A west-side mugging Thursday involved a rare weapon: a samurai sword.
Tony Briscoe reports in The Detroit News that a woman struck a man in the head with a samurai sword evening in an armed robbery attempt on Detroit’s west side.
A man was walking in the area of Joy Road and Stout about 6:40 p.m. when a man and woman attempted to rob him, according to Deputy Chief Rodney Johnson. The woman sliced him with the sword and opened a five-inch cut on the victim's head.
The victim was taken to Sinai Grace. His condition wasn’t immediately available.
Samurai swords trace their roots back 1,300 years in Japan.
According to the Sword Buyers Guide:
The first Japanese swords were basically variations of the Chinese Jian (called Chokuto), in other words a straight, double edged iron blade.
However sometime during the early Heian period, around 700AD, the first uniquely Japanese swords that were the forerunners of the 'modern' Katana began to evolve.
Initially the first curved Japanese swords were curved at the tang only. But by the end of the 10th century fully curved swords were commonplace. It was during this time that Japan began to abandon such close cultural ties with China, it's society stabilized into class divisions, and the military guards of the capital and the gentlemen of the provinces became the first Samurai.
