Do you want to buy a Ninja sword for your own collection? Are you interested in the history of ninja sword fighting and sword crafting techniques?
There are a number of on-line retailers and distributors of the ninja sword if you are looking to buy. A good place to start is Amazon who have quite a collection of swords from different producers. But if you look around there are many others just be aware that some of the cheaper makes and versions will break or fall apart in a very short time – you get what you pay for as with everything. Good entry level sword will start around the $70-100 mark and anything under this is only worth considering if you want a toy to play with, taking pictures or perhaps making a short movie.
Martial arts in TV and Film
Most of us have seen examples of a ninja sword – ‘shinobigatana’ and Ninjas themselves mostly from films and movies or through the modern weapon replicas and reconstructions. My schooldays often involved ducking under improvised ’shurikens’ knocked-up in metal work class. Many of us were fairly obsessed with everything to do with these dark anti-heroes. I progressed to books by ‘Eric Van Lustbader’ – ‘The Ninja’ etc before dabbling in various martial arts of the Japanese variety. How accurate were all those early impressions in reality though? Not very accurate I would guess.
Ninja swords in the Media
TV and movie Ninjas have a lot to answer for with regards the modern image of these dark assassins; all those black clad orientals dropping smoke and/or stink bombs and balancing on telephone wires. If anyone remembers ‘The Master’ with Lee Van Cleef‘ you’ll know what I’m talking about. There are also some great scenes in the film version of ‘You only live twice’ by Ian Fleming, where Bond San 007 is what can only be described as some serious fast-tracking! at a ninja training school (“welcome to ninja island Mr. Bond“).
The Ninja sword itself
What about the Ninja sword itself? Did they really exist?If they did, it seems likely that no serious sword smith was producing great quality swords for the ninja clans. Those working in the assassination business had a more pragmatic and unsentimental take on the sword – it was merely a convenient weapon which if broken, due to poor manufacture, would be discarded easily. It wasn’t an extension of one’s being like a blade belonging to a samurai warrior.
The ninja sword of legend, the ninjato or ninjaken included these characteristics :
- Shorter blades which enabled quicker drawing time and use in smaller spaces.
- Straighter blades made for quick, lethal strikes rather than continued sword fighting.
- Sharpened and pointed tips for stabbing.
- Larger guards which enable using the swords as a climbing tool.
Supposedly the swords were often kept in longer scabbards to deceive opponents into thinking that a longer sword existed and would therefore take longer to draw. This would give the ninja a tactical advantage. It seems unlikely though, as the ninja philosophy would be to try and avoid open fighting as much as possible. Most likely their shorter swords were kept on their backs for quick use in sudden, unexpected encounters.