Musashi Katana by Musashi

[Taygrd]

Sometimes cruising the internet late at night leads to some regrettable purchases. A few days later when the UPS driver arrives at your door with your newest impulse buy you wonder “what was I thinking?” I actually did do a little research before purchasing the Musashi Katana. Not a true impulse buy, more like an informed whim. The description on the Swords of Might website contained statements like “well balanced” and “good cutter”. For fifty dollars I felt that if it was trash I could grind down the edge and use it as a decoration. It did look pretty cool in the pictures. Comparing prices to the competitors Swords of Might was again the best deal being nine to twenty-nine dollars cheaper than all others. Sold!!

It was not to long before the UPS guy showed up at the door with that long brown box. It was packaged nicely with no deformities. It is always nice to receive a sword in the mail that does not have three inches of steel sticking out the side of the box. The katana itself was placed in a cardboard box wrapped in its sword bag with styrofoam collars keep it from moving around. The saya and the tsuka were in good shape with no scratches or damage. The first inspection showed that the blade was snug inside the saya and came out with minimal pressure. Upon inspection of the blade there was no rusting or pitting thanks to the protective oil applied to it. All of the fittings were tight and there was no rattle or flimsy construction. It felt good in the hands and the tsuka allowed for a firm grip. The weight of 2.25 pounds made it feel quick in my hands.
The Blade

The length of the blade is 27” of carbon steel and a little over ¼” thick. I would say that this blade has a tori zori, or the blade has an even curve throughout it’s length. This allows the cutting edge to remain in contact with the target longer. The mune or spine is roof shaped or iori mune and is ground evenly down the spine to the sword point. Etched hamon are very common in blades of this price range, and this blade is no exception. The etch is done nicely in a notare hamon which is basically smooth waves. As with almost every etched blade I have seen, the hamon terminates at the kissaki or point. The shinogi, or ridgeline, of the blade was also even throughout its length and only on close inspection could one see that the grind was not flat throughout in one section. I will mention the habaki or brass collar in the blade section since I did not remove it from the blade for inspection. It was well fitted to the blade and has the Musashi logo on the omote side. The fit between the habaki and saya was snug enough to ensure the blade did not fall out when inverted but loose enough to draw the sword with slight pressure from your thumb. The point of balance is about 6 1/2" from the tsuba on the blade. The balance feels really good and this make the blade easy to control. The center of percussion is a little difficult for me to place. All of the cuts that I made where within first 18" of the blade. I have cut with swords before that vibrate on every cut. I have even cut with some that feel like you skulled a golf ball, however the Musashi was smooth every cut. I attempted to find the CoP by stiking the pommel and it resulted in the whole blade moving with no observable vibration point. So I dare not speculate on it's location, but I will take any advice on the subject.


I wanted to completely disassemble the sword to get a good look at the construction. After removing the two mekugi, I held the sword in my left hand and pounded my left with the right three times. That was sufficient to loosen the tsuka from the nakago or tang for inspection. There were no markings on the nakago and it was built very traditionally. After pulling it all apart you look at it and say “yeah, that’s what they look like”. It went back together just as easy as it came apart. No glue or shims just traditional construction techniques. Just the blade alone I felt was worth the fifty dollars spent.

The Koshirae
The saya has a nice gloss finish to it and the sageo was wrapped in the formal style. The sageo itself was a decent knit material that did not have that “fuzzy” look to it. This saya has a metal throat or koiguchi that is plain with no decorative accents and serves to protect the saya. Such a koiguchi is not common; however I kind of preferred it on this sword since it added extra protection and support to the saya. One aspect of the saya that was odd to me was the kurikata that holds the sageo in place. It was a square construction rather than the more graceful rounded style. Overall I was well pleased with scabbard and this katana kept on getting better in my eyes.

The tsuba in one of the descriptions was purported to be steel construction. With a quick test of a magnet it was confirmed as gospel. There is something very sexy about a double ring steel guard, and this was a major purchase point for me. The tsuba was evenly ground, symmetrical, and I feel was of a good quality. The patina on the tsuba was a little light but not enough to distract from the rest of the sword. It was roughly 3” across and just under ¼” thick. The seppas are of brass construction and were an exact match and fit well.

Your inexpensive swords usually suffer a little in tsuka and this katana was no exception. I know what you are thinking -“no kidding Sport, a fifty buck sword that has a cheap handle”, but I ask that you read to the end. The fuchi and kashira are of an alloy material and still have the cast lines visible on the sides. The builder tried to hide the cast line on the top of the kashira by applying it to a grinder and now you have an obvious grind line over the top. Both were made of an alloy and had a black patina that was evenly applied.

They must make this inexpensive ito in the same place for all low end swords, and this one has that fuzzy shoe string appearance. The wrap was fairly even and was glued in place along the top and bottom of the handle. The handle measures 10 ¾” from the fuchi to the top of the kashira. Well by now you may have guessed that the same gawa is not real rayskin, but it is admirable attempt at it. The fake same was uniform in the size of the nodules and has a rubber feel to it. The mekugi are bamboo and the double peg is great to have in a sword that cuts. Breaking from tradition the mekugi were driven in from the ura side.
The menuki are identical dragons of the same alloy as the fuchi and kashira. I must admit that they are well cast and the patina looks great on them. Both menuki were glued firmly in place and positioned correctly in the tsuka

Overall the tsuka was solidly built and did not have any gaps between the ito and components. I feel that almost anyone would be pleased with the appearance of this sword when considering the cost.
Now to put my money where my mouth is: I have every intention of replacing the fake same with real same gawa and replacing the ito, fuchi and kashira just to meet my personal preferences. Why? This is a really good little sword. I was not sure what to expect but after pulling it apart piece by piece I found the Musashi to be a great bargain for the price. Still not convinced? Well to be honest I was not either at this point. Then I took the sword outside to meet Mr. Pumpkin.

The Cutting Test

Every year we receive a large assortment of pumpkins for Halloween and Thanksgiving. They are set out on the porch for decoration, and I begrudgingly give a few up to be carved as jack-o-lanterns. The rest are horded for the annual cutting test. Pumpkins are good for cutting since they cannot damage the sword and the cut will show the sharpness of the blade. If the blade is not sharp it will tear instead of cut it and will bog down in the target. The pumpkins ranged from 20 to 10 inches in diameter and have about an inch to two inch rind. I was able to get about four to five cuts on each pumpkin and cut up three of them before I remembered to take pictures with the camera. The first cut went through with little force and so easily that it left the top of the pumpkin still sitting on the base. The rest of the cuts on the other three pumpkins had the same results with no damage to the blade and it still retained a sharp edge. It cut like a pro. After cutting the four pumpkins I was grinning like a jack-o-lantern. Off to the corner a few tree saplings aroused my wrath and the sword made quick work of them as well. Each cut was smooth and there was no damage to the cutting edge after slicing through ¾ to 1 inch saplings. A couple of days later I set up some water bottles to cut through for some video footage. I placed three bottles in a row and the Musashi katana made a clean cut through them all.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=23TIJVhdKqI
As I have said before the blade alone was worth the money spent. It retains its edge remarkably well as I have yet to lay a stone to it.
Overall

There is no way one can compare a low end sword to your top shelf katanas, and I do not intend to attempt it here. I must say that when handling this sword I feel that it well worth its cost and more. The fit and finish is better than I would have expected and the blade is sharp and fun to work with. To have a sword that retains its edge well and can be used without the fear of marring a high dollar weapon is great. The one area that the katana suffers a little is the tsuka, but that is the trade off of an inexpensive sword. The tsuka however was solidly built and holds up well under use. Even after I disassembled the katana and reassembled it the sword was still solid. I would never say that this is a cheap sword, but one heck of a buy for the money. It was sharp right out of the box and is a good looking katana. When comparing cost to quality I would rank this one 5 out of 5. I found the Musashi Katana to be functional and fun. Hats off to Swords of Might for selling a good katana, fast shipping, and an awesome selection of swords in all price ranges!