Samurai Sword Maintenance

Okay, so now you have your Samurai Sword, you have paid good money for a functional sword and now you need to maintain it. The functional Samurai Swords are made of carbon steel and they require polishing and oil especially if you are doing cutting exercises. Carbon steel will rust or pit if it is not properly maintained, so we want to be sure that you are taking excellent care of your sword that you just invested good money in. If you have a non functional sword or a decorative sword, they are usually stainless steel and do not require any oiling at all.

We thought we could give you some easy steps in maintaining your sword to keep it in top condition. First be sure to purchase a Samurai Sword maintenance kit (Premium Sword Maintenance Kit shown in picture OH1003) unless your sword came with one. Then we can go over the five easy steps!

1. Use a sheet of harai gami (rice paper) or erufu (cotton cloth) to remove oil and debris from the blade. Please be sure to hold the sharp edge away from you while you are working on the blade.
2. Tap the uchiko (powder ball) lightly against the blade and continue tapping all the way to the tip of the blade.
3. After powdering the blade use a clean harai gami or erufu to polish the blade in a circular motion and repeat until the powder is dissolved.
4. Repeat steps 1-3 for the other side of the blade
5. Apply a few drops of oil along each side of the blade and use a piece of harai gami or erufu to spread the oil evenly over the blade. Do not touch the blade before resheathing.

That's it! There may be a few terms in there that you are not familiar with, however, the maintenance kit comes with instructions as well and tells you what everything is. Maintaining your sword is an important part of owning a functional sword and you want to be sure that you keep it in great condition. Please buy your maintenance kit now and keep your Samurai Sword in top condition! If you have any questions, please contact us.

Bushido Black Bamboo Pearl Katana Sword

This is a sword you have to take a look at. It is a beautiful sword from Bushido and a must have for sword collectors or for sword trainers! The Bushido Black Bamboo Pearl Katana Sword is a great quality functional sword.

The Bamboo Pearl comes with a nice quality sword bag along with a maintenance kit to keep your Samurai Sword in top condition. This Katana Sword comes with the Osprey Handmade Furniture set and it is a high quality beautiful set that you have to see with your own eyes. The sword has a high gloss black lacquer and the bamboo and pearl inlay on both sides of the saya is just amazing.

Click on this video to see the review: Black Bamboo Pearl Katana Video

This is one amazing sword and it deserved a special spot in our blog to tell you all about it! After seeing the video, you will want this in your house! Before buying it, log on to SamuraiSupply.com and become a Samurai Supply Member and get an immediate discount coupon to use on your purchase or contact us for the code!

Samurai Sword International Orders

Here is a very common question that comes from a lot of customers - do we ship internationally? SamuraiSupply.com does ship internationally because of the fact that there are not many sites out there that offer this service and we want EVERYONE to have the Samurai Sword that they desire.

For international orders, you do have to contact us and let us know what product(s) you are interested in and what your address is or fill out our International Orders form on the home page with that information. We will then email you back a quote from at least two different carriers. Once you have decided on a carrier, you let us know all the details and we will give you a final price based on your shipping choice. Then all you have to do is send the money via Paypal, which is completely secure for you and sit back and await your arrival!

We have enjoyed helping our international customers as far away as Sweden and as close as Canada. We have a great testimonial below from one of our international customers:

"Great personal service and amazingly fast delivery. Truly a pleasure and I will buy here again. Cutting stand has a nice finished look, gold plated dragon fittings are beautiful, sword box is neat, Bushido Dragon Sword feels good and the wooden practice sword is solid. Everything very well packaged. Thanks again from Canada."

We will provide excellent customer service whether you live in the United States, Canada or across the sea! Be sure to read our Store Policies with international orders. We are here to bring you the best in Samurai Swords and we look forward to helping you with your international order today!

Samurai Sword Bags

Samurai Sword bags - something that you don't really think about or consider when you are buying your sword. When you are purchasing your sword, you are looking for that next great piece or the next work of art to add to your collection. Perhaps you are thinking of what Samurai Sword would be best to train with. (Paul Chen Sword bag shown here) You need to also consider how you will transport your sword and protect your investment. The answer - a sword bag.

When you purchase your sword, a great add on is a sword bag. They are especially great if you practice your forms in the dojo or you are training and you are going back and forth between places. The sword bags will easily protect your sword and keep it out of harms way. You can get some really beautiful bags and in many different colors.

There are also some great and stylish sword cases or boxes that will hold multiple swords so that when you are traveling you can carry more than one with you. You may have a few different swords you use for tameshigiri, or one for training and one for cutting practices. This way, you can bring them with you, protected and safe.

After all the time we spend looking for that special sword, we want to be sure we have them protected, after all, it is our sword and we take pride in them - I know I do! Be sure to check out the sword bags at SamuraiSupply.com and you can go to our home page and sign up to be a Samurai Supply Member and get an immediate discount coupon for your purchase! Buy yours today and keep your Samurai Sword protected!

Make Your Own Training Sword

Today, there is a pretty good selection of Assemble Yourself Katana Swords, including manufacturers such as Masahiro, Musashi and Kawashima. I think the whole concept behind the Assemble Yourself Katana is a great idea and I would recommend everyone own one and try for themselves! (Image shown is the Kawashima Assemble Yourself Folded Katana)

Making your own sword gives you a deeper appreciation for what goes into making the sword as you get the opportunity to visually check and inspect all the components of the sword. The instructions for assembling the sword have a few of the basic terms used with Samurai Swords and will get you using some of the sword terminology. (check out our blog on sword terminology)

The sword comes with everything you need to put it together and you get a chance to really become a part of the sword. You may ask how does purchasing an Assemble Yourself Katana Sword classify as making your own training sword? These Assemble Yourself Swords are great for Tameshigiri or general cutting practices. The fact that you are able to put the sword together yourself and have the option to change the furniture on it and customize to your own taste makes it a sword that you are proud to be a part of. You would be surprised how much knowledge you gain from something as simple as putting together pieces that are sitting there ready for you. It is quite an experience and one that I feel we should all get to partake in. Due to all the process you go through, my opinion is that you are making your own training sword - and boy you will be proud of it when it is finished!

Check out our Assemble Yourself Katana Swords and become a part of it. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us and be sure to sign up on our home page to become a Samurai Supply Member and get an immediate discount code for your order today!

Kogarasu Maru Style Blade

Since we have a great sword in our line called the Musashi Coud Dragon Katana - Kogarasu Maru, we thought we would explain a bit about the Kogarasu Maru. The Kogarasu Maru, or "Little Cros" is a unique Japanese tachi sword rumored to have been created by legendary Japanese smith Amakuni during 8th centrure CE.

The Kogarasu Maru is sometimes referred to as a Kogarasu Zukuri as the blade of the Kogarasu Maru was forged in the Kissaki Moro Ha Zukuri design. The Kogarasu Maru is unique as a bridge between the old double edged Japanese Ken (based on the traditional Chinese straight sword) and the traditional Japanese tachi and eventual katana.

The Kogarasu Maru was designed with a curved double edged blade approximately 62.8 cm long. One edge of the blade is sharpened in normal tachi fashion, but as the edge comes to a point the blade continues in the reverse direction back towards the hilt of the sword, similar to a European sword or a Japanese yari spear, but stopping midway. A singe bo-hi style groove runs down both sides of the blade to the hilt. The forging process yeilded a sugaha "straight" style temper line on both sides of the blade.

Please take a closer look at our Musashi Cloud Dragon Katana - Kogarasu Maru in our line of Musashi Katana Swords. Go to our home page and sign up to become a Samurai Supply Member and get an immediate discount coupon for your order! Why wait - own yours today!

Masahiro Assemble Yourself Katana Sword

This is for all you sword buffs who love to become a part of knowing your sword. Where it came from, the initials of the person who made it, putting it together yourself....making your own training sword! The feeling of getting the box, opening it and being able to put it all together yourself. Picking which tsuba you will put on, and doing all the maintenance to it to keep it in tip top shape.

We loved putting our swords together and the box the Masahiro Assemble Yourself Sword comes in is an amazing showpiece in itself. When you open it up and see the quality of the inside of the box, you just want to stare at it and enjoy the beauty. The box can not only be a display case, it can also be a carrying case. The Masahiro Assemble Yourself Swords are a great price range and come in four different saya to choose from. We did a video product review on it that you can take a look for yourself and see what a beautiful and amazing sword this is and there is also a video on how to assemble it yourself.

Masahiro Assemble Yourself Katana Review - video

Assembling A Katana Sword Yourself - video


Enjoy the videos and then log on to our home page, become a Samurai Supply Member and get an immediate coupon discount on your Katana Sword purchase! We have many Assemble Yourself Swords to choose from, so take a look and then purchase yours today. There is nothing like assembling your own Katana Sword, you will love it.

Samurai Sword Terminology

Welcome to our glossary of sword terminology. If you are just getting into Samurai Swords and Japanese Swords, you might have some trouble with the terminology used. Words like saya, tsuka, and tsuba might be foreign to you so we have put together this sword glossary to help you understand the meanings to some of the most popular words to describe Samurai Swords and Japanese Swords and some related terms. These terms will also help if you are buying an Assemble Yourself Katana Sword and you want to brush up on your terms. If you have a term you would like to add, please send it to info@samuraisupply.com

Samurai Swords Terminology:

1. Dojo - A place of training for martial arts
2. Ha - Cutting edge of the sword
3. Hamon - Tempered area/line on blade
4. Hi - Groove on the side of the blade
5. Jigane - Area between hamon and shinogi
6. Katana - A Japanese sword with a curved blade used by the Samurai
7. Kissaki - Tip of the sword
8. Koshirae - Sword fittings
9. Monouchi - Cutting area of the ha
10. Mune - Back edge of the sword
11. Nakago - Tang (part of blade inside the handle)
12. Saya - The case which a Katana is sheathed
13. Scabbard - A sword sheath
14. Shinogi - Line separating jigane and shinogi ji
15. Shinogi ji - Area between shinogi and mune
16. Sori - Curvature of the blade
17. Tsuba - The guard of a Japanese Katana
18. Tsuka - The handle of a Japanese Katana

Hopefully these terms helped you out a bit and if you have any comments, please contact us.

Movie Swords For Sale

Okay movie, game, and Japanese Animation gurus. Let’s take a moment to talk about some of these Decorative Swords, replicas, and Movie Swords for Sale. Some might ask why bother with a sword that you saw in a movie, game, or some cartoon? Others say why not get something original. Well, maybe they do not get the idea of collecting things of interest and what we are passionate about, and that is Samurai Swords. Whether they are a completely original sword, or one used in a movie they still have something about them that we just need to have. I think a lot of us can agree that they make a great conversation. Someone comes to your house and says, “Wow! What a cool Samurai Sword. Where did you get it?” Then you get to tell them all about where you bought it, what movie, or game it was in, and who the character it was that wielded it, and then you begin to discuss things you might both remember about the movie.

Take for instance the Samurai Sword used in The Last Samurai with Tom Cruise. Who can forget the scene where he stands off against five soldiers as they encircled him and he plays in his mind how the battle would go. Who wouldn’t want to own a piece of that?

But the fact of the matter is that some of these Decorative Swords, or Replica Movie Swords, or whatever you want to call them are really cool, unique, and above all they are a collector’s item. Some of the Movie Swords for Sale that you find are a real bargain and are beautifully crafted. Some are even functional. Although I do not personally practice, or cut with mine, they are the real deal. Some of course are just that a replica ,that is meant to be on display.

At the end of the day, we all know our personal reasons for collecting these swords and we do not care what others think. I know from personal experience that they are a part of me and who I am, and I like to share stories to my friends and family about them. I find that even in Decorative Swords that there is more than just meets the eye as I know what is entailed in making that sword and the craftsmanship that goes into it. Overall I think that Replica Movie Swords, game swords, and even Anime swords are a great addition to anyone’s collection.

Browse through our Decorative Swords and find the sword that will start up a great conversation or make a great addition to your home! Go to our home page and sign up to become a Samurai Supply Member and get an immediate discount!

Bokken Training Swords

Quite a few of you sword buffs out there know the benefits of obtaining a quality Bokken Sword, especially one such as the Black Foam Bokken Sword (shown to the left). The Bokken Swords have many dynamic uses whether you are beginning your sword training, novice swordsman, or even a master swordsman. It is a great tool to harness your sword skills, forms, and even aiming. The best thing about them is that you can practice without any danger to you, or a sparring mate.

With the Black Foam Bokken Sword, you are able to really get into sword play safely. Some of the interesting features of this particular Bokken include a hard wooden core with soft foam outside, a plastic guard and a rubber end cap. Thus, making it completely safe to practice your maneuvers, tactics and precision striking.

Some Bokken Swords are actually quite amazing in their workmanship. Take for instance the Black Dragon Wakazashi Bokken. It has a beautiful dragon carved into the blade of the sword. With black wood, the dragon really pops out at you. It is an amazing sword for the price, you just can't go wrong with it. It can even serve as a simple decoration piece that definitely will turn peoples heads. Win, win situation when you buy this sword!

For me personally, I like the idea that I can practice to my hearts content with a Bokken and not worry about damaging any of my expensive swords. The last thing any of us want is to do any damage to our swords. Let's face it, we pay good money for a lot of these swords and we take pride in them. I love the fact that I can practice my swordsmanship with a partner which gives you a real feel for what an actual battle would be like. After practicing with a Bokken for awhile, I found that I was a lot more precise in the way I struck any of my targets or even when I was exercising my Tameshigiri skills. I have noticed a big difference in my ability to really control my movements with an actual functional sword and find that I handle my swords with a lot more confidence.

Check out the amazing and affordable Bokken Swords and buy yours today! Go to the home page and become a Samurai Supply member and get an immediate discount off your order!