Hanwei Practical Plus Elite Katana Sword

Ok guys, I have been purchasing Hanwei/Paul Chen swords for many years now, and must say they are excellently built products.I bought this as a replacement for my 2 old practice swords which were stolen from my house about a year and a half back, which is funny because the thieves stole the 2 cheap 100-200 dollar swords, and left the silk bagged and oiled $1200 ameryu last legend katana layin on my bed not 1 foot away :]The two swords that were stolen were my practice swords, a Paul Chen Nami Iaito (which is purely a draw strike practice katana), and a very old Paul Chen Practical Katana (from back when they used steel pegs instead of traditional bamboo :])I was very rough on my old Paul chen practical katana (Paul Chen is the same brand as Hanwei btw) and it withheld my abuse for 6-7 years, so I decided to go with another Paul Chen/Hanwei sword. After a decent amount of research I decided on this sword, the Practical Plus Elite Katana, as amazon had a smoking deal on this otherwise nearly 400 dollar katana.When i received it it looked brand new in the case, with the original tag certifying it as an original Hanwei katana, looked nice, no large scratches or any damage on the sheath. I wont go into the details of the sword as you can read them online everywhere.A year and a half later the sword is holding up very well, with some minor scratches along the blade from cutting(which is normal, and why I do not cut with my expensive katana). I use the katana easily every day to every other day for practice. The sheath has started to crack down the sides(my fault, not a defect), which makes the sword fit very loosely and it would probably fall out if held incorrectly. The cracks are from me accidently knocking the sword off of a desk and it hitting the tile floor fairly hard, the sword itself is still perfect. As the sword has low chromium content, it is not stainless, and thus needs to be oiled, but as my practice sword, I only tend to clean and oil it once every few months, much less than is probably warranted. Either way, this sword is an excellent deal for the low price amazon is able to sell it at, and I am extremely pleased with my purchase. I expect that this sword will hold up to much more abuse as my practice katana and still remain functional for years to come, a testament to the sword making skills of Hanwei.On a side note, make sure you study the pictures when buying Hanwei swords off of sites like amazon or ebay closely and make sure that is the real katana you will be receiving as they do not seem to know the difference between the many models of this and other swords(which can change the price of the sword drastically)For example, I thought I was going to get the cheap leather wrap model and ended up with the excellent cotton wrap.Hope my review helps someone make a more educated decision when buying a sword.

As i expected after research it is a very well made katana,it has nice fitment, beautifull hamon pretty tsuba.very solid has a quality feel It seems to be well ballanced, The blade has a nice polish no scratches ect. I would have givin it 5 stars BUT hanwei PPK's are described as razor sharp and it wasnt at all, it was sharp enough to cut stuff but it needs a finish hone for that super sharp feel and its such a nice sword an sharpening katanas can b tricky im not comfortable sharpening it to that next level... So it would have been nice if it came razor sharp like is described in most reviews in various publications... I Recommend it tho...

I purchased this Hanwei Practical Plus Elite Katana about a year ago and it was just okay. The wooden saya (sheathe) had a big crack at the mouth as it arrived and the sword is not entirely sharpen from the end to the tip. The part of the blade near the Habaki (the golden collar) is not sharpen at all, it showed that it is clearly a manufacturer's defect. I was going to return the sword, but Amazon was selling it for a very reasonable price, so I decided to keep it and see what it can offer. Big mistake.....! I have practiced cutting with this sword a few times and it just doesn't feel right. The balance is not as good as some of my Musashi katana swords and it is not as sharp as my Cold Steel Warrior katana sword. Now the worst thing. It is not as durable as I thought it would be. Like I said, I have only used it for a few times, the blade is showing dullness and many scratches are showing on the body of the blade. The blade even showing sign of curving and twist to the right. I have 7 other katana swords in my collection and I have used all of them for the same practice, none of them have showed any of the flaws as this one. I should have returned to Amazon the day it arrived, but I just wanted to give this katana a chance. Well, it's your choice, would you give this katana a chance?

For anyone interested in buying an affordable katana, I suggest that you do some homework first. There are several major manufacturers, mostly in China, making swords these days, but quality is going to vary. Check out Bugei for the high end ($1000+) factory-made katana (custom blades by recognized craftsmen can easily cost $10,000). There are videos and articles about traditional sword arts on the site. These guys are serious. Anyway, they work with Paul Chen (Hanwei) on their swords, so the Hanwei people know what they are doing. Even though this is a lower cost sword, it seems to be generally recognized in the martial arts community as a good value and dependable cutter. This sword is heavy, well built, with a nice hamon and good quality hardware. It also comes wrapped in a cloth cover, which is a nice touch, and the date of manufacture is included along with maintenance and adjustment literature. Be careful of some of the $100 specials you may see on e-bay... I am not a practitioner by the way, and bought the sword mainly for display purposes. I'm very satisfied with this purchase.

For anyone looking for an authentic cutting sword, this is a great choice. This is the more refined version of the Hanwei Practical Katana Sword. I did some research and this rated well in many sword enthsiast forums. It comes with a tag from Hanwei that provides a serial number to document that this is a Hanwei sword. The workmanship is so beautiful for a sword of this price that I have not had the heart to cut with it yet. I may just buy another one and keep one for decoration and dedicate the other for cutting practice.For some reason, the shipping company took some time delivering it (not the shipper's fault; the tracking number proved it was shipped promptly, but mishandled by shipping company). However, it arrived in good condition.

Unless your going to spend a lot more money this is hard to beat. Thinking about buying another. One day I'll spend big money but I won't have fun with it like I do with this one.