Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The wakizashi was one of several short swords available for use by samurai including the yoroi tōshi, and the chisa-katana. The term wakizashi did not originally specify swords of any official blade length [10] and was an abbreviation of wakizashi no katana ("sword thrust at one's side"); the term was applied to companion swords of all sizes. [11]
The blade of a small sword is comparatively short at around 0.6 to 0.85 metres (24 to 33 in), though some reach over 1 metre (39 in). It usually tapers to a sharp point but may lack a cutting edge. It is typically triangular in cross-section, although some of the early examples still have the rhombic and spindle -shaped cross-sections inherited ...
shōtō (小刀, lit. small sword) – any type of Japanese short sword, the smaller in a pair of daishō. Commonly a wakizashi. sori (反り, curvature) – curvature of the sword measured as the greatest perpendicular distance between the back edge (mune) and the chord connecting the back edge notch (munemachi) with the point of the blade. [40]
Katana originates from sasuga (刺刀), a kind of tantō (short sword or knife) used by lower-ranking samurai who fought on foot in the Kamakura period (1185–1333). Their main weapon was a long naginata and sasuga was a spare weapon.
The cutlass is a 17th-century descendant of the edged short sword, exemplified by the medieval falchion.. Woodsmen and soldiers in the 17th and 18th centuries used a similar short and broad backsword called a hanger, or in German a messer, meaning "knife".
A Hand and a half sword, colloquially known as a "bastard sword", was a sword with an extended grip and sometimes pommel so that it could be used with either one or two hands. Although these swords may not provide a full two-hand grip, they allowed its wielders to hold a shield or parrying dagger in their off hand, or to use it as a two-handed ...
Short swords may have been used in follow-up attacks, as short sword carriers were armoured completely and accompanied with a shield. Ashanti Akrafena Swords with wooden or metal pommels decorated with beaten gold have featured in Ashanti court regalia since the 17th century AD. Ashanti Swords were used during Ashanti wars since the 17th century.
A tantō (短刀, ' short blade ') [1] is a traditionally made Japanese knife [2] (nihontō) [3] [4] that were worn by the samurai class of feudal Japan. The tantō dates to the Heian period, when it was mainly used as a weapon but evolved in design over the years to become more ornate.