Japanese Jitte Sword breaker - Police tool in old Japan

[HORNSCRUSHED]

the jitte/jutte was a symbol of the police authority yes it was used as a weapon by some and i have seen waza in books on how to catch and disarm but not to break blades. I doubt you could break a blade with one at all and the fact that some where made from wood totally dismisses the notion of it being designed to catch and break swords....im not a historian but i know what i have read in books

[skuval]

Jutte! not jitte .

[dickgrayson20]

@skuval +10

[EGarrett01]

I want to see this (or a sai) actually break a sword, or at least see the technique for doing so demonstrated in sparring.

[ninjabastard666]

it's pronounced jut you fucking retard

[kyleantolin]

@whatever7x7 I was just about to type that. then I read your post. GAY.

[whatever7x7]

GAY

[XDvictoorXD]

NERD

[arcanemuses]

I heard that this weapon was also used in conjuction with a jo to subdue drunken and unruly samurai.

[singlemalt25]

People who think the jutte is ineffective are just ignorant. It is extremely effective. Miyamoto Musashi's family was famous for using it. It became more common during the Edo period because the carrying of swords by anyone but samurai was outlawed.

You CAN break swords with it -- just not by twisting. The twisting thing is only for disarming. You break swords by swinging it at the sword flat. If you are using it as an off hand weapon or in pairs, it's a pretty good strategy.

[Diehard335]

You're telling me that little dinky piece of steel is going to break a Katana? HA! Yeah right.

[ninjabastard666]

@Diehard335 YES it can break a katana, he is not shitting you..

[lakshen47]

@ninjabastard666 No it can't, and you don't try catching a sword with that little thing unless you're super fucking good and your opponent is a tool... And if this can break a sword I'd happily eat the pieces, anyone who's used a proper swords knows that it takes one hell of a lot of leverage to break it... And it'd probably have to be stainless steel to break, a high carbon sword bends and flexes back, so best of luck... I even doubt it's ability to disarm when used alone...

[ninjabastard666]

@lakshen47 dude, you're a dick, you don't "catch" a sword with it, you fucking hit it hard...i don't care what kind of quality steel it is, it will bend it or break it simple as that, so chew on that you fucking retard.

[lakshen47]

@ninjabastard666 First of all, the video says catch, so that what I went for... But I seriously doubt that swords would've stayed in fashion for as long as they did if they easily broke when "fucking hit hard", because you will in combat inevitably have to parry with your sword... Besides that, how will you get your opponent to hold his sword still so you can "fucking hit it hard"? Because if you do it as he swings the sword at you, you'll probably get hit by the shards... Retard ;)

[TheSmackfan101]

you look like an older michael cera

[HellFieker]

@TheSmackfan101 HAHA..

He Does!

[KnightWolfAlphaX9]

no its for moving the sword away from you not to break it morron

[zanarechan]

@KnightWolfAlphaX9 during the time this is used. there is a band on samurai sword. So the common sword that were commonly used are not cold steel and are much more fragile (as in not even 10% as good). But yeah it mostly used to twist the sword away from the one to hold it.

[Emangroove]

You would probably want something in your other hand to smash the sword once it was trapped. At least that's how sai were sometimes used. Talk about a morale killer. Would be pretty badass to see.

[MickeyKnox1982]

for me it looks like a sextoy...you put it in your ass and the small piece stimulates the part between your ass and your balls?!

[MickeyKnox1982]

...thats why it´s called: Shiteé

[eric4ning]

@MickeyKnox1982 thats was funny...thats a good one...the guy look gay anyway may be he use that shit to fuck him self...hahahahha

[MrDeano324]

@EMPERORSHEN, hahah.....fuck off you tosser. Havnt you got anything better to do than take the piss of other people? Clearly not.

[system0Fhonor]

that small thing gonna break a katana ?

[EMPERORSHEN]

HE LOOKS LIKE HE WANTS TO FUCK HIMSELF WITH THAT HAHAHAHA

[SPITTINUMOUT]

(somewhat off subject) There is 1 weapon I saw in a movie I think called something like The 1 armed Samurai or something but the weapon the bad guy used was defensive and had a hookon the side that dropped when either touched or triggerred (can't remember) that specialized in catching swords with a thicker blade on top(the kind the good guys used), then the bad guy would take his knife out of his holder and slash the stomach, I remember 1 of the bad guys names was Smiling Tiger

[Toyomata]

@SPITTINUMOUT the movie name was the one armed swordsman, dragon dynasty company.

[frankthespank]

Yeah...... a samurai trained from birth with his katana defending his spiritual beliefs family and village vs. a cop being paid a decent amount and spends most of his time bringing drunks in is going to catch the samurais sword with this bar wih a hook and break it.

riiiiight..

Sure once the cops got firearms these things were converted to can openers.

[AurumenK]

@frankthespank And back scratchers. Those things would bust as soon as the sword hit the catcher. Thats if its a good sword and most swords these days are just worthless.

[16bitwars]

We call it either Jutte or Jitte.

[blenderheroes]

my name is jitte

[sanbonsugi]

... It's called a Jutte not Jitte...........

[dodgingaces]

no it isnt....

[sanbonsugi]

So your saying Shindo Muso Ryu guys are wrong and your right?

[dodgingaces]

oh wait my bad....i typed in jitte in google images and got pictures of this, then i typed in jutte but i accidently mispelled it jutta and got nothing, sorry. kinda second guessed myself so i had to check.

[ninjabastard666]

@sanbonsugi it is called a jitte but it is pronounced "jut"..

[sanbonsugi]

@ninjabastard666

Jutte its pronounced the same way hence the Romanji used it for the kanji. Since there is no exact 100% written variation from the kanji to the romanji. It is therefore spelled the way it is spoken in its romanji form. Please talk to me about these things when you have a better understanding of it

[crazzyincombat]

Is it me or is that the sai with a bit missing

[DmasterX69]

no its like you say jsut that part missing makes it a different weapon :)

[tetsuyaturugi]

御用だ！goyouda!

[JelloJames16]

It really seems like it would be difficult to catch a sword in the hook as it was coming down towards you.

[31337Lisper]

You don't, you stop it with the round part and let it slide till it reaches the hook.

[B3l3x4r]

@31337Lisper I was going to comment the exact same thing :D

[killrOfTrollz]

you block the sword with the longer shaft (just like if you were using a short sword to block), then let the blade slide down to the catch (hook), then twist the whole thing with the blade. anyone who knows how to use a katana usually know how to use this. domo!

[JelloJames16]

Thanks :D

[Caedmon85]

It doesn't have to break the sword. With a little twist it can simply wrench the sword out of the wielders hand, leaving him unarmed and facing a man with a metal rod.

[KingOfChaos213]

Its more of an hook than a catcher, used to hook clothing or the nose or to jab pressure points on an assailant. As for breaking a sword with that, i dont think so matey.

[bremenlegation]

katana blades shatter pretty easily. its just a matter of making contact at the right spot.

[KingOfChaos213]

Well, i guess you could. Its not unheard of swords snapping or shattering.

[CoffeeStained]

Actually, katana are specifically designed not to shatter, only the edge is susceptible to shattering, and damage was often limited to 1 cm lengths by scratching lines in clay before differentially tempering the sword. Standing it on it's pommel, the jitte would not have enough torque on any axis to break the sword. Unless the point of the weapon is to hold a sword before striking it with another weapon, I don't see how this is a sword breaker.

[CoffeeStained]

Not even ten minutes of non-wikipedia research reveals that the jitte was/is not used as described in the video. Katana have incredible tensile strength, phenomenal leverage would be needed to damage a katana with a jitte. Even trapping a sword would be an extremely difficult task. The truth is that the tine is meant to catch cloth and skin. The hole is to attach a binding rope. Theoldtokaido did not do even rudimentary research, he is just trying to sell it with outlandish claims.

[Wendigo757]

god luck catching a Samurai katana with your stick there buddy. And this weapon just explained to me why the police really couldn't do anything so swordsmen in old japan

[xomagick]

A broken sword is still sharp. The guy that can catch, break and survive is also the guy that knows a lot about sword fighting. Most likely they did not need the sword to break once caught. Just controlling the man at that point is good enough.

[AnttiL]

"Ziteh"... it's jutte, I hate that western styled pronouncement.

[FJSpoof]

it is pronounced Ji-tay. and that is exactly what he said. The "I" is almost completely silent though. He does a very good job of pronouncing it.

[AnttiL]

J is too shoft, and the double T needs longer pause.

[SenorJuanDiablo]

Interesting, but just how effective would this be against a modern day katana?

[s4jt]

Don't see why these things don't come with hooks on both sides, there's just too little margin for error.

Also, I wonder how effective these things really were at disarming their opponents. Although they certainly could parry a blow and allow the user to get close and grapple the sword wielder.

[IEKUKATAKA]

Well done sir. Never mind the negatives, the video was factual and informative and I am sure you intended it to be informal.

[TempleOfSin]

Very interesting but I think you'll find that the tensile strength of tempered steel makes it very difficult to break.

[IEKUKATAKA]

Actually, the traditional katana was known to break and their formal education (ryu) in iiaido or kendo warned against receiving techniques (uke waza) against the side of the sword. We are, after all, talking about a steel laminate that is about 3/16 inch in thickness. The video is factual, well done and the presenter seems knowledgeable.

[TempleOfSin]

Okay... I'll have to submit to your greater knowledge of Eastern martial arts weapons in this case, considering my knowledge of historical weaponry focuses primarily on Western weapons.

It's fascinating that one could break katana in this manner. I wonder if it has something to do with carbon loss during the forging process. The steels must have been very hard and brittle.

[cooluke]

nice little intro for those unaware of Japanese weapons outside of the basics. You might want to rehearse first.

[admiralshadaw]

Well even a sword breaker thats ment to break a weapon comes with a disclamer that the weapon might not break, it might just bend, so you gotta take that into consideration, but more often the sword breakers were used in a pair so as to have a better chance of snapping there weapon.

[TempleOfSin]

I don't know about katana taking a set. I've heard that the steels were normally very hard, so I imagine that a snap would be well within the arena of plausibility.

[soparamens]

I just Saw some old documentary about japanese sword... it seems that a good katana is very fragile to bending, because its composition is rich in carbon (thats why they are so sharp). So maybe, when used wisely, a jitte can break a sword with ease.well IMHO

[f4b1n]

Umezawa's Jitte! \o/

[Woodcrafter1372]

I highly doubt that you could break a tempered blade as it would bend rather than break.

[TempleOfSin]

I presume it would depend much on the quality of the sword. If it was something a brigand was carrying which was of poor manufacture and a softer steel, it would likely bend. But, if it was something crafted by an experienced artisan, the steel would likely be very hard and brittle and could very well snap if enough force were applied laterally to the blade.

[cuntcuntcuntcunt]

hahahaha wut

[sketchvg]

cool

[cuntcuntcuntcunt]

Hey judging by the comments it looks like no one cares