Longest ever sword

**Kenshin Axel** · 14th July 2004, 07:08 PM

Hey everybody,

I was wondering, does anybody have any proof of the longest ever Japanese sword?
I remember reading this samurai had an enourmous sword, like nearly 2 metres.
Can anybody help me?

**don quixote** · 14th July 2004, 07:30 PM

Freud probably could... 'Sometimes a sword is just a sword'...

**Kenshin Axel** · 14th July 2004, 08:07 PM

??????
Is Freud a person on Kendo-world forums?
??????
"sometimes a sword is just a sword" ???? I don't get it.

**Yann** · 14th July 2004, 08:09 PM

He was joking, like "we don't care about who has the longest sword"...
Anyway, I have the biggest, discussion closed.

PS: Freud is a psychanalist who analyses dreams and other things like that.

**Mr.Tvola** · 14th July 2004, 09:05 PM

Originally Posted by Kenshin Axel

??????
Is Freud a person on Kendo-world forums?
??????
"sometimes a sword is just a sword" ???? I don't get it.

LOL

**don quixote** · 14th July 2004, 09:31 PM

[QUOTE=Kenshin Axel]
I remember reading this samurai had an enourmous sword, like nearly 2 metres.
QUOTE]

Seriously though, I seriously doubt that... I personally have an enormous sword as well, but it is not even 'nearly' two metres long!

**D'Artagnan** · 14th July 2004, 09:33 PM

It is not the length of your sword that is important, as long as you have a good SOLID kamae.

**streetcleaner** · 14th July 2004, 09:45 PM

size doesn't matter

**Swissv2** · 14th July 2004, 10:38 PM

but whoever has that longest sword will either be a big giant or he can never lift up the sword successfully

**nalogg** · 15th July 2004, 02:48 AM

Well the "Daitou" or "nodachi" (sometimes called Daikatana) pre-dates the present-day katana... and it was bigger.
Daitou were curved because they were used like big two-handed axes from horseback, meant to cleave through footmen as you galloped past. The curve allowed for a greater cutting force. Apparently they were too big to wear on your side and generally were slung across your back. And apparently they broke pretty often, because the tempering process hadn't produced strong enough alloy yet.

So the Katana was modelled after the daitou and meant for footsoldiers AND horsemen alike, but was forged in the new (now traditional) way to be quite resilient.

but for the life of me i can't find measurements of the daitou....

i'm guessing 1.5m... because 2m is a bit silly unless you're Sephiroth

**Cheese_Man** · 15th July 2004, 04:23 AM

It doesnt matter its not the size that counts its how you use it!

**mystic_kendoka** · 15th July 2004, 04:34 AM

It is not the length of your sword that is important, as long as you have a good SOLID kamae.

It doesnt matter its not the size that counts its how you use it!

these are both stupid, if you have a 2m long katana, it no longer matters how good you are at wielding it, or how good your kamae is.. the fact that you are holding a sword longer than their height, is everything... imagine fighting a baseball bat with a chopstick...