Great review as always! I'm going to have to pick one of these up eventually. Thank you!

Love these videos man!

Great photography and footage of the practice in the snow. Another top level review

I’m so glad that I watched this video. I purchased this exact sword from the scratch and dent sale. I don’t own many swords so when I do get one I don’t want to just get any old thing. I appreciate your reviews and I look at just about every sword that you review

I am accumulating quite a collection of Ronin katanas now and the first thing I do is apply polyurethane with an artists brush on the entire Ito and knots. It still remains somewhat soft and has relieved my anxiety of anything unraveling or moving around freely.

Man you’ve got such a relaxing voice. I love the video

Thanks for the video man. I just ordered my first real sword (Dojo-Pro #13) based on some of your past videos. This review came at the perfect time to tide me over till mine gets here. Can’t wait to see the upcoming review of the Iron Tiger Forge.

Dude! When you got it to stick in the tree was awesome, the side view slowmo was epic! 👍

I'm sold. Thanks for your review!

I have several Ronin from entry to elite and they have all been an excellent bang for the buck!

19:58 made me cringe and squirm in my chair, but 21:01 made my heart fall to my stomach. i knew what i was getting myself into by watching this video, and i wanted to know what kind of fun, yet soft stuff i can easily cut through without fear of damage with a sub $300 katana, but that sound will never not hurt my ears and my soul. as a lover of blades and an amateur bladesmith, the *ting* of a blade snapping is a painful, heartbreaking sound.

Cheers Mr.J. ya know, none of us are Kensei till we've been blooded in combat. 🤪.Always a pleasure. Great review as always. Slan Go Foil.☘

Thanks for the review, Matthew. It's fun to watch someone going back to his roots (KZfaq review-wise, not your collection) to work on another RK katana. I like how you showed it's competent by using minimal effort in cutting and how well it performed. Sounds like a durable and fun sword. The close-up shot of the cross section after breaking is very helpful--the grain structure is like heaven and hell comparing to that Deepeeka you've just reviewed. Like fine silt vs coarse sand. We can also see the v-section edge bevel with zero niku--which is why it performs well in cutting but not as durable as other RK models perhaps. Great to see your collection and channel grow over the years, something that some of us can relate to! BTW did I read that right? Motokasane: .274” Sakikasane: .251”? There's this little distal taper? .251" is really thick for the blade at the yokote line.

Grain structure looks good

After rewatching cause I’m thinking about buying one all I can say is your katana throwing skills are getting impressive! Would love to see a dojo pro vs entry level can’t decide for my first real sword (have bought a few machete line swords from cold steel)

Just ordered mine using your link! This is the second katana I bought based on your recommendations, love your reviews! Could you make an updated list of best swords under of different price ranges?

I got lucky with a nice tight Ito on mine, but the tanto I recently got from them is wrapped semi loosely. That being said, for the price I'm very happy with both of them. Thanks for the great reviews as always!

Thank you for posting. I purchased a Dojo pro #7 around two years ago through Sword Buyers Guide. Beast of a blade, but everything else was loose right out of the box. Extremely difficult to take apart only to find a cracked tsuka. Kashira came off from swinging at pool noodles. I was hoping to see that they improved, but I see they have not. I have a $150.00 Musashi with a much much better put together tsuka. Granted that the blade doesn't compare, but after spending $300.00 °on a Dojo Pro I realized that I paid $290.00 on a nice beast of a blade and $10.00 on the rest.

I would love to try and purchase one of Ronin's elite katanas, although I personally have no confidence in their Dojo Pro line. The blade I got had one of their 'ghost hamons', and after some use I realized that only the center of the blade had been hardened. The entire tip and area just above the habaki was soft, which tells me that whoever tempered the blade only heated the middle of it in their forge. An acid etch confirmed that to me too.

Another very well done review Matthew. No surprises here, pretty much what we have come to expect from a Dojo Pro. Durable through hardened blade, simple robust fittings, sadly mediocre to poor itomaki. I would think that given the value proposition of a 1060 through hardened blade and a simple set of Koshirae that Ronin could find a way to improve the known quality issue with the itomaki. A good handful of other value oriented Chinese sword houses seem to have found a way to produce respectable itomaki in value oriented Katana, ie. Jkoo/Sinosword, HuaWei, even Hanbon and Ryan can do a decent job. 🤷‍♀️

I love my dojo pros. I have 2 Daito sets, the #31 Okatana and a couple of their tantos.

Hi Matt. What would you say is more important, the type of steel or the tempered/hardened?

Love the opening shot btw, sitting in the pond, feels like a little homeage to kurosawa more than a little. Good n tough looking sword for that price, was a little shocked to see such a bad knot area though, that is drastically undersized for the ito width. It looked like there was a full wrap over itself of maybe 95% overwrap.

My dojo pro is my cheapest and arguably ugliest sword but after sharpening the blade on sandpaper its cuts like a laser. It's a fun backyard cutter and I'm glad I own it.

Hi Matthew, always watch you're videos and always love the information I pick up. I have a important question, murasame is listing L6 and t10 katana's for sale on web and Amazon. I'm curious is the steel genuine 🤔 for the price from 379 to 600 I'm skeptical. Any help greatly appreciated 🙏

Got an Ronin entry level and the ito is super tight..hopefully they fixed that on the dojo pro as well

I just picked up a 30 and its wakizashi counterpart for a good price. I love the way it feels and handles so far, I'm not a cutter so I enjoy this as a reference should I ever....NEED a sword, if you get my drift.

Matthew, is this the Ronin Katana you would recommend over all the Ronins you have tested ? Just curious which one has the best cutting performance along with durability, thanks 🙏🏼

On the one i got, the blade was nice, but the tsuka was trash. On top of being warped, the kashira was literally dangling by the ito after less than 10 cuts on water bottles. Really liked the tsuba and the blade seems to be well done. One of these days I may get her done back up. Love their Euro #2 though. Gotta love that Ronin wax. Lol. Nice to see you got a slightly better one. Lol.

I understand what you are doing, but I almost weep seeing you detroy this nice sword

Is there a chart of the difference between different Ronin Katana Models? How can we tell which have niku?

Great vid as usual. I appreciate you revisiting swords that you previously reviewed in order to discover any changes in quality and handling. Have you ever gotten your hands on a sword from Armour Class?

Your tree is like "why do you hate me?".

They make a solid blade, but I think for the money Huawei makes a better overall sword in terms of fit and finish for the money. The only way I would get one is with the annual scratch and dent sale.

Hey . Ya know these simple fittings really appeal to me . A well tempered 1060 blade etc etc .What’s not to like . I feel like it would be a great candidate for someone who wants to customize their first sword or get into polishing etc etc

Seems like the typical Ronin Katana sword - well forged and very durable blade with mediocre ito maki and fittings. I would definitely purchase more of their products if they did a better job on the other aspects of the sword. Still very impressed by how durable it is though.

Love the content a lot man. Picked up a #9 on scratch/dent. You reviewed it actually. Where do you study iaido? Is it online?

have you found anything that will take more punishment then the rinin dojo pro #30 lit me know please

Live bone & dead bone are very different things indeed. Live bones or bones in freshly killed animals are slightly flexible and very much like a dense sponge and if you've ever cut fresh bamboo it's more like cutting that. Dead bone calcifies quickly & becomes very hard, inflexible & brittle. It's somewhere in between hard wood & easily broken rock. In other words cutting on dead beef bones is a stresser & much more than fresh bones.

Matthew, is there a particular reason you tend to use shorter bladed katanas? I know a while ago you made a video about needing a longer (30" or longer) blade so that you couldn't "cheat" and not use your hips for drawing and sheathing, so I was curious why you tend to use shorter blades. Is it because one or both of the arts you practice encourage using a specific blade size? I'm not familiar with what blade lengths Toyama Ryu or Katori Shinto Ryu recommend. The art I practice, Shinshin Ryu, recommends longer blades, and I believe you are about the same height as me (~6'1"), so I'd be very interested if you were to review swords with longer blades.

The other Dojo pro model you reviewed was like $100 more not sure why though they seem the same

I like the sword but I think it would be better with a square guard and tachi fittings but that's just my way thinking you do you bro with all the swirly mitssudomes you can get your hands on

Since the blade is surprisingly durable given the price point, would you be inclined to do a video on the Ronin Bare Blades as a basis for full custom jobs?

I qas just wondering you said its short for you. How tall are you? Im 5'6 and i feel a 40" katana is a little hard to wield.

Hey there Matthew I got a "suggestion" / questions... I'm doing a project "entertainment project" and I'm looking for 2 katanas and many answers For the Katana: FIRST AND FORMOST. Utility > coolness, the blade can be boring as long is the best possible blade... Ive been looking for a decent durable katana in around $300-500, the Katana need to have all the basic Japan culture history (authentique ray-skin, real differentially tempted hamon etc). The swords needs to be pretty enough to create a "legend" but their materials need to be the best edge retention possible a great quality over all, the Katana need to be made with the intention of REAL self defence the day to day life, this sword will be used according to the story: Every morning 1000 air cuts / katas training Light mantainance/cleaning in a traditional way after training The sword should be battle ready at any point of the day and if used (wich will be a constant, imagine like RPG games that you use the katana to kill monsters and humans) it will be used against soft and hard targets all the "FANTASY" range from slimes to armored type "Dulahan" mythological creatures, flesh, bones, armor etc. I was looking into some examples of both ranges($200 colored blades to $700 reputable forges) Ive seen ofc I'm asking for guidance about the purchase since this has to be a "legendary" blade for the story purposes. The legend doesn't need or should not be based on real life legends so no replicas of ancient blades. other question is the materials for the type of formerly described usage the best steel option in my mind would be 1095 or t10 high carbon steel but that why I required guidance since my knowledge of metallurgy is fairly limited. now the options I have described: 1) Black/rusted like blade lamination Honsanmai, 1095 High Carbon Steel+Folded steel (In paper it seem exactly what Im looking for but IDK about how well are colored blades... www.ryansword.com/Honsanmai-Clay-Tempered-Katana-Black-Blade-Iron-Tsuba--Ryan904-p-719.html 2) A beautiful copper colored blade with a Maru type blade, 1095 High Carbon Steel IDK how well a Maru type will go against a Honsanmai in terms of durability and edge retention. www.ryansword.com/Kiriha-Zukuri-Red-Blade-Katana-1095-High-Carbon-Steel-Clay-Tempered--Ryan1305-p-1130.html 3)An amazing beautiful black on black Maru type blade, 1095 High Carbon Steel, are colored blades any good T-T ? www.ryansword.com/Clay-Tempered-Black-Blade-Kiriha-Zukuri-Katana-1095-Carbon-Steel-Iron-Tsuba--Ryan1308-p-1133.html 4)These are natural looking blade with shihozume and Honsanmai lamination respectfully. www.ryansword.com/Clay-Tempered-Shihozume-Katana-Japanese-Samurai-Sword-Hazuya-Polish-Functional--Ryan1146-p-753.html www.ryansword.com/Clay-Tempered-Katana-Honsanmai--Ryan1349-p-1221.html 5)Hanwei - Snake Katana for the research I made Hanwei seem to be a very respectable forge and I had to take in consideration some of their offering each of this options have been carefully chosen for it performance, weight, and feel in hand. (leaning towards Practical Plus Katana Classic more than the others) www.battlemerchant.com/en/snake-katana www.kultofathena.com/product/hanwei-practical-light-katana/ www.kultofathena.com/product/hanwei-practical-xl-light-katana/ www.kultofathena.com/product/hanwei-practical-plus-katana-classic/ 6) John-Lee-Practical-Katana an affordable option too, very simple but elegant design. www.samuraischwerter.de/Samuraischwerter-11/Handgeschmiedete-Samuraischwerter/John-Lee-Practical-Katana.html 7) Cold Steel heard all kind of thing from them from chunky and not very well balance to amazing quality blade and details... www.kultofathena.com/product/cold-steel-mizutori-crane-katana/ 8) Some takes from Ronin Katana roninkatana.com/hanzo-steel-clay-tempered-black-bat-themed-katana-model-5/ roninkatana.com/dojo-pro-katana-model-31-musashi-o-katana/ roninkatana.com/samurai-sword-clay-tempered-high-carbon-steel-katana-model-3/ roninkatana.com/dojo-pro-katana-model-32-ko-katana-black-bat/ 9) Hnbon Forge since you suggested it www.hanbonforge.com/Japanese-Swords/Katana/Japanese-Sword-Handmade-Full-Tang-Red-Damascus-Steel-Blade-Clay-Tempered-With-Real-Hamon?sort=p.price&order=DESC www.hanbonforge.com/Japanese-Swords/Katana/Clay-Tempered-Shirasaya-Japanese-Sword-Samurai-Katana-Black-Damascus-Steel-Blade?sort=p.price&order=DESC www.hanbonforge.com/Japanese-Swords/Katana/Japanese-Samurai-Sword-KATANA-Unokubi-Zukuri-Full-Tang-Clay-tempered-Blade-Leather-straps?sort=p.price&order=DESC www.hanbonforge.com/Japanese-Swords/Katana/Kill-Bill-Sword-Set-BILL-BRIDE-SWORDS-Damascus-steel-clay-tempered-blade?sort=p.price&order=DESC www.hanbonforge.com/Japanese-Swords/Katana/HAND-MADE-KATANA-JAPANESE-SAMURAI-SWORD-T10-STEEL-CLAY-TEMPERED-HAZUYA-POLISH?sort=p.price&order=DESC 10)Dragon sword Maru 1095 swordcn.com/product/1095-basic-style-katana-real-yokotesuji 11) a Longquan forge with a beautiful blue blade www.chinesesword.store/products/surf-katana-high-carbon-steel-blue-blade-solid-wood 12) Longquan sword against and the last one a beautiful purple blade www.chinesesword.store/products/samurai-sword-katana-t10-high-carbon-steel-purple-blade-yellow-scabbard-alloy-tosogu-length-39 And for the suggestion for your content: a fantasy related video based on all those fantasy games: tittle "Can a real katana survive a fantasy world adventure".

any plans for a z-sey sword review? I do have one i'm willing to lend for a review .. =)

what are some swords that have survived that last test?

Tiny grain. Good Heat Treat Tough product. Thanks Matthew.

I laugh every time you do the”Throw it at a tree test”. Im curious of the hardness of the edge. You dont use your HRC scratch test files on more ? I got some recently.They’re nice to use to find out strength of a sword.

Can someone point me in the direction of a solid hard sparring katana?

Please talk on your videos more about what exact metals they are made from This is critical fir me to know where to spend my money ! I want a great great blade. I don’t bash metals rocks ect Mostly plant life and tetami matts.

Whats on your face while ur testing in the woods??

Now I’m stuck between a dojo pro and a cloudhammer🤔 after this video I’m leaning towards the pro…

The question is if bone damages the edge how well would it do in a zombie apocalypse

Looks like the Dojo Pro review did better than the Dojo Elite.

2:12 what's going on here? Is it an optical illusion or is your camera just mapping out your face for some reason?

Roninkatana makes a better $350 32" nagasa katana, #31, than Ryujin.

Dia Duit. Matthew. Forgot to ask you, what is your favorite steel for your swords. Slan Go Foil. ☘

Hello there swordfrens

Like i think if u wont throw it at a tree or wont try to cut someonen in half or wont cut metal i think it is okay i guess

Please do another drunken review.

Stupid sharp. Lol. Great job on this one!

Your critique they will never listen to or take under consideration. They don't listen to anyone and Paul feels its fine. He makes enough money from them he doesn't have to care. So take that how you want when buying their stuff. If you can do the work yourself, wrapping and such, then it's ok but if not it sucks. Better learn how to do work oneself. I did.