Poll: Slicing a guy in half with a katana in one blow, possible?

Would a Katana cut you in one blow - head to groin?

  • No chance in hell.

    Votes: 268 56.3%

  • Yes, like a hot knife through butter.

    Votes: 208 43.7%
  • Total voters
    476
jezsoup said:
Chainsaw yes katana no
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I think this was shown to be possible in the 'Bad Taste' movie, prequel to LOTR as directed by Peter Jackson :P :D

The only way a Katana would do this is by mounting it on the front of a Mack Truck before a lengthy run up. A fleshy explosion is equally likely however.

1960macktruck1au.jpg
 
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Could the sword do it.... Probably.

Could anyone get enough force to go through someone head to groin, very much doubt it. Far too much bone.

If you were going across the torso diagonally or horizontally, it would be a different matter.
 
People seem to think samuri swords behave like lightsabres it always amazes me. It's only a really sharp sword after all. Abbatoirs use captive bandsaws to cut carcasses in half and even that requires significant constant applied force to do so.
Back when beheadings used to take place using a heavy and very sharp axe against a restrained body it wasn't always possible to cut through a neck so an unrestrained human body is just fantasy land.
 
G-MAN2004 said:
off topic - Bri how come one of your sigs is 460x150. A bit big lol
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lol?

As far as I can see, they are all within the boundries & have been for at least the last 4 weeks. I assume if there were a problem, the mods would have told me by now, lol.
 
I would probably agree that it wouldn't be possible, but I think people are seriously underestimating just how sharp katana's etc. can be, and I'm pretty sure with a good swing from a trained swordsman he could get a good way through a full-grown man. :p
 
PlacidCasual said:
People seem to think samuri swords behave like lightsabres it always amazes me. It's only a really sharp sword after all. Abbatoirs use captive bandsaws to cut carcasses in half and even that requires significant constant applied force to do so.
Back when beheadings used to take place using a heavy and very sharp axe against a restrained body it wasn't always possible to cut through a neck so an unrestrained human body is just fantasy land.
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A proper katana is an incredibly scary piece of kit.... It's a very sharp and very strong weapon that holds an edge well.

http://www.compfused.com/directlink/252/

For what happens when you shoot a katana blade.

A katana swung with enough force could certainly do it.

And beheadings in far eastern countries weren't done with an axe...

http://www.compfused.com/directlink/608/

For a katana vs a .50 cal machine gun....
 
There are swords that can slice SEVEN people up in one blow, which were made by Masamune in around 1300. They tested them on dead bodies, and then wrote how deadly they were on the side of the sword
 
So basically someone like Superman or Blade could do it, but for us mortals we don't have a chance.
 
Dolph said:
A katana swung with enough force could certainly do it.
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This I do not doubt, but as I stated in the IRC discussion, the same results could be created using a machete, axe or anything else bladed.

A person, in one swoop, could not hope to slice a person head to groin.

That was the crux of the debate, and it seemed to be that I was the only one fighting the corner of real-life physics and not movies.
 
DRZ said:
A person, in one swoop, could not hope to slice a person head to groin.
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General technique is to go diagonally from shoulder to hip. The main technique with samurai sword (katana) is to cut diagonally. But ōdachi (in effect a long katana) can be used for different cuts, and are extremely long, so can cut more than one person up in a swipe.
 
Phnom_Penh said:
General technique is to go diagonally from shoulder to hip. The main technique with samurai sword (katana) is to cut diagonally. But ōdachi (in effect a long katana) can be used for different cuts, and are extremely long, so can cut more than one person up in a swipe.
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It may be possible to do that, but that was not the question ;)

Top of the skull to the groin in one swipe, through every single one of the vertebrae in the spine.

As I said in the IRC channel, there is only one way I am going to believe that it is possible, and that is for me to see it happen (undoctored video or live, either way is acceptable). Until then, I simply cannot believe that ANY bladed object that a human can swing could cleave a person in two in one swoop.
 
OK, you've all been watching too many movies... The katana blade is way too thin to withstand that kind of brutality. It can sever limbs with no problem, but going through the skull, then the sternum, then the ribcage and spine? You're insane if you think that's possible!
Re: the one that cut through 7 carcasses in one slice, first of all I've read some really dubious **** in swordfighting manuals from that period, especially from people who travelled to the Orient as exaggerating what they've seen was a sure way to wow their audience, and it's not like anyone listening had also been so they couldn't disprove them, so unless you have documentary evidence from a modern observer I'm not going to believe that, not because I don't think the sword can do it but because I don't think anyone has enough strength. Even if it were true, the bodies would be stacked one on top of the other and they'd be slicing through the abdomen, so the only thick bones they'd have to cut through would be the vertebrae.
Re: the sword splitting the bullet, it's not that strange really, as the slug is made of lead which is a soft metal and the sword is tempered steel. And the bullets were coming one at a time. The difference between small lead bullets and thick bones is that if a katana doesn't cut through the bone in one slice it'll get wedged in the bone and possibly snap. It's fairly likely that it'll get nicked too, as even though steel is harder than bone the katana's cutting edge is very very thin (which is why it's so sharp).
 
burnsy2023 said:
Off topic
What the hell does your sig say, babel fish is worrying me.

/off topic

Burnsy
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Its been a while since i did German but ...... i think it says:

Excuse me miss, do you know i have an international airport in my pants?
 
Hatori Hanzo blades would cut god himself! Bone would be like butter.



But really, someone email Mythbusters.
 
The mafia use butchers knives for disposing of dead bodies, if this katana really worked I think they'd take it as the easier and quicker option. Maybe the Yakuza would know better
 
manveruppd said:
Re: the one that cut through 7 carcasses in one slice, first of all I've read some really dubious **** in swordfighting manuals from that period, especially from people who travelled to the Orient as exaggerating what they've seen was a sure way to wow their audience, and it's not like anyone listening had also been so they couldn't disprove them, so unless you have documentary evidence from a modern observer I'm not going to believe that, not because I don't think the sword can do it but because I don't think anyone has enough strength. Even if it were true, the bodies would be stacked one on top of the other and they'd be slicing through the abdomen, so the only thick bones they'd have to cut through would be the vertebrae.
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Yes there has been some wiered **** in terms of what has been written, although, swords were tested after they had been made through tameshigiri (means test cut), using dead bodies, condemned prisioners, wara, goza, etc. The maximum cut, and the type was then inscribed on the nakago of the sword. The hardest cut is not the kiri-age (vertical, head to groin) but infact the yoko (horizontal), but the easiest cut is the O-kasa (diagonal shoulder to hip) as I said before. And there are various swords inscribed with being able to cut more than seven people at a time.

I'll refute what I said earlier, it is not impossible to cut a person from head to groin (kiri-age) but is damn difficult. It all depends on the swordsman rather than the sword itself.
 
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geiger said:
The mafia use butchers knives for disposing of dead bodies, if this katana really worked I think they'd take it as the easier and quicker option. Maybe the Yakuza would know better
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Nah, its just a good butchers knife would be cheap and easily obtained compared to a good katana. Plus its much smaller and compact. And a fat italian american whipping out a katana would make me roffle. Fat Tony learned his lesson not to mess with the japanese and their weapons.
 
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