How to figure out the perfect balance of a samurai sword?

[Samuel Sung]

I'm not a good user of samurai sword. Is anyone know what is the best balence of a samurai sword? My friend tell me it is 3" before the tsuba. Is that true?

[Dave Neeley]

Become a better user and you will figure it out for yourself.

[Samuel Sung]

Thanks for your reply!
So there is no standard for all user, depend on personal feeling?

[Paul Smith]

It depends upon how a person is built, and what school of sword they are practicing rather than personal feeling. Of course, if you aren't practicing a particular school, then it's all personal feeling. I have one sword that is large, beefy, and weighted quite a bit out from the tusba. I have another which is quite a bit thinner and lighter with bo-hi. Both are very nice swords, and which I use depends on what I am practicing and how I am feeling at the moment.

Dave,
You always write these long drawn out novels as answers. Shorten them up a bit eh?

[John Coris]

Sadly there is no rule set on stone. Both of the people who posted before me are 100% correct...

[Dave Drawdy]

couple of points
- if you are thinking of training today, really best to refer to these as katana, or Japanese swords, rather than samurai swords. different context, assumptions, implications.
- they are all different. length, thickness, cross-section, shape, curvature, weight, fittings all affect balance.
- and all of us are different. how they 'feel' is a function of how much you train (what Dave said, sort of ), where your strength and balance are, how you move. something that feels ok now, because you may not have a basis for comparison, may not feel right when you have spent more time training.
- if you will be training formally, ask your teacher. best to not spend money on something that will not be right for you or your style.
- if you are not training, it does not really matter, just get something you like and can appreciate.
- have fun

Dave

[Jonathan Frances]

Hi Samuel,

Perhaps this might help you?
http://www.toyama-ryu.com/shinken_ka...ce.htm#Balance

They list a number of production swords and give an idea of the measurements along with the balance points so you might see some trends?

I am utterly unable to look at the numbers and extrapolate how the sword will handle, but maybe you have a better head for statistics than I do. I need to get the katana in hand and swish it about for a while. There's a lot of good information on that site though, check it out if you haven't already!

[Dave Neeley]

dave,
you always write these long drawn out novels as answers. Shorten them up a bit eh?

ok

[Aaron Justice]

I'm not a good user of samurai sword. Is anyone know what is the best balence of a samurai sword? My friend tell me it is 3" before the tsuba. Is that true?

3 is quite close, I would think that would be appropriate for a training blade or a iaito, but if that's for a cutting blade without bo hi, it's going to be a bit too close.

There is no good answer but think of the purpose of the actual blade. For me, a 5-6 inch POB feels good for a cutting blade. If the blade isn't egregiously heavy, the extra weight at the tip helps with the velocity of the cut. If the weight is too far back towards the tsuba, it becomes a stage blade. Blades made for stage fighting or for movies balance the blade right at the hilt so that it is light and easy to maneuver, but it lacks the cutting power that a blade with a 5 inch POB would have.

That's really a half paragraph explanation of something that would take 5 or 6 pages to explain, but the first thing to ask is, what is it for?

If just for admiring, then it really doesn't matter.

[Aaron Justice]

_unintentional double post_