instead of the front. The sakabato is strictly a fantasy piece, and has no historical basis.

 

[Xue Sheng]

So does this mean the guy that is going to teach me Goku’s Kameamea move isn’t real either!?!?!?

Sorry, couldn't resist

 

[Swordlady]

So does this mean the guy that is going to teach me Goku’s Kameamea move isn’t real either!?!?!?

I was also bummed out that I can never throw fireballs like Ryu and Ken.

 

[Fu_Bag]

So does this mean the guy that is going to teach me Goku’s Kameamea move isn’t real either!?!?!?

Sorry, couldn't resist

Damn!! And I just ordered the complete Kameamea DVD training set!!! Man, I'm really bummed now. Guess I'll go cut the lawn with my upside down lawn mower now.....