Nick Pittson wrote:
-PS I also own one of those cheap sets: I loaned it to a good friend for over a year while he begun Iaido. When he got his $800 (CDN) Iaido-to from Tozando (http://iaido.tozando.com/), it was kind of funny how his new sword's weight and balance so closely resembled mine. Either my cheap set was not as cheap as I believed, or he got screwed. We both prefer to think the former.


I must admit, I have tried holding my decorative katana to see how it fealt, and it fealt "nice" though I am too inexperienced to say anything about balance or weight. I will also admit that the bokken i use feels more "natural" but once again, I wouldn't know what I am talking about.

I have also taken my decorative swords apart and put them back together due to their "very cheap" construction. There is a nut that screws on at the bottom of the tang underneath the pommel (I forget the Japanese word, fuchi?). I don't think I would ever trust my set with any practice at all, especially after seeing this video. But for the $40 or $50 I paid for the set way back when, they do make a nice decoration in my bedroom