Synthetic Katana

I got this as a gift for a friend that practices kendo so that he can spar with us. It's incredibly nimble and just as sturdy as the other Blackfencer synthetics. As a bonus, it also fits in a bokken saya!

Specifications are as advertised, at least for mine. I did some quick impact testing, and the blade held up fine. The weight is a little different tog et used to if you're coming from a bokken, as the blade is definitely handle heavy (not as much as a European sword, of course) to keep it safer in sparring. But also because of this, it lends itself well to one-handed training exercises as well. The metal tsuba is blackened for aesthetics, and some of that black has scraped off onto my gloves. It's not significant, though. The tsuba is a bit sharp, but mine wasn't nearly as bad as some other Blackfencer products I've gotten that don't have sanded rivets. The construction is completely solid, and has had no issues after testing.

I also initially thought the more rectangular handle would be difficult to keep edges aligned on the down swings, but it wasn't bad at all - another thing to get used to. If you are training with no sparring gloves on, the handle will seem a little long, which is fine for me because I prefer longer handles - but it's made with sparring gloves in mind. The cord wrap wasn't as scratchy as I've had with BF products in the past, so that was also a plus.

The blade itself has been excellent, and doesn't warp after flexing. The katana does in fact flex on thrust, but not very well, so keep that in mind for sparring.

All in all, I think it's a really good katana for it's price point, especially compared to relevant competitors in the synthetic Japanese armaments space. It's well worth the price, and the quality is excellent.

The synthetic katanas exhibit superb durability with its waxy nylon plastic blade that has yet to show any signs of denting. They have already seen months of use in our dojo with sparring contact at full power, and are holding up like they are new.

There are small sections that might show signs of shaving off due to occasional contact against the sharp-edged tsubas of the opponents' synthetic, but nothing that can't be fixed by carving them out with a razor blade.

A little more quality control could be done though on the manufacturer's end to remove certain sharp edges and smoother cord wrapping around the handle area. Despite this, these synthetics were definitely made for impact and serve their purpose well.

Out of the box, it’s borderline unusable. The nylon at the kashira (pommel) end has very sharp corners that cut into the hand on the first swing. Had to file the sharp edges down to make it usable.

The tsuba is sharp at the corners of all of the cutouts, and feels like a cheese grater against your knuckles if you choke up on the blade at all.

The blade itself is difficult to keep the edge aligned while swinging. Could be because of the flat leading edge, or could be something in the exact shape of the handle. Tried swinging the blade with the beveled “spine” of the blade leading, and it was much easier to keep aligned…but that’s not how these swords are used. Perhaps the leading edge could be filed more round to cut through the air.

All of these problems can be fixed by the end user…but that’s not the point.

For reference, I am a kendo player of 6 years, and have a reasonable level of experience with katana, and katana shaped swords.