Reliks Chorui Katana Released
Exclusive Reliks Sword 2014-2015 Production
Reliks has worked with many well known manufacturers in the past and have been able to offer some exciting deals and exclusive products to our customers. Our favourite piece and likely, the most well know was the limited edition Katsumushi katana. This piece was designed by the Reliks team and was produced in partnership with Paul Chen from Hanwei. It is has been far to long and it is about time that we do it again, but we are planning to do it a little different this time....
Reliks team has several decades of combined experience in the sword industry and along the way we have been able to forge many great relationships with highly experienced sword smiths, forging and manufacturing facilities. We have brought together some of our sword designs and with constructive input from other sword designers, martial artists and sword smiths we are happy to introduce The Reliks Chorui Katana.
The Chorui is the first sword of a planned series of Reliks swords that we have in the works. We wanted to introduce a sword that would be an exciting alternative to the standard beginner and intermediate martial arts swords. The emphasis was put on the feel and performance of the sword and aesthetics were to play a secondary role in its conception.
The Chorui Katana Blade
The Chorui blade design decisions were based strongly upon a decade of customer feedback and requests. Our industry has an amazing community of martial artists and sword enthusiasts who are very knowledgeable about the katana which is an extremely valuable resource. We wanted to create a perfectly balanced sword for the north American martial artist, so who better to listen to. Once the blade specs were decided upon it was now time to select a steel.
There are several factors to consider from cost to performance, where we worked closely with the forge before coming to a final decision. Before I continue, let me explain a little more about the complexity of the steels. I wish it was as simple as selecting a 1065, 1085, T8, T10 or 5160 carbon steel but what is not discussed often outside of the forge is the differences between the steels available within the same classification. The quality and purity of the steel selected would weigh heavily on the overall performance, forging methods required and ultimately the final cost of the sword. After carefully considering all variables and recommendations from the forge we had agreed that a premium T8 would work perfectly for this Katana. This tool steel with proper tempering is very resilient and has very good edge retention.
Chorui Balance and Feel
To achieve the balance we were looking for on this sword we started with several different tsuba, ranging in weight and size. The tsuba was carefully selected to ensure perfect balance and performance. To achieve a natural feeling sword there is more than just the blade to consider. Every decision about the swords furniture can directly result in the performance and balance. After narrowing the field we found the perfect tsuba and it was tested by one of the martial artists at the forge. Most tsuba found today are cast brass, iron or alloy's. To achieve the correct weight and strength that we desired the tsuba was to be cut from steel. This maintained the balance while incorporating some aesthetic flair.
Chorui Theme
We finished the Chorui in a very respectable Japanese Samurai theme “The Bird” as it's very name suggests or “The Birds of Prey” depicted as honourable warriors in Japanese folklore. We decided to stray away from the traditional blacks and give this katana a more earthy “dirty” kind of feel and chose brown ito. We also dyed the same a dark brown instead of black or white making it very complimentary to the handle wrap. We are very pleased with the final result of the Chorui and are happy to make it available for our initial target of under $500.00.
This piece has sold out and is no longer available.