That's NOT how you cut with a KATANA!?! 

Grab the Limited Edition Brigandine Hoodie: shadiversity.junipercreates.com/channel/UCkmMACUKpQeIxN9D9ARli1Q/p/7825895882943

Ok look, I translate 1000 year old Classical Japanese literature and I've run into stories about warriors and non warriors using swords. They honestly weren't picky about how you used them so long as you got the job done. Until of course you hit the Edo period when the country was largely at peace and you could afford to be picky about the different ways you could cut inanimate objects.

The only valid way to hit your opponent is successfully.

I mean 90% of people that think they know about katanas, do so because they watches animes and went to Japan once.

Someone needs to tell these people a very simple and obvious rule. Medieval (And even modern) technology and techniques follow this almost universal rule. If it works, it works.

I'll just never understand why these people think there's only one "correct" way to cut, as if during actual combat, your opponent is gonna stop you and say "Hold on, I'm not actually hurt, you didn't do a draw cut! Do it again!"

People love to forget that at the end of the day, a sword is nothing but a sharp, pointy, metal stick.

you mean they are saying Katana is an inferior weapon since you can only cut in that predictable and short reaching way?

Shad, you need to do a breathing technique in order to cut properly with a katana. Demon Slayer taught me that.

Those people have to remember tatami mats do not strike back, the way u cut is not important if your cut is effective that is what matter by the end.

"Am I on crazy pills?" I think so, but that it the appealing part of your videos.

Someone keeps sending me flowers with the heads cut off. I think I'm being stalked.

7:04 those hoodies should be officially sold as "light gambesons" on your store

we get something similar in the firearms community. You get the gunstore cowboy tacticool types who saw some operator using C-clamp for longer range fire and suddenly if you aren't C-clamping you aren't holding the rifle right. Meanwhile, those of us who've been through a number of firefights just shake our heads at them and know damned well you use whatever grip, stance, and positions makes sure your rounds go downrange with more accuracy than the bad guy's RSVP comes back to you. We all get specialized training- especially when it comes to sub-guns and sidearms- ranging from C-clamp (stability for long range shots) all the way down to CAR (extreme CQB weapon retention and stability for room clearing) and everything in between, but if the barbecue lights off on you you'll use whatever works. Same applied to swords back in the day, because it wasn't intellectual debate back then, it was life or death.

I wonder how many of the complainers don't even watch "Ask Shogo" or even know who Seki Sensei is?🤔

Damn I've never been this early to a Shad video. RU-vid's algorithm finally doing its job.

A good cutting sword, should cut well as long as you perform a valid cut, simple. You nailed it.

Thank you for all your hard work and perseverance Shad and Tyranth!

"It's a sword. It's sharp. If you swing it hard at something , it'll probably gonna cut it."

Shad looks so good these days

why do i feel like most ppl who commented that u have to cut this specific way were the ones who are usually are mall ninjas or comment without actual research

Hey shad...Looks like the algorithm is working again cause new vids are showing up again!! Glad to see it.

I know you covered it, but they WILL say that it matters when cutting something more dense. You know they will LOL.

Dear Shad, we at PNIS (Pool Noodle International Society) are appalled at the massacre that we saw before our eyes today. The heartless slaughtering of pool noodles has left us speechless. As much as we loved the education and information about swords we are sorely disappointed at how ruthless you are to our precious noodles. We will be taking appropriate action to end this madness. We have also forwarded other content to the Tatami group as the incidental massacres to said item has been duly noted. Good day sir! 🧐

Hey Shad, my brother in Christ. I love your content and have been working to do everything I can to support your channel and I watch every video. Keep up the great work. (To the other people in the comments, is you could give a like to help Shad feel or support would be great)

Practiced Kendo for three years in the Hawaii Kendo association, also practiced some Iaijutsu. Both forms that I practiced go back to pre Edo times. Never once did I practice draw cuts, what was important is snapping your wrist like you would with a fishing pole. What this does is just increase the speed that the edge moves. The loose guiding hand squeezes the handle so you can stop the blade at any point that you want "tenuchi", where you practice on an orange, doing a full swing and just tapping the top soft enough to not bruise the fruit with a practice sword.

Those cuts though, now I wish to see Seki Sensei react to this, it'd be interesting though I highly doubt it. o_o

Thanks to Kult of Athena, Romance of Men and Honshu for providing the swords; I've been to all your websites in the past due to Shad's videos. Excellent show, Shad.

That evil chipmunk giggle when the admission of half-arsing is made.... priceless. Can totally see Shad doing the "I was right" dance just off screne.

Draw cut had its uses.... transitions into a stab nicely. Draw cutting also makes removing a sword from a person easier, which was important because katanan often broke or bent inside people.

Everything I know about cutting stuff is from about 20 years working as a chef. Drawing the blade against whatever you are cutting absolutely makes a profound difference. As for the curved blade thing? There's a couple of points which will give the user mechanical advantage as the blades contact point with whatever is being cut moves towards the tip. Again, I'm a chef, not samurai Jack or whatever, so think cutting board and chefs knife and I might not sound insane. As you draw the blade through, it has more leverage against your hand (in this instance your wrist is the fulcrum, the knife is the lever and whatever is being cut is the load), the curved blade will allow the whole knife to angle closer to your body, and it's easier on your wrists. Chopping requires mass and velocity (I know, I know everything does but I'm a chef, not physicist. Let me think out loud) so chopping knives are generally heavier like a cleaver or other straight bladed chop-centric designs vs lighter knives that rely on pressure and friction like a filleting knife. And then you have the chefs knife which can do either and will be better or worse at either depending on which way the design leans. The other thing to note about a curved blade is how it translates what would be by definition a chopping motion with a straight blade (the contact point of whatever is being cut moving perpendicularly to the cutting edge) into a slice (the contact point moving in either direction along the cutting edge by any amount) with the exact same motion. So do you need to do a draw cut with a curved sword? No. The whole point is that the curve is applying the advantages of an inclined plane for you. Getting all the boys to chuck in for a whole scotch or 10kg porterhouse and portioning it into steaks with the different swords would make an interesting/tasty change from pool noodles BTW. Oh, but don't be like me when I forgot to clean my hunting knife. Turns out that the red stuff in foxes is kind of corrosive and carbon steel doesn't like it. Oops.

For once, I would just want this channel to collaborate with experts from other fields/cultures instead of staying in their own little bubble of opinion. It was so much better before when Shad would interact with skallagrim etc and talk about medievalist european stuff. But for asian weaponry and fighting styles? There are so many creators on youtube alone that he could get into contact with.

I think too many people concentrate on practicing with swords in one on one controlled scenarios. No one is trying to kill them. They don't understand the chaos of combat or all the things that come into play when fighting for your life. I fully admit I don't know what's that like, either, but I know that I don't know. You do what you have to do to survive and no one is grading your form.

Katana/tanto points are particularly good for snap cuts, so it's weird not to use them for that. I always assumed that the main benefit to a curved blade was automatic alignment. Any effective weapon must 1) be idiot proof and 2) stay the same shape after being tested by an idiot. What sword makes the best hammer?

The front hand loose grip is not meant to make you draw cut, it makes you capable of switching your front hand direction quickly so that you can strike from left to right easily and more quickly, like seki sensei said in his lose hand video. As for draw cuts or any type of cuts, if you're experienced enough you would instinctively choose the best cut to do according to the tight situation you're in with your opponent. I theorise that the closer your opponent is the more useful a draw cut is, the further your opponent is the more efficient it is to cut forward not backwards.

The previous thumbnail was just simply better

Keep it up shadboys

How many poor pool noddles were harmed filming this video? Pool noodle lives matter

I always see people crapping on the whiny katana nuts, but I never see any actual whiny katana nuts, just people whining about whiny katana nuts... 🤷🏼‍♀️ I formally trained in kenjutsu for almost ten years and still practice independently. We essentially cut in a drawing method, a pushing method (i.e., a push cut), and a chopping method (kind of a "snapping" cut, too). We figured each have their merits and I figure the best way to get as good as possible at cutting is to master all three. I think we may have been a bit atypical in the space, though. I'd be curious about other practitioners' opinions on this. Edit: another side thought, a while back we had a guest visit the dojo from another style. Our stuff looked odd to him and his was baffling to us. We later realized that his dojo simulates an armored style, while ours was unarmored. This caused the stances, cuts, maneuvers, etc. to be vastly different.

I’ve noticed that everyone who’s ever told me you have to pull your arms back in and drawcut with a katana have always had zero formal training with Katana. In contrast the people I know who do have actual formal training with katana always emphasize you have to throw your arms out and that the basic cut with a katana is like your casting out with a fishing rod as far as you can

I got the recomendation within an hour as well, maybe youtube is getting their act together

Funny thing is the katanga curve isn't even intentional, it's a byproduct of the clay tempering. Too many people still believe it was designed to have a curve for a reason.

many pool noodles were harmed in the making of this video.

"...hold it between your butt cheeks..." Nice to see Shad getting into the spirit of Pride month. Shad has often said he's not afraid to show (and publicly share) his love for swords. Should swords have their own month?

Have you guys considered using a small pvc pipe surrounded by wet newspaper? Skallagrim recently did a video with this type of target, seems like a cool cheap alternative to tatami, with more resistance than pool noodles

Having trained in multiple styles of swordsmanship I can state that the exaggerated draw cut is best used against unarmored opponents when you fear the blade might get stuck in bone. Otherwise a strong, well designed blade with a sharp edge doesn’t care what type of cut you’re doing.

Howdy! Long time fan here. I would be really nice if you could film and upload your regular HEMA practice, especially with steel swords and full protective kit. Your editing is really nice and your interactions are too good to not be filming sparring footage regularly.

When your sword has Peyronie's disease.

I will say you look at Napoleonic era chivalry they picked to use scimitars on occasion over European sabres but even though some owned katana's they never used them in battle as they are aesthetically pleasing but really offer no added practical function compared to the mentioned. If I had to use a sword in battle of that era I'd use a Scottish Basket-hilted sword or a hanger personally as you get good cuts & thrusts . Like a rapier or court sword is hands down the best thrust but wider blades a basket sword or hanger/cutlass offers is just so much more worth it. A broad Bilbao is a good cut while retaining just as much thrust as a rapier at the cost of reach to be comfortable to were which is why they were popular from the 16th to 19th century mainly among sailors as a chivalry sword they were used but the reach. A Spanish Bilbao is my choice if I want ease of carry unlike a Scottish basket-hilt. Rapiers be it a 2 handed tuck or 1 handed court sword in a dual armoured or unarmoured are hands down the best choice but I would want it on battlefield though usable. People love katana's but it correct name of what most envision is a uchigatana as katana meaning kata=single side or single edged + na=blade. A sabre, dao, scimitar, hanger or any single sided sword is technically speaking a katana though not nihontou=traditional Japanese blade. I'd rather an indian Hengdang or Talwar over a katana if I was picking a single edged sword that is not European which a fair few British & German officers did use these Indian swords mentioned as they are practical to carry while offering more then a Uchigatana in terms of hand protection. A Tsuba on Japanese swords is pretty but really offers little of use.

Let's ask Shogo.

"Samurais" who only cut door matts at best are the most vocal.

My understanding for this is its more related to the specific kendo practice of tatami cutting proof, is even more important for Ōdachi ...it reminds me of the grasshoppers legs flick: The sword is first flicked from the the inside hand, which holds the very end of the grip so that the pinky is barely on, while the palm extends slightly beyond the grio cupping the pommel which allows for greater flexibility ...the outside hand is the guiding hand yes, but it always applies force to a cut once it cut begins, it is both a chop & draw cut, with the inside hand and outside hand applying force in opposite directions, the inside hand pulls upwards and back, while the outside hand pushes down, the entire body is also driven into the cut, to maximize all cutting force. ...Additionally the curve only helps guide the draw, it doesn't not increase power, but accuracy.

If you don't cut with proper katana form you won't be able to cut time and space.

I havent watched you in forever. Time to binge every video.

I hate how people see the world as an ultimatum.

6:20 "Why don't we get into some cuts?" "Let's do it!" "NATHAN!" I thought he was in trouble for a moment.

Oh man, Kult of Athena sent you the blades! I actually commented asking them to send you those. I hope to buy my own Kilij one day, and wanted to see how they stand up to punishment! Now I KNOW where I am ordering from. Badass!

I can’t believe Shad gatekept his own own brother from playing D&D. Shows what kind of person he is now hasn’t matured since then. Citation: TableTopTime “Is Jazza a Hobby Tourist”.

Shad and Tyranth single and two-handedly maintaining the Australian Pool Noodle market here. You guys should buy shares in some those companies! 😜

I love my cold steel scimitar though it’s different from your mine has a large silver handle with a type of scale etching you should check it out it’s cool

Yes. Just yes. I'd like to add a point from another video: The Katana is not curved, because people created it for a draw cut. It is curved, because of the creation process (refer to the correction to Veritasium's Katana video)

I'm so early I'm seeing the p*rn bots! Love ya Shad, huge inspiration for me to get into HEMA/Sword Cutting (more interested in the ladder)

Wow this clip was quite informative, thank you Shad. Keep up the great work

I think it detracts from the awesomeness and beautiful realities of the katana when folks shout out mythical, fictional or exaggerated attributes. It's not perfect or the best ever. Saying it is (or anything, very often) just causes the real brilliance to get lost and the noise or just outright ignored. I love these videos. It's tough work correcting years of assumptions based on television portrayal of various weapons, armors, tactics, and techniques. It's mildly amusing I've seen it referred to as katana bashing by the ones (usually) unintentionally spreading the misinformation, and missing the obvious appreciation y'all have for it.

I am really liking the 'Studded Leather' hoodie! 🤣

I'm so glad you guys did this video, so many people who complain about this subject have no clue what they are talking about.

The katana is the pancor jackhammer of the sword community. Everyone acts like it’s some unbeatable, mythical god weapon.

Flat of my strong!!! Flat of my strong!!!! flat of my strong!!!!

I really like how you came at this video boys! how you showed me and stated the difference between a draw cut and so on. Them you showed, that your hand position and everything was accurate to what you were talking about. Very well done, i learned a bunch in a short time, thank you, love videos guys, keep up the good work!

"Did you kill or maim your opponent with your sword?" "Yes." "Were you wounded in a manner that prevents you from fighting more?" "No." "Is your sword intact and able to kill or maim another enemy on the battlefield?" "Yes." "You are a good swordsman. Now go kill another enemy. I do not care how you do it."

I love how this video basically boils down to sharp thing will cut

If you've already covered this Shad, it's been a long time alright. I've been subbed for a long time at this point. Any thoughts/ historical use case to dual wielding? Twin axes, short swords, things?

Buttcheak sword cutting when... BUTTCHEAK SWORD CUTTING WHEN??? Guys! Like this comment so the chances of Shad doing a Buttcheak swordcutting video go up! 😉

All the nonsense misinformation in the West about Samurai and Katana's is so annoying.

Victory is with the legs

Mall ninja weebs: NNNOOO!!! You have to use draw cuts !!! Chad sword enjoyers: Heh heh metal stick go choppy chop.

Oh my God have you seen those crazy guys at Shadiversity?! They have Curved swords! CURVED SWORDS!

Ok, here's the thing you pivot with your RIGHT HAND. You pull the sword up and down with the LEFT HAND. This allows you to do a draw like cut at a distance. yes, I've done kendo, cut tatami and everything. The way I've been trained is really an advantage when your opponent is extremely fast and puts you on the defense.

Generally, I dislike videos that spend a bunch of time disproving invalid 'gatekeeper' comments, but this video was just FUN! Keep hacking and chopping and slicing away, lads!

Swordsmanship evaluation now vs then. Now: You only got 49 out of 863 factors right and looked dumb doing it too. You suck! Then: You survived and they didn't.

Me sees katana vid from the funny Australiens and thinks: time to if the weeb comments saying you used wrong get bonked. Me watching 0:39 far: YEEESSSSS!!!! Greetings the Swiss Army knife fanatic.

Honestly, those who say the curve of the katana makes them more effective slicing weapons are misinformed or exaggerating. The curve of a katana is so small that the difference is negligible. Based on my experience, it makes more sense for the curve to be a side effect of the deferential hardening and a way to quickly determine which side is the sharp one. It does make the sword slightly easier to unsheathe, but not to a significant degree. There are also techniques in Japanese swordsmanship that utilise the weight distribution from the curve to quickly rotate the sword in one's grip.

You say, Shat: "You can cut like you want!" But we say: "No, that can't be right! Where should this end?! This could become a disastrous free world without dogmas in the end! What a horror vision!" xD

Honestly Shad's cut feels stronger than a classical one from a physical standpoint - you simply have greater velocity (yeah, yeah, remember that energy equasion? mass times velocity squared and divided by two?)

You have to consider the level of ignorance your viewers are coming with, because they don't understand _why_ they're telling you about these differences in cutting techniques. They just saw some stuff and never bothered to even attempt to understand the reasoning behind it. You're basically dead right about Japanese Katana use, in terms of how the "draw cut" is produced. The way that you wield a katana produces the draw, you do not have to intentionally perform draw cuts when simply gripping and swinging the sword correctly (read: as intended). And as I commented on an earlier video, the curve of the katana, slight though it is, doesn't benefit from the draw cut, it accentuates the draw motion. That slight curve causes your cut to have a little more draw because of the way it interacts with the normal cutting motion of a katana. So when they say that the katana only cuts well with a draw cut, they have it BACKWARDS. It was NOT designed to benefit _more_ from draw cuts than any other sword. The katana is designed to create and slightly exaggerate draw cuts through it's design, because they recognized such a cut will perform better on any sword. ------------ I do have to add here, though, that there is a particularly good reason to use draw cuts which you never touch on. Often times the "armor" you would be attempting to cut through in Japanese warfare was nothing but some heavy cloth. We're not even talking the level of gambeson armor. Your enemy would often be wearing something on the level of a dense wool coat, or heavy cotton/hemp. Essentially, regular clothes for that time and place. As has been shown on multiple occasions, a couple layers of regular clothes will somewhat protect you from a single chopping strike with a blade, but it does basically nothing against stabs and slashes. So a draw cut was particularly desirable for the simple face that it will more readily slice through clothing fibers which have great tensile strength and flexibility that tend to resist chopping, but will cut much more easily with a slicing (draw cut) motion. The blade only needs that extra one centimeter of motion you talked about to make a big difference in the effectively against a couple layers of regular clothing.

Its good clickbait, but arguing with katana people is like arguing with trump supporters. They dont care about logic and you'll never convince them their sword didnt commit Jan 6th 😂😂

Lots of ppl don't understand lots of things! usually due to misconceptions, being illogical, or just not being able to understand basic physics!!

Excellent video gentlemen! I think you’ve done an excellent job establishing that a katana is not significantly different in cutting usage compared to other swords. There is one question I’m curious about though. Does the negligible difference you noted between regular cuts and draw cuts widen when you’re cutting something wider, such as something the size of a human torso? I’ve always been skeptical of the claim when it comes to something the width of a pool noodle or tatami mat roll, but when it’s wider, I could see the draw potentially being more significant. Is that something that’s theoretically testable?

With the right hand, left hand grip thing, its less about the quality of the cut and more about the overall control of the blade vs your own posture. At 15:27 with strong left, we can see shad is fairly upright while stopping the blade fairly early however at 15:33 when he does strong right he is leaning forward more and overswings almost into the ground. The reason this is relavant is two fold. 1 - small overswing allows for quicker follow up, 2 - more upright popsture keeps weight centered and therefore allows faster footwork following up on the strike. the mechanics as to why this are the case are pretty simple, if you are stopping the swing with your right hand and your left hand is driving, you can stop faster since your stopping hand is closer to the center of mass although obviously the draw cut thing is irrelevant here

Draw cuts are for opponents with thick cloth armors like gambeson or leather armor. With heavier things like chainmail and plate, just give up cutting and do thrusting instead. Without any armor, every cuts will work if the blade is good enough.

Holy moly! The RU-vid algorithm finally recommends a new video from one of my best subscribtions by far!!

Nathan's back! Heck yeeeah!

This is exactly why I'm looking for a scimitar. Looks like I will finally be $upporting the channel.

snap cuts are most of the decisive blows I've ever seen in competitive kendo. Maybe that's because draw cuts aren't rewarded in kendo like they should be though.

"You didn't cut me properly! Therefore my wound should be invalidated and the blood refunded to my person!" - 🤓

Still waiting new stick (weapon) video. Yes, Shad changed my mind sbout how a stick is a deadly weapon

I've not sliced any pool noodles with my Chokuto, but I bet it's straight blade will draw cut and slice just as well as those blades do. Especially after the last three days of reshaping and sharpening the edge.

Hmmm yeah you see the problem here is clear as day Shad. Upon further inspection of your sword I've noticed that it has a critical defect that makes it not a real katana because without the two extra blades it's impossible to cut properly. Not sure who sold you a triple katana with only one blade but you should definitely get a refund.

. Claiming there is only 1 way to cut with a sword is like saying there is only ONE thing guns are used for. WRONG. There are a lot.

I love that hoodie my problem is you do not have any hoodies in m size unfortunately.