Glad you enjoyed. While I pointed out some opportunities for improvement, overall I was impressed with the sword. It was lovely in both appearance and handling. The polish was absolutely fantastic. I hope that I get a chance to review more swords from you in the future.
Thanks for testing on used Japanese tatami omote. So many "reviewers" cut soft beach mats, brown wara, and mugen dachi that don't challenge blades or cutter technique and give a false impression of performance, toughness, and durability. These blades look similar to upper tier Sheng and old Simon Lee, but with better fittings and mount. Nice aesthetics... good option for collectors with budgets below euro customs or Japanese stuff. They might be a decent replacement for Kaneie/Kurin. These aesthetic blades typically sacrifice structure for aesthetics. That's why you won't see them in practitioner usage because performance, toughness, and durability aren't there... and once you bend it, it'll keep bending in the same way, with less stress.
Yup, as stated by themselves in SBG forums, Zsey bought old Simon Lee company. That's why they look similar but with better fittings / more refined koshirae as you said. I like what they're doing, sure there's always room for improvement, but overall I appreciate that they're trying to capture a more traditional nihonto-like blade in both handling and aesthetically wise. The polish work really stands out from what we've got on the market at that price point and I really like their tsuba selection a lot! Cheers!
Wow this is why you have such a following. You are so good at articulating what you want to convey. After watchn this, I'm like Sloth from Goonies in my review of this sword compared to you. Lol!
Sword.... Goood.... Polish .. .. Shiny. - Don't sell yourself short. You provide valuable perspective and have your own style. Keep doing what you are doing or take what you think works better from others and make it your own. Either way you provide value with each upload.
This is the first one they released on their ebay page after changing their name if I remember correctly (they still had a cat as their profile picture). I liked a lot of the old Simon Lee blades they had listed, but these new ones are eye candy as well
Is the white fluffing Matt's hair snow, packing peanut bits, shaving cream or horrible dandruff? 😂 Love ya Matt Im just picking.,we know it's the powder Anathar uses to mind control you.
Normally, I would request that you (Matt) push the sword further, but in this case, I'm going to refrain from doing that because I agree with you on all points. I think that if this was a sword from Hanwei, or Dragon King, or, a custom sword from JKOO, or Ryan Sword, then I would say go for it.
Its going to bend a lot, softer swords tend to deform before they break. I would expect it to hold up like a softer 1060 blade and eventually crack and break. I would guess it would hold up as a weapon (technically) for a while but loose what makes it good rather quickly.
Nice to see you review these. I've been curious about them. They look very impressive on their website. Sounds and looks like it would be great for iai, but for tameshigiri, you'd want something more in line with Nakamura sensei's recommendations.
I've been waiting for your review about this company. I've been on the fence about purchasing one but after your review I'm comfortable trying them out.
Your technique sux, you injury makes it very bad. Also an older version then the one in the ad. Also the model up is a much stronger steel. That is the lowest polish available. The tsuka is hand made and custom fit on the one in the ad. They are made with metals that would exceed a japanese kobuse katana with the same style. These are a proper forged blade from a steel puck.
It's odd that I note my expertise and injury in the beginning yet you point out how much I suck.. I'm working on it, progress is slow. Any suggestions? No objection to criticism but I the constructive version is better. As for the blade changes, Z-Sey has made improvements and it looks like they have begun marking them. I was only able to review the sample provided. If you mean it is better than a well made Nihonto by "Japanese Kobuse katana" then I am not sure on that. This seems a bit softer then some of the modern blades I have cut with. Its not a fair comparison though.
Hey Matt great review! One thing I may recommend is when you are showing the polish on the blades is to put some kind of straight edge above to show the edge profile and niku. That would be very helpful for practioners of tameshegiri. I must say though I have been watching you're videos for years and you are one of if not the best at what you do! Cheers!
Both of mine both had issues, I'd be apprehensive about getting another one. My 2k Shrimp Katana came with a loose Tsuba that took quite a bit of hammering and Gorilla Glue to tighten up. My cheaper ZXN-275J came with a crack in the Saya. It's a great Mat cutter though
@@peterjanjanin9883 If you find time, I would love to see an imgur of your kumiage. I've always had a soft spot for thaitsuki, but I am just so hesitant after getting burned really badly by one of their blades.
Great video matt, thier website looks like a very impressive catalogue but far beyond my price range.. maybe one day though :) I also never get tired of the sausage fingers remark haha
I saw their swords on Ali Express a couple years ago before they got popular, but I just figured they were just another Long Quan sword reseller. I should have taken a gamble on them back then when their prices were lower.
Thanks for all your years of sword knowledge gathering Matthew. It's really appreciated! For your elbow, guess what, we have Rife Frequencies for that! And binaural beats. This one helps loads, it's by YTer Good Vibes, for joints: m.th-cam.com/video/YkW3ZJ_7VT8/w-d-xo.html
I ended up ordering their folded steel blade with the higher up polish level, because of this review. Got the blade it was gorgeous. Shipped it to motohara for mounting. Thanks for the help.
Some attention to the Nakago can actually be good for durability. Improper tangs lead to alot of breakages even if they're full tang. Bad grinds can leave weak points.
I clicked the video to learn more about katanas and I stayed for the professionalism, the editing, his great voice, and the attention to detail in his fair critique. Mini Katana has some decently affordable katanas. Wondering what he thinks of some of their 1060 and 1095 steel swords.
I have two. They are very good. Best balanced blades. They are more in line of Korean tradition than Japanese tradition, but really great quality. Mine have been abused a lot and never failed.
Great review ! With how familiar you are with swords i would have a question about where to buy quality fittings for a new build do you have any sites you would recomend ? Thanks
For modern cast fittings, Tozando, Yamato Budogu, Lohman Company, Hyper Cafe.. If you want custom stuff then the budget needs to be bigger. Marcus Chamers, Rado Sword, Roman Urban, Kevin Adams, Josiah Boomershine...
@@Matthew_Jensen I edit all my vids on my phone with a very user friendly app. But even so occasionally I get a strange glitch on audio or something...so no worries I just wasn't sure if it was the vid or me 😂
I doubt you would cut through it but it would definitely bend. Mine bent while using a block to remove the handle but bend back just fine. Definitely not the toughest though.
@@SoloKyoto Well it cutting through brass wirework shells of sabres is something that happened and that stuff at least to me looks more massive than this.
@@Sfourtytwo That is true and you might be right I just feel like after the blade made contact the tsuba would bend glenting the blade off but Im not a expert sword fighter and definitely would trust my hand to it. Lol
A real Nihonto Katana starts about at 4000€ or $. So there is a pretty big jump in price you have to pay for the real deal. 900$ is not alot of money for a china katana.
The main appeal to these is having a Nihonto - like sword that you can ethically use and abuse, without damaging a piece of history. On the other hand, I'm worried that the existence of such higher quality Chinese swords will encourage the production of malicious fakes. They look nice but goods might not outway the bads
I agree with El Tadashi - $900 is not a lot of money for a sword of this quality, even it was made in China. Not to mention I would use this before ruining a $4000+ nihonto.
@@peterjanjanin9883 Fully mounted for $900? I collect nihonto and production katana, and any nihonto I have found fully mounted at $900 have been less than satisfactory for collection purposes.
Wow! Very professional review. Thank you Matthew!
Glad you enjoyed. While I pointed out some opportunities for improvement, overall I was impressed with the sword. It was lovely in both appearance and handling. The polish was absolutely fantastic. I hope that I get a chance to review more swords from you in the future.
None of my Zsey swords had any of those faults. I recommend the next polish up.
One thing I notice from Both Z-sey and Dragon Sword is this phrase "Professional Review"
Are you the same person that commented to Juardian?
@@KF1 I don't know what you mean. I use Google Translate
@Kingfisher Professional normally means they are paid, and they both got a free sword,. So they got paid.
Hello sword friend Matt
Thanks for testing on used Japanese tatami omote. So many "reviewers" cut soft beach mats, brown wara, and mugen dachi that don't challenge blades or cutter technique and give a false impression of performance, toughness, and durability.
These blades look similar to upper tier Sheng and old Simon Lee, but with better fittings and mount. Nice aesthetics... good option for collectors with budgets below euro customs or Japanese stuff. They might be a decent replacement for Kaneie/Kurin.
These aesthetic blades typically sacrifice structure for aesthetics. That's why you won't see them in practitioner usage because performance, toughness, and durability aren't there... and once you bend it, it'll keep bending in the same way, with less stress.
Yup, as stated by themselves in SBG forums, Zsey bought old Simon Lee company. That's why they look similar but with better fittings / more refined koshirae as you said. I like what they're doing, sure there's always room for improvement, but overall I appreciate that they're trying to capture a more traditional nihonto-like blade in both handling and aesthetically wise. The polish work really stands out from what we've got on the market at that price point and I really like their tsuba selection a lot! Cheers!
Kuroinu
A sua
A sua
Wow this is why you have such a following. You are so good at articulating what you want to convey. After watchn this, I'm like Sloth from Goonies in my review of this sword compared to you. Lol!
You also do great reviews Karl.
Sword.... Goood.... Polish .. .. Shiny. - Don't sell yourself short. You provide valuable perspective and have your own style. Keep doing what you are doing or take what you think works better from others and make it your own. Either way you provide value with each upload.
@@GGolden219 thank you sir
@@Matthew_Jensen appreciate it ol'boy!
The appearance looks like Kenshin Himura's sakabato in Rurouni Kenshin live action.
This is the first one they released on their ebay page after changing their name if I remember correctly (they still had a cat as their profile picture). I liked a lot of the old Simon Lee blades they had listed, but these new ones are eye candy as well
I have a "Simon Lee" era katana that has a full wrap of ray skin and a slightly deeper, earlier style curvature, and I really like it
Is the white fluffing Matt's hair snow, packing peanut bits, shaving cream or horrible dandruff? 😂 Love ya Matt Im just picking.,we know it's the powder Anathar uses to mind control you.
Great review and camerawork. Nice to see the tougher mats being cut and the remnants of shaving cream gave the video a "classic Matt" feel
Normally, I would request that you (Matt) push the sword further, but in this case, I'm going to refrain from doing that because I agree with you on all points. I think that if this was a sword from Hanwei, or Dragon King, or, a custom sword from JKOO, or Ryan Sword, then I would say go for it.
Its going to bend a lot, softer swords tend to deform before they break. I would expect it to hold up like a softer 1060 blade and eventually crack and break. I would guess it would hold up as a weapon (technically) for a while but loose what makes it good rather quickly.
@@Matthew_Jensen perhaps without bohi it won't bend so easily.
I heard of Z-Sey a while ago
Nice to see you review these. I've been curious about them. They look very impressive on their website. Sounds and looks like it would be great for iai, but for tameshigiri, you'd want something more in line with Nakamura sensei's recommendations.
Yes. Good looking blades with what looks like good mount quality. Good for display or iai air-cutting.
I've been waiting for your review about this company. I've been on the fence about purchasing one but after your review I'm comfortable trying them out.
Glad it helped. Hope you enjoy
Your technique sux, you injury makes it very bad. Also an older version then the one in the ad. Also the model up is a much stronger steel. That is the lowest polish available. The tsuka is hand made and custom fit on the one in the ad. They are made with metals that would exceed a japanese kobuse katana with the same style. These are a proper forged blade from a steel puck.
It's odd that I note my expertise and injury in the beginning yet you point out how much I suck.. I'm working on it, progress is slow. Any suggestions? No objection to criticism but I the constructive version is better. As for the blade changes, Z-Sey has made improvements and it looks like they have begun marking them. I was only able to review the sample provided. If you mean it is better than a well made Nihonto by "Japanese Kobuse katana" then I am not sure on that. This seems a bit softer then some of the modern blades I have cut with. Its not a fair comparison though.
@@Matthew_Jensen It was pretty blunt. My mistake, I can take things too personally.
Good looking sword. But lacking the Bamboo Mat emotional attachment for you, good to know! j/k Ramble on.
Which version is this one? I noticed the final version dosen't have the bo-hi.
I think it is an option you can add. I would guess this is version 2?
You don’t realize how bad tennis elbow is until you experience it. A nightmare.
Hey Matt great review! One thing I may recommend is when you are showing the polish on the blades is to put some kind of straight edge above to show the edge profile and niku. That would be very helpful for practioners of tameshegiri. I must say though I have been watching you're videos for years and you are one of if not the best at what you do! Cheers!
I say keep this one, don't break it
Though if he did break it, that would be quite interesting to see...
That tsukamaki looks very impressive from a Chinese reproduction
I have the exact same tsuba on my 15 year old Cheness Katana.
Both of mine both had issues, I'd be apprehensive about getting another one. My 2k Shrimp Katana came with a loose Tsuba that took quite a bit of hammering and Gorilla Glue to tighten up. My cheaper ZXN-275J came with a crack in the Saya. It's a great Mat cutter though
I just received a Thaitsuki Honso Kumiage and it's sweet!
And I'm waiting on a real Japanese Nihonto I got from ebay for a sweet price
@@peterjanjanin9883 You should share some pictures of the kumiage. Curious if thaitsuki has improved this time around.
@@civicboi96 it arrived and it's pretty sweet! As good as any of my other Shinken for sure
@@peterjanjanin9883 If you find time, I would love to see an imgur of your kumiage. I've always had a soft spot for thaitsuki, but I am just so hesitant after getting burned really badly by one of their blades.
Great Job on this Matthew
Hello great as always
I really want to see a rewiev by you on z sey katana with their tamahagane models like the crab katana
Why is Dragon King one of the few companies that glues them in?
.. they seem a bit overpriced. Nice polish though.
Great video matt, thier website looks like a very impressive catalogue but far beyond my price range.. maybe one day though :)
I also never get tired of the sausage fingers remark haha
Do you have any good looking swords that are also quite durable to recommend
cloud hammer forge
I saw their swords on Ali Express a couple years ago before they got popular, but I just figured they were just another Long Quan sword reseller. I should have taken a gamble on them back then when their prices were lower.
That is a serious case of dandruff, my dude.
have ever done a review on gold mountain forge?
Hey Matt how do you feel about metal mekugi. I’ve had a budget sword in the past where the mekugi was brass.
I like metal mekugi, I have had them made of brass before and that was fine.
Thanks for all your years of sword knowledge gathering Matthew. It's really appreciated! For your elbow, guess what, we have Rife Frequencies for that! And binaural beats. This one helps loads, it's by YTer Good Vibes, for joints:
m.th-cam.com/video/YkW3ZJ_7VT8/w-d-xo.html
Great review as always Matt! I'm 6' 240lbs, so I empathize with the big meat hooks. I hope the elbow heals up!!
koshi zori? if you could maybe make a presentation on your favorite koshi zori swords i'd love that, deep koshi zori is my favorite
As always a very nice review
I ended up ordering their folded steel blade with the higher up polish level, because of this review. Got the blade it was gorgeous. Shipped it to motohara for mounting. Thanks for the help.
The word you were looking for when you were talking about the flat area on the tsuba where the seppa rest and where nakago ana is... is seppa dai.
Some attention to the Nakago can actually be good for durability. Improper tangs lead to alot of breakages even if they're full tang. Bad grinds can leave weak points.
Definitely the peak of china-made katanas. Looking forward to getting one soon.
I clicked the video to learn more about katanas and I stayed for the professionalism, the editing, his great voice, and the attention to detail in his fair critique.
Mini Katana has some decently affordable katanas. Wondering what he thinks of some of their 1060 and 1095 steel swords.
www.youtube.com/@koreasword
found this company, they are several years on the market, pretty unknown, seems to me they make high quality katanas.
I have two. They are very good. Best balanced blades. They are more in line of Korean tradition than Japanese tradition, but really great quality. Mine have been abused a lot and never failed.
Great review ! With how familiar you are with swords i would have a question about where to buy quality fittings for a new build do you have any sites you would recomend ? Thanks
For modern cast fittings, Tozando, Yamato Budogu, Lohman Company, Hyper Cafe.. If you want custom stuff then the budget needs to be bigger. Marcus Chamers, Rado Sword, Roman Urban, Kevin Adams, Josiah Boomershine...
Is the blade folded?
Anyone else hearing a weird ringing or is that just me? I'm getting over a head & chest cold so I'm honestly not sure.
I think the background music may have come out as a drone.. No matter how many videos I make, background music is still a mystery to me.
@@Matthew_Jensen I edit all my vids on my phone with a very user friendly app. But even so occasionally I get a strange glitch on audio or something...so no worries I just wasn't sure if it was the vid or me 😂
I think it’s a part of the song intentionally.
Yes it sounds like a Halo campaign level in a space ship.
Destroy it !! Destroy the sword!!!!
I bet you can cut through the guard without even trying - that must be as protective as a smallsword guard.
I doubt you would cut through it but it would definitely bend. Mine bent while using a block to remove the handle but bend back just fine. Definitely not the toughest though.
Some katana used smallsword shells. Also some antique smallswords have parts that were made of shibuichi or shakudo
@@SoloKyoto Well it cutting through brass wirework shells of sabres is something that happened and that stuff at least to me looks more massive than this.
@@Sfourtytwo That is true and you might be right I just feel like after the blade made contact the tsuba would bend glenting the blade off but Im not a expert sword fighter and definitely would trust my hand to it. Lol
Spending $900 on a china craptana is both laughable and insulting. Just save up for a nihonto at that point
A real Nihonto Katana starts about at 4000€ or $. So there is a pretty big jump in price you have to pay for the real deal.
900$ is not alot of money for a china katana.
The main appeal to these is having a Nihonto - like sword that you can ethically use and abuse, without damaging a piece of history.
On the other hand, I'm worried that the existence of such higher quality Chinese swords will encourage the production of malicious fakes.
They look nice but goods might not outway the bads
I agree with El Tadashi - $900 is not a lot of money for a sword of this quality, even it was made in China. Not to mention I would use this before ruining a $4000+ nihonto.
I was able to get a sweet Nihonto from ebay
@@peterjanjanin9883 Fully mounted for $900? I collect nihonto and production katana, and any nihonto I have found fully mounted at $900 have been less than satisfactory for collection purposes.