Katanas

[Ninja_Khorin]

PS Trolls work better when it at least looks serious ^^

Alright 
The point is that no swords cut through plate. That's why europeans developed swords better suited for thrusting. The design of the katana is for cutting.

This design change is largely attributed to the use of plate armour as an effective defense, more or less nullifying the ability of a sword cut to break through the armour system. Instead of cutting, long swords were then used more to thrust against opponents in plate armour, requiring a more acute point and a more rigid blade.

The truth of the matter is that plate armour simply is not effectively cut with a sword's edge, in spite of what you will see portrayed in movies and at many Renn fairs. When it comes to armoured longsword combat, the thrust is paramount.

The katana, with its living tradition of practice, is well known for demonstrating its cutting power. Its single, hardened, wedge-like edge has long been shown to be capable of extraordinary sharpness. The longsword, which has not been practiced or studied for centuries, has not acquired a similar reputation. Indeed, its utility and cutting ability has suffered from considerable disregard by fencing historians and arms curators (despite historical accounts documenting its formidable edge blows having been corroborated by modern experiment). It is certain that both weapons successfully faced opponents wearing soft and hard armors without great difficulty. Nonetheless, a curved blade is mechanically superior to a straight one at delivering edge blows to produce injury. And due to its hardness, the single curving edge of the katana is very good at penetrating even hard materials with straight-on strikes.

He doesn't mean that it can cut through plate.

What ARMA is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_for_Renaissance_Martial_Arts

Sources:
http://www.thearma.org/essays/armoredlongsword.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longsword
http://www.thearma.org/essays/longsword-and-katana.html

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Now I'm just getting lazy

[Konrax]

Katanas are made of two types of steel.

Soft steel bar which is used as the core and back part of the sword, with the hard steel wrapped around the front and folded repeatedly to get an exceptional cutting edge.

Its also what gives the blade its unique curve from the forging process because they two types of steel expand and contract at different amounts.

Katanas aren't brittle swords at all, mind you that blocking any exceptionally heavy weapon head on like in MB most weapons would not survive.

[Tomas_of_Miles]

Gief katanas no block!  (You can still chamber)

[Tears of Destiny]

I think we use chadztanium and not steel after all, gunpowder does not exist in this Calradia...

[Christo]

I think we use chadztanium and not steel after all, gunpowder does not exist in this Calradia...

What about Steel Pick? o.O

chadztanium/chadzium Pick sounds epic. 

[B3RS3RK]

Gief katanas no block!  (You can still chamber)

Yeah, do this, but make them 60cut and 102 speed

[Inkompetent]

Katanas aren't brittle swords at all, mind you that blocking any exceptionally heavy weapon head on like in MB most weapons would not survive.

Well, a lot of weapons are made of different types of steel. The fact the katana has a softer core and a harder edge doesn't make it much less brittle though. The sword won't shatter (as some believe it would), but such a hardened edge is very vulnerable to damage. Much more so than more flexible steel.

[Arkonor]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDkoj932YFo&feature=related

Here you can see how the Katana and Longsword worked vs leather and plated armors.

[Lorenzo_of_Iberia]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDkoj932YFo&feature=related

Here you can see how the Katana and Longsword worked vs leather and plated armors.

Mind if I dont base my decision on a video hosted by a red neck ?

There was no cutting to the large european swords when attacking plate, it was all about the immense weight and momentum of the sword crushing through the armour, breaking bones. Katanas are not capable of such crushing, they were designed for cutting through the light armours the Japanese used, against the plate a standard faithfully recreated katana would not break through heavy armour :/

[_Sebastian_]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDkoj932YFo&feature=related

Here you can see how the Katana and Longsword worked vs leather and plated armors.

What a crapy test.
From 4:20min till the end the blade of the longsword was completly blunt.

[Tigero]

All good swords are made out of exactly same material, perfectly tempered high-carbon steel. I don't know where this katana hysteria comes from, its just a fking sword with a slightest curve with no cross-guard, no pommel and no single-point tip for stabbing... very bad sword actually.

A truly magical sword is the 1796 cavarly sabre, even tho it's one-handed, one can cut with it much more efficiently than with katana. It probably has the best curve ever, starting mainly from the middle of the sword, and ending close to the tip, making a perfect horseback stabbing weapon because it doesn't rip the sword out of the stabber's hand.

[Tigero]

What a crapy test.
From 4:20min till the end the blade of the longsword was completly blunt.

Yes and in the ice test, if you look closely, the katana has a pre-made groove and longsword not. And the cutting test to the mannequin was unfair, longsword had to cut through 15cm wide area and katana only had to 'slice' the leather. (try cutting through paper with knife by just pressing it against the flat side of it and then by cutting it from the edge)

[Thomek]

Curved Edge.

The katana hits with all its force in a fraction of the area that the longsword does. In addition, "Cut" effects become much more likely.

Katana is also thicker and stiffer than the longsword.. Longsword is longer though.

[Inkompetent]

Well, R. Lee Ermey's videos are for enterntainment first, and historical accuracy second. He's already decided in advance what weapon is supposed to win, and the videos are then rigged to make that happen.

Every single test was done in favour of the katana (and it seemed like the ice block had a bigger groove than during the longsword-test).

They cut against the soft leather (that no one would wear as armour anyway, unless combined with other armour, since the leather wasn't thick, multi-layered, studded, or hardened) where the longsword would be used to thrust, or use a point-slash (i.e. towards the tip of the sword).

And thrusting *through* the steel is an obvious win for the katana since the sword is more rigid and won't bend/flex at impact like the longsword will. Not to mention the longer blade on the longsword makes it harder to make a thrust against solid armour stable.

The longsword would be used to thrust at the throat, armpits, and other unarmoured or weakly protected spots, since trying to get through plate is only done with a warpick/pickaxe, and other armour piercing weapons.

Summed up, it's a silly test that proves nothing at all, other than that the katana is good at cutting styrofoam.

[Ujin]

Mind if I dont base my decision on a video hosted by a red neck ?

There was no cutting to the large european swords when attacking plate, it was all about the immense weight and momentum of the sword crushing through the armour, breaking bones. Katanas are not capable of such crushing, they were designed for cutting through the light armours the Japanese used, against the plate a standard faithfully recreated katana would not break through heavy armour :/

What are those light armors you speak of ? Peasants ? Well european light infantry also wore "light armors" that could've been cut through by both katanas and european swords. If you're talking decently equipped samurais, apart from the gaps (which european armors also had), i sincerely doubt a katana (or another sword) could easily cut through  it.
They used heavier weaponry on the battlefield, katana was more of a side weapon. You know that the japanese samurai, very much like european knights, had grappling techniques and  a similar coupe de grace dagger for the finishing blow, just like their european colleagues ?