tanto
Musical intensity marker
Tanto is a Japanese short blade, traditionally 6 to 12 inches long, carried by samurai as a companion to longer swords.
The tanto served for close combat, ceremonial purposes, and ritual suicide (seppuku).
Modern tantos appear as fixed-blade knives with the distinctive chisel-point geometry—a flat grind meeting an angled tip: He carried a tactical tanto for utility work.
Japanese auxiliary blade
- daggerShort pointed stabbing blade
- knifeSharp cutting utensil
- sheathProtective blade covering
- sharpFine-edged, or astute
point · edge · thrust · stab · piercing · concealed · defensive · single-edged
Samurai honor system
- roninFeudal drifter-warrior
- shogunJapan's military supreme commander
- daimyoJapanese feudal landowner
- seppukuRitualized Japanese self-disembowelment
harakiri · warrior · honor · ritual · suicide · ceremony · armor · kabuto
Japanese martial blade art
- iaidoMartial art of drawing swords
- aikidoThrowing art using redirection
- kendoJapanese bamboo fencing
- kataMartial arts movement pattern
dojo · sparring · draw · strike · parry · defense · practice · technique
wakizashi
Japanese auxiliary blade
sharp · point · edge · thrust · stab · piercing · concealed · defensive · single-edged · curved
bushido
Samurai honor system
seppuku · harakiri · warrior · honor · ritual · suicide · ceremony · armor · kabuto · feudal
kenjutsu
Japanese martial blade art
kata · dojo · sparring · draw · strike · parry · defense · practice · technique · discipline
molto
Musical term for "much"
forte · piano · crescendo · diminuendo · tempo · dynamics · expression · notation · Italian · score
forge
Furnace for shaping metal
folding · anvil · quenching · hardening · whetstone · grinding · finishing · patina · etching · restoration