Ninja-To

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Hanzo04

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hi. Does anybody know if there is a company that sells the original styling of the ninja sword with the curve in the blade? or do i have to go to Japan and talk to Dr. Hatsumi?
 

Grey Eyed Bandit

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What makes you think talking to Hatsumi sensei might help you acquire a shinobigatana?

This is my suggestion: from what I've gathered the Paul Chen Practical Katana Plus and Practical Wakizashi Plus can both be disassembled. Buy both, take off the handle of the katana and put it on the wakizashi, put the wakizashi in the saya of the katana and voilá - instant shinobigatana.
 
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MisterMike

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take off the handle of the katana and put it on the wakizashi

Did you confirm if the holes still line up (from the tang of the wakizashi to the tsuka of the katana)?

Not a bad idea if it works.
 

Blindside

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????

A thirteen inch handle on a twenty inch blade? Sounds more like a dha to me. Can anyone provide a picture of a historical version of this sword?

Thanks,

Lamont
 

Grey Eyed Bandit

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Don't know if it will work to use the tsuka of the katana on the wakizashi. www.swordstore.com might be able to provide a custom shinobigatana. From what I remember the Togakure ryu preferred a sword with a blade length of about 50 centimeters. Hatsumi sensei used to sell iaito custom made to fit Togakure ryu, Shinden Fudo ryu etc. up until about two years ago. They've been sold out for quite some time now, but I did hear something about plans for a tachi size mogito.
 
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mizu_teppo

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For the practical plus idea, if the mekugi don't line up you could just drill an extra one. But the size of the fittings might just not line up at all (the blade might not fit in the saya, the nagako might be much too small for the tsuka, etc.). But the cheaper and easier way to go would be to just get the wakizashi blade and make your own tsuba, tsuka, and saya. That way you could make it to the exact traditional little detail while using a decent forged blade. Since the ninja were known to make their own equipment, it wouldn't be a bad idea to learn how to make this kind of stuff outside of your training. But if you're determined to be lazy, I guess you could also get the wakizashi blade and send it to someone like Ed Green from budoweapons.com and have him custom mount the blade with the fittings of your description for a fair amount of money.

There's tons of oppertunities out there to get real ninja-to.
 

stephen

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Hanzo04 said:
hi. Does anybody know if there is a company that sells the original styling of the ninja sword with the curve in the blade? or do i have to go to Japan and talk to Dr. Hatsumi?


You should go to a dojo and speak with an instructor.
 
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mizu_teppo

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Another idea if you have tons of money is to switch the fittings of a cold steel blade. Like use the wakizashi with the chisa katana fittings, or the katana fittings. Personally though, I'd say it's a waste of money. Then again, the last time I saw a real shinken ninja-to from Japan, it was around $6000 USD I think. So I guess it's not THAT bad...
 
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Bakufu

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For the uninitiated - what does the original shinken ninja-to look like ?
 
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mizu_teppo

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Bakufu said:
For the uninitiated - what does the original shinken ninja-to look like ?
ninjato.jpg


Like this. Blade length varies anywhere from about 18 to 22 inches with a 10 to 12 inch tsuka, the sageo was longer and thicker, the tsuba was the commonly four petalled type, the saya was slightly longer than the blade for things like metsubushi, etc. These are the most common specifications.
 

Tamayoke

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I have four ninjato from Soke, and on one of the production runs there is a bohi. I've also been fortunate enough to see some of his historical models and a few of them have bohi as well. There are reasons why this is, and they are addressed in an article I'm in the process of writing on the ninjato. However, once it's completed I haven't decided yet whether to publish it online due to the pseudo-ninjutsu organizations that might take what's written (like some have done with Don Roley's writings for instance), and use it to add credence to their claims.
 

Cryozombie

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Luke,

Welcome to Martial Talk! It's a pleasure to have you here, I hope you share your knowlage and expertise with the board!

I'm sorry I missed your seminar here recently, my instructor was there, and said you were nothing short of Amazing!

So, again, welcome to MT, and happy posting!
 

Don Roley

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Tamayoke said:
However, once it's completed I haven't decided yet whether to publish it online due to the pseudo-ninjutsu organizations that might take what's written (like some have done with Don Roley's writings for instance), and use it to add credence to their claims.

Hi Luke,
Welcome to Martialtalk. Love your screen name. It is the warrior name you got from Nagase, right? "Bullet stopper" is such a wonderfull image.
:)

Yeah, I can understand where you are coming from on the information thing. I can bet you dollars to donuts that someone is going to take what you wrote, change it around a little and try to pass it off as wisdom from the master they can't reveal to anyone else. :rolleyes:
 

Don Roley

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Kizaru said:
Luke...I am your father!!! :jediduel: :jediduel:

Yeah, like he has never heard that joke before.
:rolleyes:

I swear Kizaru, I get the feeling that someday you are going to be the death of me. :duel: Hope you have a good supply of French Vanilla coffee- 'cause I doubt Tamayoke will be bringing much back with him next time. :2xBird2:

As a token reference to the original topic, I think I should point out that the maker of the swords may or may not be doing a perfect job. I was told by a Japanese shihan that the early releases had shorter tsuka than the ones that came out during the year of koto ryu. The year prior to that was Kukishinden ryu and the sword that Hatsumi had made by the same maker had a longer tsuka than normal. For some reason, when they made the ninja-to, it retained the longer tsuka.

So the whole idea of a Bohi is still up in the air when viewed in that light. Oh, and I think the best translation of that would be 'fuller' and not 'blood groove.' Despite a lot of stories, it had nothing to do with letting blood flow and everything to do with lightening the weight. I wince when I hear the term 'blood grove' used in reference to a knife of sword.
 

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