Do you think a katana could cut or break a bokken in two?

yes. it would not stop it for a moment. it would slice right through it and anything else on the other side of it.

those things can cut you in half from the right side of your neck to the left side of your hip.

EDIT: lol, soz, i said no and then proceded to explain why they could. now amended to yes.

no :)

Are you sure, bokken are pretty strong, they can break cinder blocks with hardly denting.

@Samurai

well, my father was a kendo teacher for about 30 years, so i have seen and touched both of them quite a bit.

im pretty sure that in the right hands it would with ease. remember, human bones are said to be harder than steel apparantly, and if it can cut through them and a whole load of friction causing flesh i would assume so. i would be very surprised if it did not.

EDIT: then again it is all relative, angle, speed etc..

it is not beyond belief that it would not cut or brake it in quite a few circumstances. but if its just being held, waiting to be cut, or in an easy to strike position, i would have to say so.

@poisonedantidote Ah makes sense.

one of the swords my father has came with a certificate. on the making procedures and what not. those things are forged and forged over and over again, folded many many times to make sure they are super sharp and hard.

the katana is many years ahead of its time technologically when it comes to metal working techniques.

Since a bokken is a wooden training sword in the size and shape of a Katana, It would surely be easy to cut or break it with a steel sword like a real Katana. Remember, that many swords sold as Katana are actually replicas and would not cut a good, well made bokken.

on a side note. why not mail mythbusters on their youtube channel, apparantly they are looking for more myths to bust.

they do like to make sure of things, and if it does not cut a bokken, they will surely show you what it does take to cut one.

@poisonedantidote They already did something like that:

“The Count of Monte Cristo: A sword can cut off the blade of another sword.

busted

A genuine Japanese-constructed Katana did slice through the replica stainless-steel sword. It also broke another genuine sword, but this break was caused by stress fracturing rather than being cut through. Katana vs. Rapier: Rapier was bent into snapping, but not cut. Claymore vs. Katana: Katana flexed but didn’t break. Claymore vs. Viking sword: Viking sword severely nicked the Claymore. In the end, though some swords managed to break the other, none were able to actually cut through another sword.”
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“SPINOFF: A sword can cut a machine gun in two. (From special 9)

busted

A machine gun barrel cannot be sliced in two using a sword. Using the barrel from a .30 caliber Browning machine gun, the team heated the barrel until it was red hot and struck it with the sword machine. Even with the barrel red hot, the sword could only make a small gouge in the barrel. What further disproved the myth was the fact that the barrel’s outer heat-dissipating shroud was removed and the machine was swinging the sword with power that significantly exceeded a normal human’s capabilities. The team then rapidly heated and cooled the barrel to make it more brittle, but when hit by the sword, it shattered instead of being cut. Finally, the team tried to cut a thinner Thompson submachine gun barrel, but only managed to bend it, proving that a sword cannot cut a gun barrel in two.”

It would be cool if they had more though.

@Samurai ill have to check that out, i dont think i have seen those episodes.

Hatori Hanzo could. With ease.

A katana may not be able to cut a machine gun barrel but it can cut a .50 BMG in two.

Youtube video

It depends on the movement of the two weapons. If the bokken is hit sideways by the blade moving with a lot of force, yes. But that’s not the only way the weapons come together in a fight, by a long shot. Nor is bashing weapons together the main activity in a fight (Hollywood examples to the contrary) – weapon clashes might not occur at all. A parry generally doesn’t put the weapons directly against each other, but deflects the other weapon aside. So to answer your question, in a duel, yes a bokken could hold up to a katana. It’s also possible the sword might cut through the katana. Not the most likely outcome though, I expect.

Remember Miyamoto Musashi reportedly considered the bokken a superior weapon to a katana, for a master.

It’s what gets done with the weapons that determines what happens.