The Japanese Practical Series from the Hanwei Forge, represents our most popular sets, offering excellent quality at an economical price. Each piece in the series has a high-carbon steel blade and they are designed with the martial artist in mind. This series is "practical" in every sense of the word, functional blades that won't break the bank.

      Practical Series are training weapons designed for safe and adequate practice, not only for the practitioner, but for their classmates as well. These training weapons can be used for competition or general practice.

    The Traditional Maintenance Kit is supplied with each piece in the Performance and Classic series (excluding practical swords) and is also available separately. The kit contains blade oil, rice papers, an oiling cloth, a powder ball for blade polishing, and a brass awl and hammer. The kit is contained in a fitted wooden box and full maintenance and handling instructions are included.

    The Practical Katana gives the martial artist the opportunity to own and use a Hanwei sword at the cost of an economy sword. The blade is forged and differentially tempered, using the same process as the more expensive blades and producing an HRC60 edge and HRC40 back. The temper line is authentic and prominent. Cost savings are effected by using fittings which, while making no claims to authenticity, are very strongly built to withstand the rigors of cutting exercises in the dojo.

    The Practical Plus Katana provides a very economical cutting sword as dependable as the Practical Katana (SH1070), but using more traditional fittings and construction methods. The blade is forged and differentially tempered (HRC60 edge, HRC40 back) and the hamon is prominent. The Practical Plus features genuine Same (Rayskin) on the Tsuka, with a wrap (Tsuka-Ito) specially developed for its gripping qualities. The long tang is double-pegged for security. The fittings of the Practical Plus are decorated in a Japanese Dogwood motif with dragon menuki, and the handsome Tsuba is of an iron "sunburst" design with a brass habaki.

    The Practical Plus Katana provides a very economical cutting sword as dependable as the Practical Katana (SH6000KPC), but using more traditional fittings and construction methods. The blade is forged and differentially hardened (HRC60 edge, HRC40 back) and the hamon is prominent. The Practical Plus features genuine Same (Rayskin) on the Tsuka, with a tightly-woven cotton wrap (Tsuka-Ito). The long tang is double-pegged for security. The fittings of the Practical Plus are decorated in a Japanese Dogwood motif with dragon menuki, and the handsome Tsuba is of an iron "sunburst" design with a brass habaki. The Practical Plus has been extended to include all of the Performance Series blades; with three cutting styles and three iaito lengths. Maintenance kit available separately (MKIT).

Frequent Cutting / Advanced Drawing Practice
Our Katana Blades embody the classical design elements of the most prolific sword design in history. With their strong Shinogi Zukuri shape that accentuates the differential heat treatment, these blades are traditionally proportioned to appeal to the collector but they will also perform well in general cutting of hard or soft targets.

    The Practical Pro Katana is built as an economical cutting sword for heavy targets, with an extended tsuka and a thicker and longer blade. The blades are constructed from hand-forged, high-carbon steel and are differentially hardened using a traditional claying method. The Practical Pro has a fine polish to it compared to others in the series. The tsuka is wrapped with synthetic black leather for its gripping characteristics and is double-pegged for safety. The saya is done in a deep black lacquer with a black cotton sageo. The katana is stylized with a round Kuruma tsuba, which represents the “Wheel of Dharma,” symbolizing the Buddhist concept of the Noble Eightfold Path. Maintenance kit available separately (MKIT).

Frequent Cutting / Advanced Drawing Practice
Our Katana Blades embody the classical design elements of the most prolific sword design in history. With their strong Shinogi Zukuri shape that accentuates the differential heat treatment, these blades are traditionally proportioned to appeal to the collector but they will also perform well in general cutting of hard or soft targets.

    The Practical Plus XL Light Katana provides a very economical cutting sword as dependable as the Practical XL Light Katana (SH6000LPF), but using more traditional fittings and construction methods. The blade is forged and differentially hardened (HRC60 edge, HRC40 back) and the hamon is prominent. The Practical Plus features genuine Same (Rayskin) on the Tsuka, with a tightly-woven cotton wrap (Tsuka-Ito). The long tang is double-pegged for security. The fittings of the Practical Plus are decorated in a Japanese Dogwood motif with dragon menuki, and the handsome Tsuba is of an iron “sunburst” design with a brass habaki. The Practical Plus has been extended to include all of the Performance Series blades; with three cutting styles and three iaito lengths. Maintenance kit available separately (MKIT)

Competitive Cutting / Lighter Weight
The XL Light blades feature the same geometry as those of the XL but incorporate deeply cut grooves (bo-hi) to reduce the weight of the blade while retaining most of it’s strength and cutting ability. This weight reduction makes for a quicker sword, well adapted for multiple cuts in lighter targets.

    Don't miss out on owning the Momo No Saru Katana, the Wakizashi is already sold out!
Limited Edition from the Paul Chen, Hanwei Forge!

We’ve been asked many times for limited editions of Hanwei Samurai swords and we think that we’ve found a winner in the Momo-no-Saru (or Peach Monkey). Limited to 500 Katana and 125 Wakizashi worldwide, the swords are built on folded Swedish powder-steel blades with the finest quality furniture. The blackened iron Tsuba and Fuchi/Kashira depict monkeys raiding a peach tree – a traditional favorite in Japan. Each sword comes with a numbered Certificate of Authenticity.

    The Great Wave Katana (5004) is stylized with the renowned Tomoe motif. The tsuba, fuchi, & kashira are made of black iron and marked with the Tomoe crest (mon). The blade is hand-forged from T10 high-carbon steel and is differentially tempered using traditional claying methods. The temper line (hamon) is evident and prominent. Each piece has a deeply lacquered black saya with a one-piece brass habaki construction. Real ray skin (same) is used on the tsuka, and the tsuka-ito and sageo are made of premium woven Japanese black cotton. The katana and wakizashi are constructed with a large o-kissaki and are ideal for cutting exercises (tameshigiri). The handle on the tanto is an attractive ribbed buffalo horn.

    Bushido, or “Way of the Warrior”, defines the code of conduct an honorable Samurai must follow. Much more than the western ideal of chivalry Bushido is a way of life; in both ancient and modern times. The koshirae of our Bushido set features various samurai battle scenes. The blades of eash are hand-forged and folded from K120C powder steel. The saya are deeply lacquered in gold with inlaid brass cherry blossom (sakura) flowers. High quality ray skin (same) is used on the tsuka of the katana and wakizashi, while the tsuka of the tanto is a gold-plated brass with decoration in relief. The tsuba of the katana and wakizashi is of blackened and bronzed iron, with detailing in gold and silver and a battle scene decoration. The tsuka-ito on the katana and wakizashi and the sageo on all three pieces are woven from premium Japanese cotton. The fuchi and kashira are of blackened bronze with brass detailing, and the kojiri, koiguchi and kurikata are of polished buffalo horn. The habaki is a one-piece brass construction. The katana and wakizashi blades are un-grooved, while the tanto blade is grooved (bo-hi) on both sides. The katana and wakizashi have medium-length (chu) kissaki. See Models SH1211 and SH1212 for the Wakizashi and Tanto details.