First sword

[Bond]

Gents, I am considering buying my first sword. I am not planning to use it for any kind of practice, actually I hardly can explain why I want to own it at all, its just something... anyway, I would like my first sword to be special and it is important for me.

You might ask about my budget, well, first I was hoping that this idea will cost me some 200-300$. Now after spending some time reading and looking at different options I got a feeling that below a 1000+$ I can hardly find something that would make me feel good.

I would greatly appreciate if you could share your opinion about this example. It is already quite above my budget and I am not sure if it is a good sword and what could be its reasonable price range.

Also any general advices, comments and suggestions are very welcome :-)

 

Thanks!

Aleksandr B.

[hxv]

This sword must be the Masamitsu listed in the "For Sale or Trade" section. Nice sword, very attractive price! What type of sword are you looking for? Time period? Tradition? School? Katana, wakizashi, tanto? Are mounts important, or are you looking for just a blade in shirasaya? Papered or not? With a signature of not? Are you a nihonto collector or a militaria collector, or may be both? So many questions you have to ask yourself...In any event, under $2k won't really make you happy in the long term, under $1k is nearly impossible, and $200-$300 is, well, impossible. My humble opinion...

 

Hoanh

[Marius]

 

Start here:

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=16947&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=rules+thumb

[Stephen]

Its a good sword to start with. You have to ask your self what you want to buy, a WW2 sword or a true Samurai sword. You may find the former but not the latter with your budget.

[nagamaki - Franco]

Basics 101 ...

http://www.nihontocraft.com/Nihonto_Shinsa_Standards.html , and http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/gdsword.htm , http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/nihonto.htm , http://www.nihontomessageboard.com/arti ... ecting.pdf

[Ken-Hawaii]

Some good advice here, Aleksandr. We've all been in your situation where we just "want" a sword, especially the first one. But I suggest that you take a big, deep breath, let it out slowly, & then get on Amazon & order some books before you do anything else. You'll end up buying a better blade for less money, & you'll know WHY you're buying it, too!

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

Ken

[Daniel]

Welcome to the Forum Aleksandr

 

Kind Regards

Daniel

[SwordGuyJoe]

I can attest that the sword is really quite nice and far better in hand than in photos (Since I used to own it...)

[Bond]

Hello and many thanks for all your comments, attention and warm welcome!

:-)

 

Hoahn, the fact that Daniel was a member on this forum was a nice surprise :-)

We both live in Sweden and now we met on South African forum. Hardly can imagine more distant place, world is small indeed :-)

Thanks for your opinion. I had some troubles understanding most of the questions, though I know I want somewhat longer sword – a katana or tachi.

But most important for me was your very last comment, together with Ken’s advice, it actually helped me realizing what I want! :-)

 

Mariusz, thanks, interesting reading, makes me feel more certain that I am going to make costly mistakes :-)

 

Stephen, thank you for your opinion. どうもありがとう

 

Franco, thanks, I went through some of your recommended reading, I feel I will have a pleasure of learning basics, extended throughout several years :-)

 

Ken, you made my day and I will try to explain what I mean later!

 

Daniel, I am very glad to see you are a member on this forum and I am looking forward to meeting you in Partille! :-)

 

Joe, thanks! Btw, now after reading many of your posts I feel like I know you :-)

 

 

So, again I was thinking why I am doing this and I realized that main reason is because I do really enjoy it! I mean what could be the point of most hobbies – owning special and rare pieces of art, buying and selling, celebrating successes and learning from failures – living through all these experiences and enjoying different feelings - all this process might be the answer.

This sounds simple, but this was such a great eye opener for me today :-)

Plus of course Japanese swords, there is something magical about them - in the steel and beautiful curves and details of the blades, plus all the history and hard work behind them :-)

 

 

Well, then another interesting learning for me was that I am going to make costly mistakes. Yes, I do understand that reading and learning from the books before buying my first blade is a very healthy, right and logical thing to do, but I am not there yet. I believe my way of finding the “truth” will be by making mistakes and by learning from them. And most likely there will be a second sword, and then maybe a third :-)

It became much better when I admitted and acknowledged this for myself! What I need is to focus on turning mistakes into an enjoyable journey :-) And hopefully with your help number of my mistakes will be least possible :-)

I actually have an interesting theory, I think there is simply no “right” first blade. It actually needs to be “wrong” in order for me to see what I will like about it and what I would like to be different. It will shape a picture of my next sword and features that I will more likely to enjoy in that next sword. Yes, my risk is to lose some money. But money is something more of a measure, not the point in themselves – while feelings are what really matter. Then, this might also give me a further push to read books, travel somewhere, meet new people with similar interests and whatever else - gradual learnings, new findings and all the great exciting experiences! Fantastic, that is what I want :-)

Now I also know that by making a mistake and learning from it I will only become a closer to the enjoyment of the future success – this idea makes me feel good, it brings piece and balance to my mind :-)

 

So, coming back to my first sword, as I now see one of its purposes is in setting a baseline, and thus additional selection criteria becomes simply an attractiveness and speed when I later decide to resell it, plus with least possible loss of money.

 

Kindly share your opinion on above, would you think this makes sense?

 

 

With best regards,

Aleksandr B.

[J Reid]

Honestly, If you're going to make a purchase.. Then I think the masamitsu is a good choice for a first sword. Good quality, no flaws, decent polish, and fair mounts. I think it's excellent value. You obviously want (need) to learn from your mistakes, in order to know what you like and why. That's completely normal. With this sword, your mistakes would be only 1 (maybe). You would only regret this purchase if you decide you like older or newer swords. You most likely wouldn't lose any money and there would be minimal flaws in the blade/mounts to go OCD over. So go for it.

[Ken-Hawaii]

Aleksandr, just PM'ed you.

 

Ken

[Bond]

Honestly, If you're going to make a purchase.. Then I think the masamitsu is a good choice for a first sword. Good quality, no flaws, decent polish, and fair mounts. I think it's excellent value. You obviously want (need) to learn from your mistakes, in order to know what you like and why. That's completely normal. With this sword, your mistakes would be only 1 (maybe). You would only regret this purchase if you decide you like older or newer swords. You most likely wouldn't lose any money and there would be minimal flaws in the blade/mounts to go OCD over. So go for it.

 

Thank you for a good summary Josh!

[Marius]

Kindly share your opinion on above, would you think this makes sense?

 

No But that is OK Aleksandr, I think we know what you feel :D

 

A decent sword - a good beginning, well done. Now, hit the books

[Bond]

Mariusz, I have not bought it, yet

I prefer not to rush.

 

 

Gentlemen, may I ask for your opinions on following swords:

 

1. is it a Japanese sword at all? I have not seen any similar swords - http://www.ebay.com/itm/161109980717?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

2. this one has an attractive curvature, but seller refused removing tsuka, plus price will more likely go up from current 600$ - http://www.ebay.com/itm/301112341102?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

 

I have read about buying from ebay, without inspection, papers, without photo of nakago etc. and I understand it. I do not want to insult anyone I am just asking for opinions as these swords look somewhat different.

 

 

Many thanks in advance!

 

Aleksandr B.

[Grey Doffin]

Hi Aleksandr,

Stay far away from the 1st sword; it is ugly as sin.

The 2nd will go for much more than $600 but I'm not sure it will be worth the money. Exaggerated curvature can be a sign of early work but it also is a common attribute of a retempered sword. This looks like an oil tempered Gunto, nothing special. I'd stay clear of this one also.

If you must buy a sword before you have the experience and knowledge to know what to buy, stay clear of ebay and go only to well established sellers, those with good reputations. A good paper with the sword may also be smart; it will make up for the deficiencies in your knowledge.

Grey

[Bond]

Great, thank you Grey!