Swords

>>31808904
You posted both in the same pic.

>>31808904
Overrated is katana
underrated is Scottish basket hilt

>>31808904
Most overrated is European swords in general. Nearly every faggot on here thinks katana a shit and broad/bastard/falchyon are awesome.
Most underrated is Chinese Jian. Nobody ever mentions it.

Katana have passed there overrated reputation. Nearly everyone these days knows it's just another sword... Besides maybe weebs.

File: Qing Dynasty Wodao.jpg (89KB, 653x497px) Image search: [Google]

89KB, 653x497px

>>31809379
Funny you mentioned the Chinese.

China was amazed by the Katana. Not because MUH SUPER SHARP BLADE- Chinks can keep sword edges very sharp just fine, with methods better than the Japanese even- but design.

China- and by consequence, mainland East Asia- has two types of swords: single handers and two handers. Single handers were either short stubby blades or one hander longswords. Which is nice for fighting with a shield or from horseback, but lacked the power of a two hander. The dedicated swordsman's sword in China however were two handers, which in essence operate as Zweihanders like in Europe: massive two handed swords used by assault spearheads, bodyguards, or the loose fighting style favored in anti-bandit battles China always has. But these are big weapons.

When the Katana came in, the Chinese were blown away not only by it's craftsmanship, but more on the design. It was essentially a two handed sword you can use with one hand fine. An Asian Bastard sword if you will. You can fight using a shield with one, fighting from horseback with one, and fight competently as a two hander swordsman with one. The Wodao, as it was known in China, became a popular import weapon in the 1400s Ming Dynasty, and they had local copies by the 1500s. Particularly by heavy cavalrymen, since in China this often meant you're a horse archer/lancer/heavy infantryman when needed and they did a lot of dismounted combat. With the Wodao they found an intermediate sword that is more powerful than their usual single handers but less bulky than a Changdao or a Shuang Shou Jian two handers carried by dedicated foot-swordsmen.

>>31809410
A katana is extremely unwieldy in one hand, its a fat blade with no counter balance, samurai would never wield their katana with one hand, there was a saying in ancient japan that goes along the lines of "The soul of a samurai resides in the little finger of his left hand." This was said because that was the finger that was closest to the bottom of hilt, and gave the samurai leverage and control over the blade. It is said that Miyamoto Musashi would dual wield his katana and his wakizashi during some duels, but this was, in essence, a party trick done to show off how much better he was than his opponent.