As a recently retired bladesmith of near 35 years, I gotta tell you that the martial 'artists' out here, and note the stress on 'artists', actually use swords to cut and stab things of similar characterictics to 'other people'. There are exhaustive competitions and world renoun for the maker of the winning sword. A swordsmith has honor as well as the surgeon (assuming that he isn't a drunk or tripping on his own damn medications!! Ahem, but that's another story.. *__- ) Prehaps more of the smith's 'soul' goes into that blade than any other craft/art. A mans life depended on his blade. 'Perfection' is as diligently and sincerely pursued as in any other field.
Nutshell;
The best there ever was, 'is'. Any warrior of the past (all but the smallest and most fortunate few who could afford some of the absolute best, by the best, after 'steel' was 'mastered') would trade whatever 'prybar' he was swinging, along with his left testicle, for the finest of todays offerings.
Hard means brittle. Hard has something to do with the cutting edge. So does abrasion resistance. So does geometry. Brittle is not a good quality in a sword. Springy flex is a good thing but that temper on the edge makes it too soft to hold a good edge. Hard and brittle would take a quick toll on the edge (before the sword broke), so the edges had to be thicker, like on the katana. More metal to 'back up' the actual cutting edge. Differential heat treating was necessary to fight the hard vs flex problem. Edges were harder that the body of the blade.
It was, and is, an almost mystical persuit in the attempt to take many opposite characteristics (hard/flexible/impact resistent, abrasion resistent/ease of sharpening, thin enough edge to be sharp/ thick enough not to crumble on impact, etc...) and juggle, juxtapose them to find some nebulous conjuncture where the fine qualities of each might contribute to the 'whole', without the very same element's negative qualities being uncontrolledly detrimental. No wonder I pursued that chimmera all those years. Fairly 'successful' a few times.. lots of 'my best', and a huge scrap pile! *__-
Sometimes metals like tungsten carbide (very very hard and brittle!) can be applied to edges before sharpening... Sometimes a 'softer' application of something with greater abrasion resistence can be applied, like to the digging edge of a backhoe bucket.. There are lots of 'innovative' ideas (tungsten and titanium plating for abrasion resistance (and pretty anodized colors) for one), with a small following here and there.. What difference does it really make 'cept every 'warrior' wants the finest equiptment he can afford.
The best swords that 'can' be forged, are now being forged. Best steels, (powder steel technology allows the alloying of elements that could never be alloyed before, delicately shifting balances of 'qualities' within the steel to personal requirements), best methods, best tools, and craftsmen/artists as good as the world has ever seen!
*Bugei Trading Company* has beautiful, high quality for 'reasonable' price, if you like the Japanese line. *Cold Steel* has some lesser priced fine products, ...but one way or another, layered, homogenous, mosaic, shiny or etched, it is going to be steel (at least for the time being...).
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