Product Test:
Top of the Line Iaito Which Cut

by Guy Power

Iaito: Practice Training Swords

Rick Polland, CEO of Cutting Edge Technology, Inc., is marketing a new product: an iaito (sword for iai). So, what's new about that? Everything.

      Most students of Japanese swordsmanship recognize the term "iaito" to mean a poorly produced replica Japanese sword. The vision comes to mind of a plastic handle, loosely wrapped with cheap fabric tape; a zinc-aluminum alloy blade, chrome finished with an etched temper line; poorly cast fittings made of pot metal; and a painted scabbard with a cord retaining knob that always breaks off. Overall poor quality, poor balance, and lacking any asthetics.

      Strictly speaking, what I've just described is called a "kazari-to" in Japanese. A Kazari-to is a decoration sword; they are not made, nor should they be used, for martial arts training. Our readers with a deeper background in Japanese sword arts know that differing grades of iaito can be purchased, anywhere from a low of $400 to a high of $1,500, depending on the quality of detail, and depending on the manufacturer. However, just because an iaito is made in Japan does not mean it is a quality piece. I've seen veritable junk sold in some martial arts stores in Tokyo and Yokohama for over $400. So, what is one to do?

Enter: Rick Polland

      Besides being a skilled martial artist in Kashima Shindo Ryu jodo, and Shinden Muso Ryu iaido, Rick Polland sells iaito. Not just any iaito, he sells IAITO. Rick is the sole US agent for Nosyuiaido, Ltd. (Japan), a company internationally known for the quality of its iaito. Nosyuiaido is located in Seki City (the center of sword manufacturer in ancient Japan), Gifu Prefecture, close to Osaka. Company president Mr. Igarashi, a second generation handle wrapping master, has a passion for maintaining quality in his company's product line. Therefore, he utilizes his handle wrap (tsukamaki) apprentices to do the handle wrapping of all Nosyuiaido training swords. Likewise, scabbards and handles are specially hand made from hinoki (a magnolia) by local masters; masters who are normally contracted by sword smiths to "clothe" their masterpieces after the final polishing. No routers, no mechanical forming; just plain, good old-fashioned traditional hand work. And the lacquer is real urushi, a Japanese lacquer produced from a plant of the poison ivy family. The end result is a training sword made with the same care and attention lavished onto the real swords these craftsmen also produce.

      But this article is not about zinc-alloy iaito -- although Nosyuiaido's are the best I've seen. Rather, I am informing our readership of a new product being offered in the United States: an iaito that cuts makiwara, bamboo, and flesh (albeit an unexpected "target of opportunity").

      I was extremely skeptical, to say the least, when Rick told me he was going to market an iaito that cuts. Two of my students own Nosyuiaido iaito made with zinc alloy. I was so impressed with their look and feel, I bought one (remember my mentioning $1,500?). Placing the order was a pleasant experience because I was able to select the blade length, furniture, handle length, wrap color and type of material (faux buckskin -- you do not know what you are missing), menuki placement, and even specified a two-tone lacquer job for the scabbard. The "blade" is broad and handsome, with a grove and a well executed false temper line. The edge is sharpened so that one does not become complacent using an iaito. However, it will not cut through traditional cutting targets.

      Thus my initial skepticism to Rick's "iaito that cuts."

Reality Strikes

      When the cardboard sarcophagus entombing the "iaito that cuts" arrived, I noted it was shipped directly from Nosyuiaido in Japan; meaning no additional time lost by first going to Rick's address on the East Coast. An important consideration to those of us who live on the "Left Coast."

      My first unofficial blade test (after rescuing the sword from its smothering, protective bubble wrap and 200 miles of cellophane tape) was the paper-slice. Holding a dry sheet of 8x11 rag computer paper -- normal stationery stock -- in my left hand by one corner, I sliced pieces of paper quite freely and easily. A few cuts exceeded 9 inches with a slight curvature, others were 4" or so. A couple of slices stopped cutting at about 6", then tore the paper -- perhaps because of the way I held the paper.

      Next, I performed the "shave" test on the paper edge. Although I was not able to get 1/32" paper curls, I was definitely able to shave the paper. It sounds trivial, but if a sword will not cut paper, it usually will not cut other items well.

      Unfortunately, my wife was unwilling to let me use her silk scarf for to the "floating silk test." You know -- you saw it in the Crusader movie in which Richard Lionheart (Richard Coeur de Leon) slices through a Saracen's mace handle to show the strength of his sword. After Richard's display Saladin quips, "That shows the strength of your arm, not the keeness of your blade." Saladin then drops a silk scarf through the air which floats down across the edge of his upturned sword -- and the silk scarf splits in half. Well.....you had to be there.

      But seriously, I was thinking, "This is an iaito? Iaito are not supposed to cut." My next test was to place a magnet on the blade ... it stuck! The blade turned out to be ferrous metal, not a zinc alloy. "This iaito has more to it than meets the eye," I thought to myself.

      The blade has a rough tameshigiri polish; however, turning it to reflect light, I could see the gentle rolling undulations of the yakiba. A genuine yakiba, such as this, is the sign of differential tempering in which portions of the blade anneal quicker than the rest of the sword. Differential tempering produces areas of soft steel -- the side and back, and hard steel -- the edge. I could also distinguish that all lines along the mune (back), and the shinogi (the ridge lines along the flat of the blade), were sharp, crisp, and evenly balanced. This sword was polished by hand, not by machine.

      The balance of the sword is slightly blade heavy, 7 inches forward of the tsuba; however, the sword is not unwieldly at all. The tsuka and kodogu are well put together and fit the hand well. My only suggestions are that the menuki should be reversed so they fit in the palm of the hand, creating a "palm swell," and two mekugi, retaining pins, should be used -- preferably a bamboo peg near the tsuba and metal pin near the kashira (pommel). The two mekugi are for safety; the reversed menuki for comfort.

      Before the test, Rick informed me that this particular iaito is a prototype and it did not receive full "aitori" during the tempering process. The market product will have a complete aitori. I conducted the test to see how well it would stand up to hard targets in its current condition. If the blade fails at this point Rick Polland and Nosyuiaido will have to return to the drawing board.

Tameshigiri Results

      Well, here's what you've been waiting for. The targets used were 1/4" to 1" diameter bamboo; 1" to 2" diameter bamboo; leftover bamboo branches bundled together into a 2" diameter roll; 4" diameter makiwara (moist tatami mat coverings, similar to what we call beach mats ; and 1/2" diameter oliander branches.

1. 1/4" Bamboo. The sword cut through effortlessly. I cut this branch about four times, each cut taking a progressively larger diameter section of bamboo. During this phase the blade edge chipped. The monouchi had small serrations in a section about 1/2" long. I made further cuts, but did not cut the larger 1" to 2" bamboo for fear of seriously damaging the blade. All in all, the sword cut well. Overall damaged area was located in the monouchi with three patches of serrations (one area was about 1.5" long).

2. Bamboo wara. I decided to use the auxilliary bamboo branches to see how the sword would stand up to different sized branches as a bundle. To my surprise, it cut through almost effortlessly.

3. Makiwara. Makiwara was prepared using tatami-omote folded in thirds, then tightly rolled. The wara were soaked overnight and allowed to drip-dry one hour prior to test. The sword cut through effortlessly when using a two-handed diagonal cut; however, when using a single-handed diagonal cut, I was only able to cut about 4/5 of the way through -- probably due to the relative lightness of the sword compared to what I normally use. Rising diagonal cuts were smooth, as were horizontal cuts.

4. Oliander branches. I cut the 1/2" branch with no trouble. We had more trouble binding four branches together and propping them up then I had cutting them. The second cut, through three branches was very smooth; the third cut went through the support branch as well, for a total of a four-branche bundle.

5. Different sword for comparrison. Another student brought his recently sharpened Japanese Army sword (gunto) which had been given a tameshigiri polish by a local Californian (not certified). Previous attempts to cut did not leave a favorable impression. On this occasion my student attempted to cut a 3" diameter beach mat prepared like the tatami omote, but his cut stopped about 1/4 of the way through. I tried his sword and cut about 1/2 way through. Using the "iaito that cuts," I cut the target effortlessly in twain.

Test Conclusion

      Nosyuiaido's "iaito that cuts" is a superb sword for cutting soft materials. The prototype blade chipped in 1/16" or 1/32" segments over a 2.5" section of serrations which gives the appearance of a hack-saw or jeweller's saw blade. A couple of chips were about 1/8". I do not recommend anyone to cut bamboo until the "aitori" process is refined.

      Rick's most recent letter tells me that the blade I tested was water quenched at too low a temperature. The blades offered are now quenched at a different temperature, making the blade edge more chip resistant. This is also one of the key points to being able to make a successful blade. The aitori was refined and the blades on the final product are considerably more chip resistant and the mune is just slightly softer.

      However, I will inform you in the future when my recommendation not to cut bamboo changes.

      The prototype sword is a joy to handle, but a devil for me to "noto" because of its 30" length. I recommend that the blade retain the same amount of steel, but shorten its overall length to about 27-28 inches; this will give the blade more mass (and perhaps allow me to cut single-handedly??). The koshirae (furniture) is well put together and the kodogu (fittings) are nice-I really, really like the Higo fittings.

Post Test Update

      Nosyuiaido currently offers their "top of the line iaito" with a tameshigiri polish so that surface scratches from cutting will not be blatantly noticible; late, they will offer a live blade iaito with a higher quality polish suited for iaido. Blades for tameshigiri will have two mekugi. Blades for iai will have one mekugi. Nosyuiaido's mekugi are all hardened bamboo. Gyakute menuki (reversed menuki placement) will be available as a special order item.

      Both blades are in the $2000 to $2500 range. Rick markets these live blades as "top of the line iaito" for a reason: the blades are forged in China. Therefore, they cannot honestly be classified as "Nippon-to" (Sword of Japan), samurai sword, or "shinsaku-to." Although "shinsaku-to" literally means "newly made sword," the term implies a newly made Japanese sword forged by a Japanese smith. Rick feels that to classify this product other than "top of the line iaito" would be false advertising.

The Competition

      Other companies sell swords produced entirely in China. Not only is the blade forged in China, but the scabbard, handle, wrapping, fitting -- everything -- is made by Chinese craftsmen. Some are better than others; and some swords made by the same craftsmen are reported to differ in quality. The average handle length offered by one company is 15" long; about half the length of the entire blade, or 1/3 the overall length! Nosyuiaido swords are forged by a Chinese smith and shipped to Japan for polishing and outfitting. Nosyuiaido's finished quality comforms to what I personally know to be the "Japanese standard," definitely outshining these other products.

Specifications:
Item.  Iaito: (practice sword).
Composition.  steel/iron (ferrous metal)
Overall length.  40"
Blade length.  30"
Nakago length.  8"
Sori.
Hamon.  Notare
Polish.  
Grip.  9"; wrapped in black tsukamaki.
Fuchi and kashira: Higo style stone grade (K-12 in the on-line catalogue).
Tsuba: Sukashi; round, lotus leaf design (T-31).