Musashi Zatoichi

Mine actually is more attractive than the photos. It looks like cherry wood. This is a good self defense sword. When it arrived the saya was so tight that it was difficult to produce the blade. I used small tiny wood files and adjusted the saya's fit until it will hold on to the blade but is loose enough that I can fast draw it and slice quite quickly. The blade is good steel and pretty sharp. It need edge polishing to be absolutely scary sharp but is already sharp enought to cut very easily. The wood and the stain and finish are high quality and it feels nice to carry around. The mekugi in the handle was loose so I follwed the other review and pushed it out and reversed it. Then tapping it with a hammer seated it in place, no problem. Definately worth the $$!!

I got this more or less by chance and WOW is all i can say. For a sub 50 dollar blade I never expected it to perform as well as it did. I cut bamboo, water bottles and light tatami with ease. In terms of over all sturdiness so far, it seems better than my hanwei which has such a narrow blade I'm afraid to use it. Overall this is a great buy especially for the money.

Musashi Zatoichi - Wow. I gotta hand it to Musashi. This is one exquisite blade. Not as sharp as I had hoped for, but it still cuts through water bottles effortlessly. It swings & feels almost exactly like my 32 oz. Vaughn framing hammer. Beautiful! The wood handle & saya are very tasteful as well, with a bergandy color and fit that will attest to the superior craftsmanship of this piece. Blade fits into saya like it grew there, & symetry between saya & handle are flawless. The one negative about this product was the mekugi popped right out with very little pressure applied from my finger tip. It was an easy fix, as all I had to do was reverse the mekugi & reinsert it in the opposite direction, it fit snugg & required a little tapping, but is now ready for action. This is definately a work of art and for the 50$ price tag, a no brainer if you are a fan of the stick sword. I give this product a 5.5 rating.