There’s something about a sword that screams “badass.” That’s why even in this 21st-century age of missiles and machineguns, the biggest badasses in cinema still sport steel. But finding your own piece of badass is a little challenging; you can’t just buy a replica Hanzo sword – that screams more “serious fanboy” than “serious mo’ fo’”.

What you need is Gassan Sadaichi’s wakazashi. This blade has “true badass” written all over it. First of all, the wakizashi was the samurai’s workhorse sidearm. While the katana (the longer blade you see in Kill Bill) gets the glory, the wakizashi was the one sword that a samurai would NEVER be without – he’d even sleep with it under his pillow. And just in case you think it’s only for show, the wakizashi was the sword that samurais would use to take trophies on the battlefield (and by “take trophy” I mean “decapitate and save the heads of your conquered enemies”).

This particular sword is the most badass of the badasses. Gassan Sadaichi was a master swordsmith, the grandson of the founder of the Osaka Gassan school of swordmaking, and an official Living National Treasure of Japan. The sword is 21 inches of razor-sharp steel, bearing the Gassan school’s signature grain pattern in the blade and an engraving of the God of War Fudo Myoo on one side. The sword’s scabbard is even signed by Sadaichi in his own hand.

So go ahead: show it off to your friends, and kindly excuse all posers from the room.

This post is tagged Gassan, Hanzo, Kill Bill, samurai, sword, swordsmith, wakizashi