The sword came with this maintenance kit to keep the blade well-oiled, powdered and polished.

I’m pretty happy with the hand guard on this sword. It’s ornate but not over the top, just what I was looking for. The saya (the scabbard for the sword) is also just plain glossy black without any crazy designs, characters or artwork. Just what I was looking for!

She’s heavy, very well weighted. I love it!

I’ve always wanted a Japanese sword. When I was a kid I was crazy about Ninjas. Dad would take me to the local VHS video store once a week and I’d always pick a Ninja film to take home. At the Easter Show every year I bought the Ninja Showbag and even brought plastic ninja stars with me to school for a few years (as well as dressing up and climbing trees!).

I’ve been aware of cheap Samurai swords for sale at Paddy’s Markets for years. I always assumed they were rubbish so this morning I set out to buy a Hanwei swords from Lawrance Ordnance on George St. in the city. The cheapest being around $500. On my way in I thought I’d drop by Paddy’s to see if there was still anyone in there that sold swords. I walked around for a while not seeing any, and thought that they must have stopped selling them for legal reasons, then I found a guy selling some.

I asked about his prices, they ranged from $60 up to $300. He kept passing me down the more ornate crazy ones, none of which I liked. He kept asking what I wanted it for. I just said I’d like to photograph it, so it had to look amazing. I’m not sure why he avoided handing me over the one that caught my eye, the one which had no graphics on it, no characters, just a plain glossy black scabbard. When he finally did hand it to me he said that this one was for real training as it had a better quality steel blade and more importantly was weighted correctly. I had to have it, and at $100 I think it was a steal!

I’m sure the more expensive (up to $2k+) Hanwei swords sold at the shop on George street would be superior to this one I picked up, but as much as I hate saying “that’ll do”, this sword I picked up is much more than what I was expecting for $100. I’m happy and can’t wait to shoot it with a girl whether she’s Japanese, or not, which will surely ruffle a few feathers out there, but hey culture mashing is my thing and those that know me know that I’m more about cultural appreciation than cultural appropriation.