Katanas

[Lorenzo_of_Iberia]

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 ?

Mostly Peasants but additionally Japanese never used armour nearly as heavy as european plate, so yes maybe some high end japanese samurai armour could withstand the cuts but I think its safe to assume that Japan did not have nearly as many heavily armoured soldiers as the europeans. I believe while europeans were developing steel plate the japanese samurais were using iron and leather scales. No where near as cut resistant as plate.

[Inkompetent]

To further Ujin's point katanas weren't designed to cut through armour. Period. They are designed to VERY effectively cut unarmoured flesh, and at that they excel.

The main battlefield weapon for the japanese weren't swords at all. They were (only counting melee weapons, since the bow was the prefered weapon), yaris and naginatas (straight- and curved-bladed polearms, respectively) since they beat the swords for range, and for effect against armour.

Then as Ujin said they had coup-de-grace daggers that either were used to attack gaps in the armour, or to simply hammer point-first straight through the armour.

Swords were carried on the battlefield as ceremonial details, and as a last resort if your spear broke (which considering the durability of yaris wasn't likely to happen).

Yes, you could kill ashigaru and militia with sword since they used little to no armour, but since they had spears designed to penetrate your armour you'd prefer having a spear yourself to match their range.


Samurai armour might not be as heavy as metal plate armour, but it is very resilient to cuts, and cutting is the only thing a katana can do decently.

[Thomek]

I don't understand why it's so hard for people to understand the inherent advantages of the curved blade. Look at the video!

Of course, katanas, as Ujin points out were not meant to be used in warfare, but more as a personal sidearm. They are short, stiff, solid swords excellent for cutting and thrusting into unarmored foes. That doesn't mean it is also not an adequate formula for punching through armor..

Compared to a longsword the katana sacrifices length per weight and 2 sides. The longsword sacrifices stiffness and curvature.

Swordmakers in Europe had other ideals. They tried to get the weight down and extend the length. They had better materials so they could do it too. They were often facing plate which you could forget about cutting with almost anything.. I reckon they used the longsword at the peasants and heavier, blunter polethings when fighting plate.

And the japanese used mail. Often under their other armor. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mail_(armour)#Mail_armour_.28kusari.29_in_Japan
In the article, more varieties than the rest of the world together.

[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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I'm still lazy.

[polkafranzi]

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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.
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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I'm still weaboo.

[Jacko]

We all know the Katana is the best sword in history, it can cut through cars for god sake. This thread is pointless.

[Siiem]

We all know the Katana is the best sword in history, it can cut through cars for god sake. This thread is pointless.

Must have been a Toyota or a Mitsubishi...

[Fandrall]

This guy shows the basics of parry technique with katana. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNj5HiCPx1I If you cba to see the entire thing he shows how to parry with a katana from 0:14:00.

For those of you who like Science, History and Jackass this is the perfect combination. He is infact quite good at handling melee and throwing weapons.

[zagibu]

Katana is largely misunderstood. Samurai were horsemen, and Katana was the tool to put an injured horse out of its misery by cutting the head off in one clean swipe. It could also be used for bluffs, when a Samurai had lost his bow, he would pretend the curved Katana was his bow, and make swishing sounds to imitate flying arrows. This was very important, because a bowless Samurai was considered dishonourable, and would have been killed by his own allies. Lastly, many Katanas arranged in a circle on the floor could delimit the dancefloor for the after-battle party. They had a fun drinking game where every Samurai who mistakenly left the circle during the dance had to down 3 cups of sake, and the first Samurai to puke had to pay for the whole party.

I know all this from my daughter, who was a Samurai for a long time, before she was abducted by aliens.

[Christo]

Seems legit.

[Siiem]

Seems legit.

The story involved aliens, so it can never be disproved.

[Tennenoth]

I'll put it this way, I don't want to be hit with a sword no matter what it is.

In cRPG, I run away so most people don't hit me anway so there is no reason I should try and block. Not that I use a katana because i'm a European weaponry fanboy but I do pick up a Masterwork Katana if I have run out of arrows and I need something a little faster than my Langes.

I'm particularly fond of the whole "the power and skill/technique of the user has great effect on the effectiveness of each weapon" and that pretty much carries across into cRPG, faster sword throws people off if they're used to something slower, or vice versa (more often than not, backwards is more difficult for me).

Sadly, as said before, the blocking in cRPG isn't realistic, it's for the game mechanic that we all have a love/hate relationship with.

[Osiris]

pointless thread weeaboos will always shout out that the katana is the best most uberest weapon in history and that samurai were the coolest and most hardcore warriors ever to live. The Yumi is clearly superior to any other bow in history and they are the only warriors with honour.

you cant argue with a weeaboo so why try

[Ujin]

pointless thread weeaboos will always shout out that the katana is the best most uberest weapon in history and that samurai were the coolest and most hardcore warriors ever to live. The Yumi is clearly superior to any other bow in history and they are the only warriors with honour.

you cant argue with a weeaboo so why try

Not really, if you actually managed to read the posts in this topic, you'll find out that some people who know a thing or two about this have more or less objective opinions. Your post , however , is so unnecessary and cliche that it hurts my eyes. What are you , a lonely teenager who's trying to hang out with all the cool kids ? "Weeabooooos, boogity boogity boo, haha!" .

[Osiris]

i doubt many "cool kids" run around shouting weeaboo