As of recently it came to my attention that one of my family members owns a ww2 japanese officer samarui sword. I just recently got interested into the sword arts/martial arts recently so im still learning please correct me if im wrong about anything. Im wondering if theres any common practice that teaches use of the katana. Being able to wield it effectively would prove as a great reward.

With most swords and blades I wouldnt mind having them just to look at, but I think I remember hearing the obtaining a katana is somewhat difficult to do, and ontop of that it's a samarai sword and I would hate to let the oppertunity of learning how to use one while having a non replica availible go to waste.

[This message has been edited by Bannanabomb2004 (edited 01-28-2005).]

Do a forum search at http://www.e-budo.com and http://www.swordforum.com for cities in your area. Add to the search the words kendo, iaido, kenjutsu, iaijutsu, and battojutsu. That should turn up whatever training oppurtunities may be available in your area.

Yes there are several extant lines of traditional Japanese Swordsmanship available in the US. They are few and far between and there are a lot of yahoos making it up as they go along, but there are genuine dojos available.

I'd also suggest heading over to google and searching for Richard Stein's Japanese Sword Index. That is an excellent site for learning about Japanese swords. There is an article there that should be easy to find entitled "Is it Real?" or something to that effect. In all likelihood, what you have is known as a gunto. Gunto were mass produced during the war so that all Japanese officers would have one. Kind of a badge of office. Some swords carried into battle were family heirlooms remounted in gunto fittings, but these were very rare. In either case, it has value to collectors as long as you don't try to clean it up in any way. See the articles at Richard Stein's site for more info.