speaktree

Sorry if I came over a bit defensive in my post. I realise that most of you have already learned from mistakes that I might still make if I buy recklessly. The price range I mentioned might be little on the low side, its not really that fixed. I just wanted to know what an entry level wakizashi would be like and was wondering if someone had some that would be a good starter blade. BTW I was under the impression that nihonto refers to katana, wakizashi and tanto, so when I said that I didn't actually specifically want to refer to katana. I have seen some people acquire some decent wakizashi around the $300 mark before so thats one of the reasons I used it as a price point. I am not a serious collector, but more of a practitioner, so while I have some production blades that I use for iai, I basically just want a blade that can be called Japanese in the sense that it comes from Japan as opposed to the chinese made replicas. So in a sense you have a point with the whole 'myth' idea. I have seen and held some nihonto of various qualities, so I know what to expect generally, its not like I'm one of the "it can cut through a gunbarrel" kind of know-it-alls. But a real nihonto regardless of quality still shames most production katana when it comes to handling, weight distribution, geometry etc... So you get the basic picture. Also I wanted to know what is the more comprehensive books you'd recommend? C. Coertze

Thank you for your reply. Firstly I would like to apologise for not signing off properly, I usually add it to my signature. One should not automatically assume that someone is a newbie, just because its their first post on this specific forum. I have been studying books for quite a while and read through a lot of resources on the net, also asking knowledgeable people for advice where I was uncertain. I have just reached a point where I would like to own at least one nihonto. I have been active on some other forums for a while, the main reason I joined this one as well was because its South African based (well as much as anything can be based in a country on the net) and it seems like there are some knowledgeable collectors with sizable collections here. One of the members on this forum has sent me a helpful email however that is much appreciated! Thanks :D Casper Coertze

I have been learning from books and online resources for a while now and while I own a few custom replicas as I do iaido, however I would really like to own a genuine nihonto to study as a first piece for my collection. I don't have much money to put into my first purchase and to be honest I am a bit scared to put such a large amount of money into my first piece! So I was wondering if anyone has a blade in bad condition (possibly a kizu, rusted, over polished) that I can purchase off them for about $200 - $300? I am too sceptical of e-bay to try buying anything from there at the moment, so I thought this would be a better place to enquire?