On July 27, 2017, EL REY Network will air the Season 1 finale of MAN AT ARMS: ART OF WAR “Weapons of the Rising Sun.” Perhaps they saved the best for last. Japan, the Land of the Rising Sun, produces the most venerated sword of all, the Katana. I’m not sure why the Samurai sword is so popular. There’s just something about a Katana that feels right, even in the hands of a newbie. Or a perp.

In 2004, a thread began on our online discussion forum titled Bad Day for Samurai Wannabes. It grew into a posting place for any news story about crimes involving swords. The vast majority of these crime reports involve Samurai swords. This is, of course, by no means a scientific survey. There are several confounding factors. Firstly, posts on the forum are crowd-sourced so there's an intrinsic bias. And it's not like every single news article on sword crimes is posted. Our forum members tend to post during the work week, probably at work. Nevertheless, this demonstrates the popularity of Samurai swords.

Pop culture knows Samurai swords. Ask the average English speaker if they know what a dao or jian is. They won't, but they'll know what a Samurai sword is. The Samurai sword dominates pop culture sword imagery, especially where swords are seen nowadays, in the movies. Take for example Kill Bill, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, or Deadpool – Suicide Squad even has a character named Katana – and this doesn't even begin to address Hollywood movies related to the Japanese chanbara genre like The Last Samurai or Ninja Assassin (arguably Ninja swords are different than Samurai swords, but the audience that doesn't know the difference between a dao and a jian won't discriminate).

Gene with a Baltimore Knife & Sword Katana

 

I practiced Kendo as an undergrad and Iaido in Grad School. Despite the fact that my main practice is Kung Fu, I still keep a Bokken by my bedside as a "pillow sword." While I haven't had to use it against any human home invaders, I have had to chase a raccoon out of my home with it and it worked very well. The Bokken is versatile, and despite my love of sharp swords, I'm just more comfortable sleeping beside a blunt weapon because an edged weapon is so lethal. I can apply all my sword techniques to a Bokken, unlike a Katana, which is more limited and specific for applications.

The popularity of the Samurai sword might imply that it is easy to use. Pop culture is usually attracted to the simple, especially lately. However, it is actually a highly specialized weapon. Ilya Alekseyev, one of the master craftsman of Baltimore Knife & Sword, the weapon makers for MAN AT ARMS: ART OF WAR, explains. “The Japanese Katana with a very hard edge and a soft back – that blade is prone to bending very much. And if you don't hit quite right – the edge that is usually harder than any other edge because of the tempering techniques – some of them were not even tempered, just hardened – it can crack. That's why in Japanese martial art, you see precise wide motions and you don't see as much fluidity in their cuts. In Chinese martial arts, where the blade is hardened all the way through, you see much more fluidity, in the same way you see European blades.

“So a contribution to martial arts would be a study of the weapons themselves, not modern replicas, but go to antique shows. Pick one up. Find one that is not a fake and buy one, especially a crappy one. The reason is the fancy ones are made only slightly better than the crappy ones, but most martial arts are built around the average sword. If you can handle it, if you see a broken one, look how it's broken and you see the limitations of the weapon and consequently you can actually fix all the errors you're making with modern props because you know what moves are possible to do with traditional weapons.”

Building and testing weapons is what MAN AT ARMS: ART OF WAR is all about. There is so much misinformation about the martial arts, especially weapons, and the show aims to dispel those myths.

According to Robert Rodriguez, the mastermind behind El Rey Network, the station that brings MAN AT ARMS: ART OF WAR to TV, it was his son's fascination with ancient weapons that inspired the acquisition of the series. “It's exciting for me to put this show, MAN AT ARMS, on my television network. I'm here with my son Rebel. It's really because of him that I decided to choose the show. When I was first looking at different possible projects to bring here, I thought he might have an interest in it because he's into forging and making knives and swords on his own.”

Like anyone into forging, Rebel Rodriguez was a fan of the original MAN AT ARMS web series as well as the ancient Japanese arsenal. “I studied Japanese war history because I thought it was fascinating how they were really isolated for a few hundred years doing nothing but feudal wars amongst themselves,” reveals Rebel. “It created an interesting culture and classic weapons unlike anywhere else in the world. Reading through it, I found that the Katana wasn't the main weapon on the battlefield. It was the Yari and the Yumi. The Yumi, being a bow, was used at a distance. When you got close, the Yari really served you both on horseback and off horseback. And it just sounded like a fascinating weapon, unlike many other cultures where it's just on the front lines, and used by the weak and usually untrained infantry men, to simply stab at the other army and keep them away. They created an entire martial art named Sojitsu, just dedicated to the art of using the spear with both hands. Once again, like some cultures that use mostly spear and shield, this was just straight spear. So it created a very aggressive style and I absolutely loved it because I felt that's what the spear really excelled at – hitting weak points and aggressively pushing them back, keeping them out of your range. I really fell in love with the Yari and now it's my absolute favorite weapon. To see it on this show being created and used by experts, and even testing it myself, is really amazing.”

That's right. Both Robert and Rebel make a special guest appearance on the final episode of MAN AT ARMS: ART OF WAR. “The network had expanded,” explains Robert, “and not knowing that he would actually be in an episode, it wasn't until they actually sent me a list of weapons and said, 'What do you think of these weapon choices?' I had them add the Yari because he had shown me a demo of it some months before. And I was blown away by the ideas and the technique he talked about, things I had never heard about before with that spear. And so they added it, and Skip [Chaisson] the producer said, 'Hey, we should put Rebel on the show' because they sent him a picture of the Yari he had made like a year before. He made a Yari a year ago. So it all clicked together pretty quickly. This all happened pretty fast. He loves this stuff.

“He's been doing this since he was fifteen, working with metal and making knives. He just turned eighteen so it was exciting for me to have him be on the show, standing amongst all these other giants. As a father, to see a young person, a young man, be that into something that has historic and cultural significance and applying their passion and their focus to something that's working with their hands, ancient techniques, really gives you hope for society and civilization. I think it's a good role model for other kids. There's a lot of kids out there that don't get a light shined on them. I thought it really fit into the idea of what we're trying to do with the network – be inspirational just like this show, MAN AT ARMS. The subtitle that we chose, he already chose it. He liked the title. I sent him different titles – the ART OF WAR really was emphasizing the art, as well as the warfare. There's an art to it, an art to making the weaponry, and what it symbolizes.”

Marko Zaror, a movie star, professional stuntman, and lifelong martial artist, concurs with the Rodriguez's opinion of the martial arts as art. And he also thought the Katana was his favorite on the series. “Each weapon has a different technique, and you have to master each weapon. It's such a nice art. I can see how warriors became so attached to their weapon because actually that weapon represents life and death. That weapon can represent everything. For example, the Katana, it's a very important, spiritual kind of thing, that can represent the soul and the death of the Samurai. That's why they keep it so close because it's all the time – all the time remembering that life can end at any moment. So for them, that's the philosophy. And I try to follow that philosophy with my life day to day. I try to make my decisions, not just, 'Oh, what I'm going to do tomorrow,' or in one year. No, no. Day by day. And be thankful. This philosophy of the Samurai, for me, it's been so important because it made me take decisions in my life from a different point of view. Not from fear. Not from 'I have to do this,' or 'I have to achieve this in two years.' No. It's like how I feel today. So you live more for the moment. And this is all because of the Katana. It was cool for me to actually have a Katana, a real Katana, in my hands and test it out. And kind of understand the value and the work that's behind it. So cool! It's the weapon that I have a connection, not because I've used it before. This is actually my first time grabbing a real Katana and trying it, and testing it. But because of the philosophy that I follow and the story of the Samurai, what it means, the Katana, for the Samurai, it has a connection with living in the moment, being present. So I always like movies where you see a Katana, for example, Kill Bill. Oh I love that movie. Or The Last Samurai. The whole thing with the Katana, and that myth that's behind the swordmaker. If he makes a sword, you're going to be able to cut through all the other swords. It's a very magical weapon. I have many projects with a Katana and hopefully one is going to come out. Yeah, man. It's a cool weapon.”

As Season One of MAN AT ARMS: ART OF WAR comes to a close, all of the cast members have their personal favorite weapon. Mine was in Episode 7: "Stuff That Legends Are Made Of" – Tizona, the sword of El Cid. Our show's host, the inimitable Danny Trejo, voiced his love of the Katana too. “Of all of them, I still love that Samurai Sword. Man, that is still an amazing weapon. Razor sharp.” But Danny confessed his admiration for the Chinese pole arm in the premiere episode too. "The Ji, that is just a deadly weapon. It's like if you have that, you're the master of that battlefield.”

I hope you enjoyed watching MAN AT ARMS: ART OF WAR as much as we enjoyed making it. Please support our show so that we get renewed for a second season. I ride with El Rey.

Until next time, stay sharp!