Sea Wave Dragon King katana review 

Hello dear Ronin, thank you very much for your comment and appreciation. This beautiful shinken is so light and agile. I recommend a soft target as goza mat for using it.

Thank you for your comment and appreciation 😊

Hello dear ronin, thank you very much for your kind comment and appreciation, Sincerly budo RH

Thank you very much dear ronin for your comment, I’m glad it can be useful

Thank you very much dear ronin for your comment and appreciation 🙏🏻

Hello dear ronin, thank you very much for your comment and appreciation, sincerly budo RH

Hello dear Ronin, thank you for your detailed comment and appreciation, I will do my best for the next ones, you are absolutely right so beautiful better to just watch it (and not so useful).

Hello dear ronin, thank you very much for your comment and appreciation, I will make a second review edition when I will be ready (in next years), the tip has a default of forge I have to remake the saya probably by myself (big work) (damaged because of the default tip) with my new skills. The sea wave is a damascus made with T10 and 9260 spring steel. The real damascus (mix of 9260 and T10) is a very good compromise of resilience and hardness. The problem is the thickness of the blade too low on sakikasane (3mm) the sword doesn't allow any mistake on mugen dachi omote. It riquires a very advanced swordsman and the problem with the curve tip (unwell aline with the sori curve) is not great for nukiuchi safety. The weight distribution close from tsuka make it easy and very light in the hand for nukiuchi/nukitsuke but not great for tameshigiri (two hands) in my opinion.

You are welcome, blue koshirae with waves on koshirae fitting are so beautiful in my opinion, real damascus 1060/1095 are very effective for cutting and keep stay sharpen very long time

Thank you dear Ronin 🙏🏻🙂

Thank you very much dear Ronin, for your comment and appreciation. Yes I can recommend something better for this budget. Shinto from hanwei (800 euros) if you want a famous brand with a 68-69cm nagasa. Or if you want something better (super practical) I now have my own swordsmith to whom I give special measurements and indications for conception to make shinken (nohi and bohi) with my standard of quality manufacturing : an optimized tailored sword. It will not be exactly the same result (koshirae: fuchi/kashira/tsuba/saya) for the look as dragon king. But the quality of materials (koshirae/steel) is very qualitative. For practicing, the results of tailored shinken are so efficient than other "universal size" swords (that, ironically, don't fit everybody) look really more complicated in my opinion... A "Japanese" product with a Chinese price (500-1500) for me is what a (high practical class) Shinken shoud be. If your are interested you can contact me at theroninhood@gmail.com (sword consulting service, designing your tailored shinken for your practice (batto/tameshigiri/niten)). The review with the "ronin hood" swords that have been designed and forged will come as soon as possible (I have other brands shinken to review first). And for any direction of your project I recommend a light shinken adapted to your measurements with a non fragile tip sword because it is not really interesting for such price. And for your comfort, motivation and the health of your joints, a very well balanced bohi blade (1095/T10). 800-1300 euros is the good budget for having a serious quality shinken for quality practice, but, today, I really think that, though beautiful, the sea wave is not as useful as it should be at this price point. sincerly budo RH

@@RoninHood wow I will definitely put that all into consideration. I really appreciate your time and advice. I am a novice but am finding there is so much to learn in this area. Thank you so much for your in depth reviews and time.

With pleasure, I’m glad it can help, this is the prupose of ronin hood helping beginners (in tameshigiri/batto) and giving them ideas of direction for practicing their favorite budo : iaido/battodo kenjutsu karatedo jujitsu aikido ninjutsu kyudo judo and many others. Sincerly budo RH

Hello dear Ronin, thank you very much for your nice comment and appreciation. I will try my best to answer to your question and I'm glad to help a iaidoka practitioner. Sea wave DK appears to me too expensive and with a too thin blade on sakikasane and curve of the tip has a default that hurt the saya a little bit. As the more expensive one of dragon king I make a idea of the brand that is not so crazy of their manufacturing for the money spent even sea wave is a very very beautiful koshirae in my opinion. I do not know the Hana (no practice with) but from the measurements on cas iberia (the more reliable ones most of the time even incomplete) this model looks like having a too long tsuka and too much weight for you. The balance of sword made by brands are most of the time the same on every models they have, exemple hanwei is always c2-c3 (c2 weight distribution close from the middle of the blade, c3 close from the point of cut). c2-c3 is my favorite (hanwei is close of a c2 and huawei on c3). YariNoHanzo or Dragon king are c1 (weight distribution close from tsuba and 30 first cm of the blade). In my opinion c2-c3 is really great for tameshigiri/battodo so I prefer hanwei/huawei. For me the perfect weight of a shinken is between 900 and 1050g (nohi or bohi) without beeing tyred after 1-2hours of practice and no injuries. Then a correct nagasa and tsuka for your size (as tozando custom iaito) too long tsuka is doable (hannya john lee 1080g) but can hurt on gyaku kesa. So 1100g hana DK I think is too heavy because nukiuchi or katategiri will be difficult and you can hurt yourself with too much weight. But if you just want practice tameshigiri with and your skills are really advanced and you like the koshirae maybe you will be able to use it without too much inconfort. If you prefer a full possibility one (nukiuchi/battodo, tameshigiri) a full custom or custom of a correct brand/swordsmith at your size, I can make you a swordconsulting on theroninhood@gmail.com.

hello dear ronin, thank you for your comment, it is a very beautiful kashirae indeed, the problem is mecanic, that is why im creating a sword consulting service for ronins who want have martial art practice with something that works (for every level of practice batto/tameshigiri/niten ichiryu). The major probleme with this a little bit expensive beauty is the too important decrease between the guard to the tip of the blade, the point of impact has not enough material for hard target (mugen dachi). Exemple : shinto from hanwei is excellent light bohi sword and doesnt have this problem. I really think that mass industrial china product doesnt care sometimes about efficiency and just create beautiful stuff. Anyway I will make a second edition asap with goza mats (softer target) and I m sure it will be better.

I didnt contact the manufacturer beacause technicaly it cut, it is more here a problem of conception, comparing with a japanese sword made in japan the measurements are just not good. I have other cheap iaito/shinken with same kind of conception, a too low point of balance and fragile tip.

Thank you dear ronin for your comment and appreciation, sincerly budo RH

Hello Jurgen from Austria, thank you for your nice comment, I really love too the design of the sea wave, yes the blade is too light too thin on sakikasane and default of forge on the kissaki curve make it damage the saya on fast drawing. The price would be really interesting at 500usd not at 1300usd in my opinion. The real damas is really beautiful and interesting too really effective on hard target (mugen dachi) and very resilient.

@@RoninHood hy again Whats the best Katana in your opinion you have in the Moment? I have a big eye on the yari no hanzo Akashi right now.

Hello Jurgen, thank you for your question, I can’t say for yarinohanzo I’m not crazy of their weight distribution even their models have a visual koshirae great appeal (weight distribution too close and stock to the tsuba/first third of the blade). The 3 bests for me for the moment on mass industrial from china are : - shinto from hanwei bohi 985 g - ookaze from bushiden nohi 1020g - huawei with bohi 1050g Depending on your size and practice other models/brand would be more interesting. Custom or full custom is the best from a correct brand/swordsmith to have something that perfectly fits to your size but it requires most of the time 12 months of patience.

hello dear ronin, thank you for your comment and appreciation. It is difficult to answer to this question. First they are both not well forged/balanced in my opinion because the weight distribution too close from the tsuba (c1=weight distribution close from the tsuba, c2=weight distribution close from the middle of the blade, c3=weight distribution close from the point of cut). The sea wave has a default on the tip with a curve not well alined with the sori (about 1-2 degrees of deviation (bad for fast nukiuchi)). Except that the sea wave is really interesting with light weight for nukiuchi and battodo cut but really fragile (tip sakikasane too thin) and bend really easily on tameshigiri (two hands cut). I would say that the araki is better in my opinion because less fragile half less expensive stronger (thicker nohi blade) and same kind of weight distribution with nohi blade (sea wave is bohi). Araki used with correct technicity and handling (c1 sword weight distribution requires in my opinion a different handling than c2/c3 to be easier to use) is quite interesting on battodo (nukiuchi) and tameshigiri because not so heavy sword. For the design I really appreciate both but sea wave is maybe one of the more beautiful shinken koshirae from mass production from china that I know in my opinion.

@@RoninHood Thank you Ronin, I always enjoy your videos and comments. I have ordered the yarinohanzo Oni katana and I think my next one will be the Araki, thank you.

Hello dear ronin, thank you for your comment and appreciation, the oni ynh is really beautiful, the araki make the difference on ynh models one of the best I tried for this brand (eco prices made in china + c1 weight distribution).

Hello dear ronin, I am 4th dan black belt shitoryu practitioner and battodo free practitioner (toyamaryu and other styles) with online classes.

@@RoninHood I love your views, find them fair and very informative. I enjoy your non biased approach and attention to detail untop of how the weights and balance points affect your cuts. Thank you for your time. I am not used to your foot work and hip motions, it is interesting to watch. Thank you for your videos

Hello dear ronin, thank you very much for your nice comment and appreciation for the reviews and performances of ronin hood, I try my best to have distinct forms with karate/kobudo and with kenjutsu, my battojustu sword form is a little bit more clear and neat I hope since « ookaze review » trying to remove my karate hip/stance automatism in my battojutsu and shurikenjutsu form, for better throws and better cuts.

Hello dear Ronin, you are absolutely right, I check on the video and I didn't saw that. I have check on the real sword a minute ago, the ito is well tight behind the fuchi from my view. Very well observed from the video.

hello dear ronin, the sword bent multiple times because uncorrect posture/edge alinement and because too thin motokasane/bohi/light weight with strong mugen dachi mat. So i undend it myself multiple time. I observe than all shinken that I practice with that are under 7mm on motokasane can bend easyly with uncorrect beginner tameshigiri cuts. A mugen dachi omote is heavy, used tatami are heavier and more difficult to cut, the geometry of the blade has to be adapted to the target weight and density. And of course a really clean ha suji (edge alinement cut trajectory) make the difference during the cut, even with light sword on hard heavy tatami mat it can work, I had some good cuts with sea wave, but not a sword for beginner in my opinion, and the balance is close from tsuka it makes the sword more usable with large handling, I prefer sword with balance weight distribution close from half of the blade and handling hands closer to each other.

Thank you very much dear ronin 🙏🏻 for your comment and appreciation 🙂

You are maybe right, I didn’t know that an incorrect heat treatment could help for bending ... I tried 2 new custom sword (lyuesword) very light weight (bohi 900g and bohi 950g) and the 950g bent multiple times as sea wave ... I think because of weight and wrong edge alinement/posture with some cuts on mugen dachi it could be maybe an other reason... Love your channel by the way and your reviews (it helped me a lot to find some good shinken 🙏🏻)

​@@RoninHoodIf three of your swords are all bending then it's almost 100% user error. Traditional katanas bend that's totally normal but if they are all bending over and over on tatami then the issue is your technique.

I would think the same but, sea wave bent multiple time, red custom lyuesword the same, but not white custom artkatana not even a little bit, and shinto from hanwei never bent, so even it could be, It is well a problem of manufacturing with big differences of crafting for light bohi 900-985g

Thank you dear Ronin

Hello dear ronin, thank you for your comment, do you mean silver wave from Dynasty Forge This one ? www.dynastyforge.com/swords/japanese_arms/bushi_class_forgefolded/bushi_ff_shobu_katana_silver_wave/

@@RoninHood yes. Do you recommend? Musha? Bushi?

Thank you for your answer, I'm interested by this model (I have to admit that I appreciate waves on tsuba or fuchi/kashira) but personally I'm still not convinced from reviews that I have seen (sharpness problem) but it is still on my list for finding the best practical shinken. I couldn't say if it is good or not until I will practice with it. But any sword without good balance good steel or correct sharpness doesn't deserve any interest for tameshigiri/battodo in my opinion.

Hello dear Ronin, thank you very much for your appreciation and comment, yes indeed... 500-600€ would be better

yes you have 2 mekugis threw the nakago

@@RoninHood as far as durability and Longevity is this dragon king katana worth near double its price of the Hanwei raptor?

very good question, this sea wave dragon king is excellent with sharpness very light weight, but two times too expensive worth 500-700€ not 1300€ balance c1 close to the tsuka not my favorite, forge mune curve line not perfectly fitting with saya... So for 800-1300€ for an advanced or beginner cutter it has to be perfect for perfmance battodo as the shinto is really close (except not buffalo horn on koiguchi) So i dont know raptor but hanwei is really good but too thick tsuka on low middle prices... So I would say shinto or ookaze are better

@@RoninHood who makes the ookaze?

you will find the review here on ronin hood youtube channel ookaze is an excellent balanced nohi sword basic fittings light weight 1022g at 400€ from bushiden brand

Hello, thank you for your comment, i agree with you at that time many incorrect things in my technic because not formally trained... However I do not agree with you any sword even with correct posture hasuji skills if under than 7mm/5mm with 6mm(motokasane) and 3mm (sakikasane) 800-900g on hard mat (mugen dachi or used tatami) can bend on double cuts. This is the only sword that i have 6mm/3mm moto/saki kasane and the only that bent with special hanwei (6mm on sakikasane). So even with great skills the risk of bending on double cut is really high. even technically possible to cut with it without bending. I also desagree for handling the handling depend on weight distribution, on the video my handling was not correct for the weight distribution of this sword (centered close from tsuba/tsuka). You can watch my last reviews and performances for my present skills. I now have trained with warakiri battosai in japan and follow toyama ryu style since almost one year. I also trained a morning with blademan b in korea. Both helped me a lot to have correct skills posture and ha suji.

yes indeed, unformaly trained at that moment (but even that it cut well), now toyama ryu