OK I'm gonna make this fairly simple, gonna post my opinion, and I'm not interested in hearing anyone respond to me.
I feel that swords of many styles have been forced into being obsolete due to firearms and other weaponry. Sure there are places in the world where blades like swords are still used in combat, but very rarely and usually different from the historical concepts.
I am a student of the Japanese sword, so I cannot voice too strong an opinion of other blades, but in Japan it is illegal to make swords that do not abide to the rules established following the end of World War II. This can be a somewhat limiting factor but it does have good intentions as well. The Japanese sword has evolved a bit here and there, but overall the concept, design, and use has remained the same for many hundreds of years. It is not the best way to make a general "sword" necessarily, but it is a damn fine way of making what it is and was and, with any hope, will remain to be.
I am sick of seeing people take the style of katana, warp it into something else, change the cross sections, the shape, the design, the assembly, practically everything, then proclaim how wonderful they are because they can flex without breaking. There is one man I know that makes Japanese-style blades that I respect that has an ultra-high level of flex to them. But he still maintains SO many facets of the craft. In collecting and understanding swords, one of the most important things in a Japanese sword is its cross section, the edge geometry. It's shape, balance, all of that. What made the Japanese sword special was the arts utilizing it. I think part of the reason I respect the Japanese sword so much is because it requires good technique, which requires luck or training to use. I do not like seeing people making hollow-ground blades, curved with one edge, automatically called a katana. It sickens me. I feel it is very disrespectful to the concept of the craft, something that has been preserved and established over a very long time.
Since the sword's time as a battle weapon IMO has passed, we should not try to continue improving upon it by making what they think is better. You want to make a single edged curved sword out of 3v with a paracord-wrapped micarta handle and a round guard and all that? Fine, but don't call it by a name that it doesn't deserve.
And I do not care about the argument "well if they had this and this, they would have used it." We don't know what they would have used, and if they used something that could really take a beating and not take damage, etc. I doubt that the Japanese sword arts would have even really existed as they are. To me the Japanese style sword is what it is...there are concepts and purposes that it maintains, and there are some makers in North America who do a good job at respecting those. I honor those makers. I do not mind people making different blade styles at all...expanding upon what was around in the past. But I will NEVER support those people calling their creations by names that they do not qualify as.
I've rambled a bit, and I'm sorry. I will not continue discussing this further in post format, because it is a little nerve that tends to get stepped on a lot. If you have a shred of decency, do not respond to my post.
Shinryû.
