Samurai sword Hattori Hanzo

All the arts have their masters, but the name Hattori Hanzo has already become a household name not only in connection with the clans of the ninja, but also with the film industry. In particular, many film enthusiasts learned this name from Quentin Tarantino's trilogy "Kill Bill", where Hattori Hanzo's sword was the dream of a professional killer. Who is this amazing master? Why did he become famous? Let's try to understand.

When there are disassemblies of the samurai

The loud name uses in different spheres: it is a character of films about samurai, underground master of swords from "Kill Bill". The sword of Hattori Hanzo is beautiful both externally and internally. This is a deadly weapon, which is preferred to any gunshot. In Japanese culture, Hattori is a favorite hero. By the way, it was he who became the prototype for the hero Mortal Kombat Hanzo Hasashi, whose name is "Scorpion". His fighter is terribly dangerous and unpredictable. This is correct, because Hanzo is one of the greatest dzenins of the ninja clans.

Who is Zenin? This is the top link in the clan system. His fame was due to the service of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the man who collected Japan in a single state. Hattori Hanzo had a namesake - Jari-No Hanzo or Hanso-Spear, also a samurai, but less famous. There was a series of such "Shadow Wars" or "Shadow Warriors: Hattori Hanso", where after the death of the shogun, a full-fledged struggle for power begins with intrigues, wiles and mutual insults. Hanzo in the series is the head of the clan, living two lives: the owner of the bathing and fearless warrior, coolly slaughtering all the enemies in the cabbage. Robin Hood's thoughts in Hanzo in the series are not observed, but his motivation in preserving the status of the family. To achieve his goal, Hanzo himself plaits intrigues and substitutes enemies from another clan. Episodes in the series eight. These are qualitative and vivid stories with the possibility of continuation.

The Power of the Master

Many of the techniques of "Scorpion" in "The Mortal Battle" were taken from a real master of ninjas. He seemed a somewhat mythical creation, mysterious and secretive. His movements are so fast that he disappears from the air, as if he is floating above the water, flies and grows from under the earth. To bolster the reputation, Hattori Hanso himself started tales of himself, intimidating the weak-spirited enemies. But historically the personality of the master is more attributed to the Tokugawa era Ieyasu. Of the military victories Hanzo recall the association of groups of ninjas from the warring provinces, as well as the salvation of their leader. And for the last Hanzo was awarded a corporate apartment near Tokyo. The rest of his life he spent guarding the back gate of the capital, which was called the gate of Hanso or Hansomon. The master died at his death at age 55, being the head of the guard. A very sad ending for a mystical legend and a war of the night holding in fear whole villages.

Heritage

The death of Hattori Hanso was beneficial to both his people and his leader. The first could relax and not be afraid of fights, and the second got rid of the most dangerous clan of ninjas. Son of Hanso - Masanari - did not want to study ninjas and consequently could not lead his father's troops. Therefore, in the legacy of the descendants of Hanzo remained only named in his honor the branch of the metro and figures in the temple of Sainen-Dzi. True, we must not forget about the memory that is transmitted and reinforced by legends and films about "The Devil of Hanso," who not only was skilled in the battle, but also made swords - "katany". The first mention of such swords comes in 710 AD, when the fencer Amakuni used a sword with a curved blade, forged from a variety of iron plates. The sword was good, because it was like a typical sword. Without changes, he walked the road in the 7th century.

Aristocratic weapons

Almost immediately katany became a favorite attribute of the Japanese nobility. A breakthrough was the Meiji revolution, when officials switched to European swords. Modern katany differ in the length of the blade, and each has its own name. More than 84 cm in the blade of the two-handed sword "Nodati". There is a sword "Tati" with magnificent decorative decoration and a thin blade. The average length of 61 cm in "tinsa-katany." A "wakidzasi" is considered a pair of two-handed swords and has a modest length of 51 cm. Often "wakizashi" was replaced with a tanto with a knife 28-40 cm, and the ladies preferred a "kaiken" with a straight blade 8-16 cm. Katana - a universal weapon, superior to the Arabian bulat on strength, sharpness and flexibility. According to some experts this is the best sword in the world.

Hattori Hanzo in the movie

In his sensational film Quentin Tarantino was a little mistaken in time and method of making katana. There is a Japanese tradition, according to which the gunsmith does not make the accessories to the blade. For such a small work, he has a whole staff. It turns out that the katana is not a cast tool, but almost a designer, which connects the results of many people's work. Samurai has in stock several sets of accessories for the sword and changes them depending on the circumstances. Samurai sword Hattori Hanzo needed the main character of the film Tarantino, which played Uma Thurman. The heroine was called Beatrix Kido or Black Mamba, as her fellow killers called her. Her goal is revenge. As a weapon of revenge, she chose the world's best sword, which Hattori Hanso had to make. "Kill Bill" is a specific film, and to some extent philosophical. The heroine was seriously offended, if it is possible to attribute to the insults the attempt of a brutal murder with a criminal abortion. She wakes up from a coma and wants only revenge and get to the main goal - Bill, a man who was her lover, the father of her child and became her killer. Initially, Hanzo in the film refused to work, but after learning the circumstances, took up the order.

Ready result

A special iron ore with impurities of molybdenum and tungsten is used for the blade. All the weak places are eaten by rust, and after that the rods were sent to the gunsmith, who crushed them with a hammer so that the blade contained more than 50 thousand layers of metal. The Katana is a self-sharpening sword, and enough to hold it over the wall to get a sharp blade like a razor. In the work there are several stages of grinding, reduced grain size and polished with charcoal. Finishing line - hardening in liquid clay, after which a matte strip - yakib appears on the blade. Many masters (including Hattori Hanso) put their painting on the edge of the blade. When the forging ends, the sword is polished for another half a month for a mirror shine.

Arms of the soul

Let in the film the sword of the heroine is taken away, but she completed her goal with the tool of Hattori Hanso. A photo with a sword went to promo posters. The ideal glitter of weapons dazzles and somehow does not fit in with the usual ideas about battles and blood. But this is the main attraction and beauty of the world's best sword. This is a perpetual weapon, perfect and clearly balanced. It always comes to the goal, and therefore such swords are difficult to imagine modestly hanging on the wall as a decorative element. The Hanzo Sword is a weapon of war.