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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Blackeagle" data-source="post: 4265709" data-attributes="member: 41120">It wasn't that they were made badly, they were high quality weapons.  The problem was they were made very hard.  The hard blade makes it possible to make them extremely sharp and meant they would keep that edge well even after extended use, but also made them very brittle.  This meant when you used them to parry another blade, rather than slice through nice soft flesh, they could crack or shatter.  A sword made out of softer, more flexible material would be a better parrying weapon, but it would never have the cutting ability of a harder blade.As the art of swordsmithing advanced, smiths started using techniques like pattern welding (using hard steel of the cutting edge and softer, more flexible steel for the sides and back) and differential tempering (cool the cutting edge rapidly to increase hardness and cool the back slowly to maximize strength and flexibility).  These allowed the Katana to have both strength and flexibility a very hard, sharp edge (these techniques also give the blade of the katana it's characteristic watery look).  This is why the proper way to parry with a katana is to use the side or back rather than the blade.  Using the blade probably won't sunder the sword, but it can chip a notch in the cutting surface.</blockquote>