Do you ever get tired of the samuri sword?

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

But in all honesty. The most useful weapons have always been things like halberds and spears. The best short or one handed weapons are usually axes.

Well a halberd is a spear and an axe and a club all it needs is a gun attachment.

 

[SilentCom]

Katanas are over-used and over-hyped. The katana is even used in L4d2. I mean serious, in a zombie apocolypse, I don't think you'll find too many katanas laying about...

Katanas are cool, but is only a sword.

 

[NinjaTigerXIII]

Nope, I wish I had two myself.

 

[sapphireofthesea]

Less katanas
More cowbell!

How many Western swords can you name that can slice a fired bullet in half?

None on the top of my head, but I do know katanas cant do it either, a katana cant even cut through chainmail.

Actually, it can. A true master user could cut through plate armour (they used to wear a plate armour around their necks, and it wasn't a garantee of avoiding getting it cut off).
Katana, more than any other sword I know, depend highly on the users skill. Cut badly and it will break after a few hits. Cut properly and it will go through armour (and did by historical accounts).
Bear in mind a master samurai could (by historical record) fire all 24 arrows from a bow while running accross a half dismantled bridge and hit 23 targets, killing (think it was) 13 and wounding the rest, before reaching the other side and still land fighting with their Yari (spear-like weapon). That is from a historical account from a war during the 1400's and was not a rare engagement for a master samurai. Historically, Katana were weapon of last choice in battle (bow or Yari being prefered and also mastered).

I have done a bit of reading on the topic, wish I could reference the source but I cannot recall the book that it came from (was a historical one dealing with Japanese history from it's beginings to the end of world war 2)

 

[SckizoBoy]

3) The rapier and its cousins, now here is a group of European swords that are lighter and faster. so why are they not as popular. well here it starts to boil down to fighting aesthetics tbh, rapiers where invented in a time where having SOME armour still was a possible issue, as such they are stabbing and thrusting weapons so they could slip between the cracks etc. why is this an issue though, well it has to do with the visuals. stabbing and thrusting may be fine for actual fighting but it simply doesn't read as well on camera as the large arching swings of a katana do. not for todays big action sequences at least (See the fights of the princess bride or any of the eroll flynn movies for examples of how it CAN work really well)

A number of things: whoa, some resume...
As for the rapier point, I thought that was more small-sword than rapier (though I do note you mention 'cousins').

And Princess Bride... ought to watch that again one day. (But why... why did you mention Errol Flynn?!)

OT: Not enough jian around...

 

[pyramid head grape]

Not as annoying as a claymore them cumbersome bastards can go to hell I physically can't use one. When did POP steal the katana anyway ??? hate POP I can drink it can't lessen to it makes my head hurt.

I am indifferent and pick bow and arrow I can use that shit XD

 

[SilentCom]

I'm a fan of the [a href="http://www.xyfos.com/images/PaulChen/Practical%20Ninjato.jpg"]Ninjato[/a] myself. (It's more commonly known as the ninja sword)

I'll take the swift sword used by a stealthy assassin of death over a slower weapon used by warriors weighed down in armor any day

I'm not too sure how often a ninja would use a ninjato or even a katana. The fact is that ninja used makeshift weaponry more often than conventional weaponry during the time. You have to remember that carrying around a sword is harder to conceal and the sword hunt in 1588 made it illegal for non-samurai to carry weapons (swords mainly).

Also, the katana is not a slow weapon, it was longer and more difficult to use indoors, which was why samurai carried the shorter blade. Since ninjas preferred method is the use of stealth and deception, they tend to disguise themselves and relied on poison or arson more than bloody assassination- it's just more discreet that way.

 

[AnAngryMoose]

I personally prefer scimitars to Katanas.

EDIT: Almost forgot rapiers.

 

[sapphireofthesea]

I am a little bit tired of how over prevalent it is, HOWEVER. I can provide to you a real and practical explanation as too WHY boiled down into a couple of points.

1) Armour, or lack thereof. see feudal japan had a bit of a problem, they didn't have that much high quality metal (compared to europe where you couldn't spit without hitting the stuff) as a result the stuff they did have they would use very carefully which resulted in a very high quality blade. It also ment that chainmail didn't really exist and full plate was beyond their scope of imagination. as such the katana was designed as a slashing weapon not a bashing or stabbing one... why is this relevant? most movies that have katana's "out of context" are in modern settings, and how often do you see someone walking around in full plate.

2) So why not a European blade then? While I do love european blades and for pure cutting power on an unarmored opponent they are about equal. so why no love for the claymore? Well, weight for one. european blades tend to be quite a bit heavier with few exceptions (that I will get too in a second) and harkening back to point one they where designed this way to crush armour. now since as mentioned these out of context sittuations will 9/10 have us against an unarmoured opponent... which would you choose? a big heavy sword or a light fast one when both will be just as effective?

3) The rapier and its cousins, now here is a group of European swords that are lighter and faster. so why are they not as popular. well here it starts to boil down to fighting aesthetics tbh, rapiers where invented in a time where having SOME armour still was a possible issue, as such they are stabbing and thrusting weapons so they could slip between the cracks etc. why is this an issue though, well it has to do with the visuals. stabbing and thrusting may be fine for actual fighting but it simply doesn't read as well on camera as the large arching swings of a katana do. not for todays big action sequences at least (See the fights of the princess bride or any of the eroll flynn movies for examples of how it CAN work really well)

4) Scimitars and other swords from the near east. "terrorists use em" unfortunately there is still a large blanket animosity towards anything even remotely arabic in alot of western nations so these swords sadly shall remain strictly in the hands of bad guys for the time being.

5) Sabres... PIRATES! This sword has been so strongly associated in the publics mind as being the "pirate sword" that you put it in the hand of ANYONE and that is what they will instantly think of them being... so unless the character IS a pirate, or at least thinks he is, your not gonna be seeing him use it.

So, to wrap things up why is the katana the most over used sword out there? well it comes down too a combination of societal pressure, cinematic aesthetics, and pure practicality.

Edited for qualifications:
18 years martial arts training in ju-juitsu and bu-juitsu
5 years of teaching in said arts
certification in instruction of european weapons
4 years film industry experience.

20 points for well structured and informed response. And thanks for the enlightnement

 

[Cade the Imperfect]

The katana is over-used! Personally, i am a bigger fan of the Rapier.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

But in all honesty. The most useful weapons have always been things like halberds and spears. The best short or one handed weapons are usually axes.

Well a halberd is a spear and an axe and a club all it needs is a gun attachment.

Shit just got real.

I got to get me one of those definitely more versatile than a katana. I wonder if something like that will end in AC.

 

[Craorach]

I've never seen the appeal to be honest, I've always prefered European style weapons, especially longswords and claymores.

 

[Ampersand]

Less katanas
More cowbell!

How many Western swords can you name that can slice a fired bullet in half?

None on the top of my head, but I do know katanas cant do it either, a katana cant even cut through chainmail.

Watch and learn, grasshopper
<youtube=mIDWG9Zn8j8>

Holy shit that's incredible. I've trained with katanas for years and I didn't know they could do that.

 

[jawakiller]

Less katanas
More cowbell!

How many Western swords can you name that can slice a fired bullet in half?

How many people can you name that could slice said bullet in half?

I can... With a goddamn chainsaw.

I think there needs to be more Zweihänders. That would be fucking insane. It has been known to decapitate several people with a single swing. Several. As in, more then one. Decaping someone with a normal sword is difficult.

Or maybe a Naginta. Screw swords, fuck spears, we're combining that shit. A fucking sword/staff hybrid. They have a whole style of combat for it, Naginatajutsu is a legit martial art. Fuck Kung-fu, I kill people with a fucking bladed staff.

Or a Kampilan... Hell yeah.

I could go on all day

 

[Ampersand]

Less katanas
More cowbell!

How many Western swords can you name that can slice a fired bullet in half?

How many people can you name that could slice said bullet in half?

I'd take a swing at it. ;D