IMPLEMENTS OF WAR
The samurai were formidable fighters who carried beautifully hand crafted swords. A samurai would carry two swords, a long and a short. The long sword, the katana, was curved and slender. An expert samurai could draw the katana and strike in a single motion. The smaller sword, the wakizashi, was a back up, should the samurai lose his katana. Its other main advantage was its size. The wakizashi could be used when fighting indoors when the length of the katana was too big. A samurai would always aim to carry the two swords, the daisho or pairing of swords were the essential fighting tools of the samurai. The daisho were regarded by the samurai as part of their soul.