Can any of you point me to a good online guide for maintenance and care for live Japanese-style swords? Thank you.
This one is quite detailed http://www.toyamaryu.org/Katana_Maintenance.htm The website mentions you must follow the cleaning method after tameshigiri. But you should do this before and after normal training too One of my teachers advised to use a 'clean' and 'dirty' oil cloth the 'dirty' one being to re-oil during practice and the 'clean' one for the final oiling before putting it to bed / away after practice You should also oil it regurlarly if it is not being used for some time too, say once a month And if you have leather tsuka-ito, that needs attention too hope this helps
None that I have ever bought have come with an instruction sheet. The only on-line guides that I know of are provided by the NBTHK, the Japanese sword society, and are meant to apply to antique and collector swords rather than user swords. It's a good place to start though. Here's one that I know of courtesy of Fred Lohman ... http://www.japanese-swords.com/pages/handling.htm If you are using this sword regularly for practice, then you should ask your instructor. P.S. Thanks for that link Debs, that's pretty cool!
Hm. I have purchased at least half a dozen from various sources, they have all come with an instruction sheet. [ame="http://www.amazon.com/United-Cutlery-UC1480-Deluxe-Japanese/dp/B000YCJQP4"]United Cutlery UC1480 Deluxe Japanese Sword Care Kit - Amazon.com[/ame]
Yeah I'm going to be a typical weapon forum **** now. Do you not have a teacher to guide you in these things?
Sorry, I've never had any desire to buy anything sold by United Cutlery. I've won a couple of cleaning kits at Tai Kai, ordered several from Swordstore, Tozando, Nishijin, and Namikawa Heibei. I've even gotten several that came with Chinese made Japanese style swords that I've bought as dojo cutters. I've probably had two dozen go through my hands over the years, and I've never seen an instruction sheet in any of them.
haha ditto there mate I have 2 cleaning kits, a wood one and a portable one the wood one being cheap chinesey i think, though still quite decent and the other a portable thing from japan Neither have cleaning instructions Nor have i ever heard of them having them Maybe we are both buying from too reputable a dealer
Dunno about United Cutlery, I was just providing a quick example link. It's a generic kit, sold by many suppliers and distributors. And if I remember correctly, yes the instructions are in English, and there are pictures to accompany.
