Wooden Katanas Are Even Better: Difference between revisions
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[[File:414px-Musashi ts pic.jpg|link=Miyamoto Musashi|frame|The [[Trope Maker]] himself.]]
{{quote|''Wooden or bamboo swords are just as sharp as metal swords, [[Absurdly Sharp Blade|if not sharper.]]''
For those familiar with Japanese culture, [[Katanas Are Just Better]]. For those who live in Japan, '''Wooden Katanas Are Even Better'''. Ever since [[Miyamoto Musashi]] defeated Sasaki Kojirou with a bokken, the wooden sword has become a symbol for the ultimate swordsman.
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Interestingly, Musashi didn't really cut Sasaki Kojiro with his ''bokken''. According to ''Musashi'' by Eiji Yoshikawa, he actually cracked his skull with it. And, to add the insult to injury, it wasn't even a proper bokken: because Musashi was partying ''hard'' before the duel he not only got late to the agreed place, but in his hangover he '' forgot his bokken'' and had to jury-rig a replacement from a boat's spare oar. Presumably, the incredible cutting power is due to a [[Rule of Cool|certain rule]].
{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* Wooden Sword Ryu in ''[[Shaman King]]'' wields a wooden sword, and the trope is played with quite a bit: initially, he's just a punk with a sword, but he eventually becomes a shaman and [[Took a Level In Badass|demonstrates that he's not so weak after all]].
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* Used in ''[[Holyland]]'' by Taka the kendoka.{{context}}
* Busujima Saeko from "[[Highschool of the Dead]]" uses one for most of the series. She even kills Ishii Kazu with one hit after he is bitten protecting Marikawa Shizuka.
== [[Card Games]] ==▼
* In the ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' Trading Card Game, there's a card called Broken Bamboo Sword, which does nothing on equip to a monster. But, when you upgrade it with another card, it becomes a "Soul Devouring Bamboo Sword", which kicks ass.▼
** There's also the Golden Bamboo Sword, which lets you draw two cards if you have the Broken Bamboo Sword.▼
** Not that any of these cards are actually very good, but at least a Soul Devouring Bamboo Sword is creepy.▼
== [[Comic Books]] ==
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== [[Professional Wrestling]] ==
* Shinai (aka "kendo sticks" or "Singapore canes") are a popular weapon in [[Professional Wrestling]]. On the wrestling weapon power scale, they seem to be one step below [[
== [[
▲* In the [[Yu-Gi-Oh! (Tabletop Game)|''Yu-Gi-Oh!''
* Musashi himself is an example of how potentially deadly a bokken can be, tales of his exploits often indicate that he has employed wooden swords to lethal effect. The most famous example of this is his use of a bokken against his rival, Sasaki Kojirou, in their fight on Ganryuu island that he carved from a spare oar on the boat he rode in on the way over. This is an example of tactical brilliance as Musashi deliberately carved his weapon to be slightly longer than Kojirou's infamous "drying pole" (Sasaki was usually using a ''[[Every Japanese Sword Is a Katana|nodachi]]'' — a sword that was considerably longer than the average katana) in order to overcome Kojirou's reach advantage.▼
▲** There's also the Golden Bamboo Sword, which lets you draw two cards if you have the Broken Bamboo Sword.
* Dave Lowry's book ''Bokken'' [http://books.google.com/books?id=1ZhxhhVaQtcC&pg=PA19&lpg=PA19&dq=historical+swordslingers&source=bl&ots=m3O9TNUy6x&sig=DvUuS0lfNFbur9jmDuJoIVMthk0&hl=en&ei=8zocTO-7G4GClAeB6tHfDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBQQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=historical%20swordslingers&f=false says] "Historical tales of swordslingers and their art, called ''kenshi kodan,'' are full of examples of master ''kenshi'' who met opponents armed with live, steel weapons with nothing but a ''bokken'' in their hands." He then explains why this worked.▼
▲** Not that any of these cards are actually very good, but at least a Soul Devouring Bamboo Sword is creepy.
* The British martial art Singlestick is this same philosophy applied to sabres.▼
* Some wooden katanas have an advantage in being lighter then most other weapons. This allows the user to move quicker and strike faster/more strategic. However, there are ''different'' types and sizes of bokkens, optimized for different training styles and techniques, and only some of them are lighter than the real swords. Because they're made from a hard, dense woods like oak and are much thicker that metal swords, they can sometimes weigh up to twice more than the real sword.▼
* Shinai were developed because bokken were far too deadly for training and demonstration of skill. A serious downgrade in lethality, the shinai can still inflict some incredibly stunning pain.▼
== [[Video Games]] ==
* Taiga from ''[[Toradora!]]'' likes to carry around a wooden sword for when she decides to smack people down.
* In ''[[Tales of Symphonia]]'', [[Dual-Wielding]] wooden katanas are Lloyd Irving's starting weapons, and if you advance to a certain point of the game without unequipping them, you'll get a special title for Lloyd.
* Averted in ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'': when Sora loses his [[Empathic Weapon|Keyblade]], he's left with a wooden sword that leaves him weak to the point where defeating even the previously non-threatening weakest of enemies becomes a long, drawn-out chore. Luckily, he has the [[Beauty and the Beast|Beast]] on his side who takes down most baddies without a backward glance, relegating [[Player Character|Sora]] to keeping him alive above all else or else you're totally screwed. (Although your magic still works pretty well, albeit without the bonuses your keyblade would give to it. Gravity in particular works quite well.)
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* ''[[Penny Arcade]]'': The Cardboard Tube Samurai takes it even further. Note that in Fate/Stay night, Emiya Shiro also fights with a tube using reinforcement.
* ''[[Hark! A Vagrant]]'' has an installment about [http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=40 the Musashi/Kojiro duel]
{{quote|
''SFX:'' BONK
''Musashi:'' I win}}
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* ''[[Samurai Jack]]'' had an episode where Jack faces a poser named [[Blaxploitation Parody|Da Samurai]] who challenges him into a duel. Jack insists they battle with bamboo sticks instead of blades. The wannabe takes a beating and draws his real sword, which Jack defeats with the same bamboo stick.
* Averted in the ''[[Adventure Time]]'' episode "Mystery Train" where the train conductor who "murdered" everyone had a wooden sword - it was able to stand up to Finn's sword without breaking in a sword fight.
▲* Musashi himself is an example of how potentially deadly a bokken can be, tales of his exploits often indicate that he has employed wooden swords to lethal effect. The most famous example of this is his use of a bokken against his rival, Sasaki Kojirou, in their fight on Ganryuu island that he carved from a spare oar on the boat he rode in on the way over. This is an example of tactical brilliance as Musashi deliberately carved his weapon to be slightly longer than Kojirou's infamous "drying pole" (Sasaki was usually using a ''[[Every Japanese Sword Is a Katana|nodachi]]'' — a sword that was considerably longer than the average katana) in order to overcome Kojirou's reach advantage.
▲* Dave Lowry's book ''Bokken'' [http://books.google.com/books?id=1ZhxhhVaQtcC&pg=PA19&lpg=PA19&dq=historical+swordslingers&source=bl&ots=m3O9TNUy6x&sig=DvUuS0lfNFbur9jmDuJoIVMthk0&hl=en&ei=8zocTO-7G4GClAeB6tHfDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBQQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=historical%20swordslingers&f=false says] "Historical tales of swordslingers and their art, called ''kenshi kodan,'' are full of examples of master ''kenshi'' who met opponents armed with live, steel weapons with nothing but a ''bokken'' in their hands." He then explains why this worked.
▲* The British martial art Singlestick is this same philosophy applied to sabres.
▲* Some wooden katanas have an advantage in being lighter
▲* Shinai were developed because bokken were far too deadly for training and demonstration of skill. A serious downgrade in lethality, the shinai can still inflict some incredibly stunning pain.
{{reflist}}
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