a little hypothetical question for you guys, tell me what you think.

Lets say you had the available money to buy the best of top quality iaito/shinken from a Ningen Kokuho.

Would you train with it? or use it ever for that matter?

This question came up because I was talking with someone about me purchasing a good 4 or 5 thousand $ shinken. And she said, "Well you would just use it as decoration right?"

At first my thought is, "Of course, I wouldn't possible afford to train or demonstrate with that sword from the fear of even breathing on it wrongly." but then I was thinking whats the point in owning something like that if its not gonna be used?

Its like buying a $100,000 car and rubbing it with a diaper for the rest of your life. I mean whats the point if its not gonna be used?

[edit] Ok, well maybe Ningen Kokuho is too strong lets just say a 4 or 5000 $ shinken.

Somewhere else I mentioned that a true and valuable shinken requires as much attention as a child. Let any rust appear or any ding and you are facing a monetary loss.

They are beautiful to look at and thrilling to hold, but I would choose to let someone else worry about their preservation.

There is a large gulf between collectors and users. 4 or 5 thousand would net you a user grade shinsakuto from a decent smith. Nice, but made as a user sword. To purchase a true collecter sword in good polish from a good smith, you've now raised the cost into the tens of thousands. Something along those lines should be preserved for its historical value. You also have to throw in the fact that if you've been practicing long enough to exclusively practice with a shinken, then you would know how to properly use it and care for it so as not to be in danger of destroying it.

Truth to tell, 4 or 5 thousand would only net you a user grade shinken from a low grade smith or apprentice and a user grade polish.

So if you were to purchase a katana of that price range you would train with it?

Howard

Because its "used."--no matter how good the conditon, its still used.

Back in the day swords which could not be sharpended anymore were sometimes called "tired"---if memeory serves.
Besides, steel, no matter how good it is steel a metal and subject to stress.

Cutting puts tremendous stress on a blade, micro cracks can develop that can't even be seen with the naked eye.
Poor sharping over time can harm the edge (which are often polished/ground on as opposed to more common sharpening techniques)
Repeated use also puts alot of stress on the handles as well.