 and steel that doesn’t break is soft steel but does not hold a sharp edge. So they took four metal bars, two hard and two soft steel, heating them together at a high temperature, hammering together into a long rectangular bar becoming the sword blade. The sword smith then ground and honed a razor-sharp edge, the soft layer of steel ensuring it wouldn’t break.
During the golden age of the samurai between the 13th and 17th centuries, the Samurai sword was valued as art and master craftsman Muramasa was said to have forged a sword so sharp that when held upright in a flowing stream the edge cut a dead leaf in two as the current pushed it against the blade. The wakizashi was the samurai’s soul sword, which a bushi (warrior) would take the head of an honored opponent after killing him or use it to disembowel his self in the act of seppuku (hara-kiri) and his second (kaishaku) would cut off the samurai’s head to end the pain quickly.
Sometimes the katana was carried slung on the samurai’s back and the short sword belted on the left side.
One of the most renowned swordsmen, famous for fighting with two swords at once, Miyamoto Musashi, wrote in his book The Book of Five Rings:
The science of martial arts for warriors requires construction of various weapons and understanding the properties of the weapons. A member of a warrior family who does not learn to use weapons and understand the specific advantages of each weapon would seem to be somewhat uncultivated.
Samurai in training would learn the correct method of drawing and using the sword, as written in Hagakure by Tsunetomo Yamamoto in 1716:
If you cut by standing firm and not missing the chance, you will do well.
The five basic blows used in Kenjutsu, used today in kendo are from top to bottom; left to right; right to left; side to side; and a straight thrust aimed at the throat. As Musashi wrote:
If we know the path of the sword well, we can wield it easily.
Zen Buddhism was deeply embedded in the education of a samurai, imported from China. Applied to the mastery of the sword, the samurai’s thoughts and actions must be instantaneous, together as one. Zen master Taisen Deshimaru in The Zen Way to the Martial Arts, stated:
Intuition and action must spring forth at the same time.
The key to wielding a sword in quickness is focus upon nothing except the task at hand. Yagyu Munemori wrote:
The heart of the samurai is like a mirror, empty and clear.
In a sense, the samurai warrior became a symbol of the perfect warrior. When two samurai dueled, sometimes the two warriors would draw and slash simultaneously dealing death blows to both.
The second important weapon for a samurai was the Yumi, a bow made of composite wood or bamboo, laminated to protect it from the elements. Arrows were made of bamboo. They were longbows and its strength was measured by how many men were required to string it.
Yari were the spears or polearms used in various ways. The variety of techniques was called Yarijutsu, the use of the spear. If the samurai was mounted, the yari could be used to deal slashing strokes from a distance.
The nodachi was a two-handed sword that looked like a giant katana; one warrior by the name of Makara Naotaka used a nodachi that had a five-foot long blade.
The kanabo or tetsubo was a wooden club wrapped in iron with iron studs. It looked like a baseball bat and was used for breaking swords, horse’s legs and serious trauma even to armored opponents. [I]
Kama was an inventive weapon probably developed early when farmers were trained to be samurai, a farming tool resembling the western sickle. A left- and right-hand Kama was made and used simultaneously just as the long and short sword and is still used in martial arts training today.
While not a weapon, samurai’s defense was their armor, designed to be as light as possible in order to move freely and quickly – an advantage against rigid heavier armor of opponents; their headgear was full helmets decorated to resemble a fierce demon, frightening to opponents.
Another bladed weapon was the tanto, a dagger used for close quarters 