What is a daisho

What is a daisho

Among the many concepts that underlie historical martial arts, the daisho is perhaps one of the least known, but at the same time one of the most peculiar, since it brings us a little closer to the world of samurai.

The daisho

A daisho is the combination of two weapons, two Japanese swords, two traditional sabres carried by samurai in ancient times, which always consisted of a long blade and a short blade.

Thus, the most common combination in daisho is that of a katana as a long blade, and a wakizashi as a short sword.

In the case of the samurai, while the katana was the traditional Japanese sword used for battle, the wakizashi, carried on their belt, was on the other hand much more used by warriors in hand-to-hand fights and in less important fights.

Curiosities

The word daisho comes from the union of two terms. On the one hand, we have daito, which means great sword. On the other, we find shoto, which means little sword. And so, uniting both, we find the word in question.

Variations

Currently, there are several variations to complete the daisho. Although the most formal is the aforementioned, many users choose to combine the traditional Japanese katana or sword with a tanto, a tachi or an uchigatana. They are smaller blades that are also well associated with the samurai sabre.

Be that as it may, remember that, despite the variety and options available to you, the katana and the wakizashi will always be the two weapons that are traditionally considered to make up the daisho.

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