There are various styles of Japanese swords, or nihonto, available today. Both antique swords as well as modern versions can be purchased depending on your preferences. Some of today’s Japanese swords are manufactured, but the authentic swords are made by swordsmiths. The various types of Japanese swords are classified by their size and also the manufacturing method.

The Katana is the most common type of Japanese swords and is a long, single-edged sword with a curved blade. Katana’s were used by the Samurai as early as the 1400′s. Samurai’s were Japanese warriors in feudal Japan and were considered to be a nobility military class. The Samurai used a wide variety of weapons, including spears, manrikigusari, and the bow and arrows, but the most common weapons used by the Japanese Samurai was know as the Katana.

Thinking that we know everything into battle/fight might just be all you need to get your butt whipped! Understanding that is hard to do because we train so hard to learn all we can and pack it into a tight little package sometimes called Taekwondo, Judo, Karate, or even MMA. Thinking that this specific style is the end all and be all, is what gets most students beat whether it is on the mat or in the streets. We must always be open to new things and willing to learn them when they are better than what we already have. If a person thinks they know everything then there is no more room for new knowledge, and allowing us to not adapt to the ever changing environment.

The history of Chinese martial arts is fascinating, obscure, and steeped in mystery. For anyone who his serious about studying the fighting arts, the trial eventually leads back to the ancient Chinese martial arts. After all, the Chinese were the ones who first pioneered the martial arts systems which have since spread to every corner of the world. It was the Shaolin Monks, an ancient Chinese Buddhist sect, which developed and refined Kung Fu training techniques centuries ago. Apparently, they did a good job of it too; Shaolin Kung Fu is still practiced to this very day.

One of the important things about ancient Chinese martial arts that every student must realize is that they evolved around the use of ancient weapons. Ancient melee weapons like swords, spears, and axes could be parried and dodged, unlike modern weapons like guns and explosives. As such, intense training of the mind and body could really give a soldier an intensive advantage over an enemy.