Hand Made Japanese Samurai Katana Handmade Swords Tsuba 172 Www.handmadesword.com

A tsuba is the hand guard of a Japanese sword. It served several purposes. The tsuba balanced the sword. And it protected the hand of the sword holder from an attack by an enemy as well as from gliding into the sword blade. The third purpose was a more refined one. The Japanese tsuba developed into a kind of a status symbol for the sword owner. Thus the Japanese sword tsuba became an elaborate piece of art-far beyond its practical use.

During the Muromachi period (1333-1573) and the Momoyama period (1573-1603) feudal lords and powerful clans fought fierce battles against each other. Therefore the functionality of the sword tsuba was more important than its decoration. The Edo period brought an uninterrupted period of 256years of peace to Japan. Now the Japanese sword tsuba rapidly developed into a refined piece of art.

This is a Tsuba video from http://www.handmadesword.com.

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