Medieval Japanese Armor and Weaponry

Annotated examination of the rules for use of the sword and of a variety of alternate weapons available to the Samurai, by Don Cunningham at the Budo Kai site.

Fred Weissberg's informative site includes a photo gallery of weapons and related items, articles about swords, an extensive glossary, diagrams, upcoming sword events and much more.

Very nice selection of pictures by "George" include numerous images of tsuba. Be sure to click the thumbnails for larger images and, occasionally, commentary.

Very interesting article by Kim Allen on the sword guard for the Japanese katana and tachi, the creation of which evolved into an art form of its own. Be sure to click the in-text links to see samples of tsuba.