Tachi - Use

Use

Some sources state that tachi were originally a cavalry weapon, primarily used on horseback, where it was able to be drawn efficiently for cutting down enemy foot soldiers, and that on the ground it was still an effective weapon, but somewhat awkward to use. Author Karl F. Friday refutes that by saying that before the 13th century there are no written references or drawings etc that show swords of any kind were actually used while on horseback.

The uchigatana was derived from the tachi and was the predecessor to the katana as the battle-blade of feudal Japan's bushi (warrior class), and as it evolved into the later design, the tachi and the uchigatana were often differentiated from each other only by how they were worn, the fittings for the blades, and the location of the signature (mei).

As a result of the first Mongol invasion (1274) tachi started to be made thicker and wider.

In later Japanese feudal history, during the Sengoku and Edo periods, certain high-ranking warriors of what became the ruling class would wear their sword tachi-style (edge-downward), rather than with the saya (scabbard) thrust through the belt with the edge upward.

With the rising of militarism during the Shōwa era, the Imperial Japanese Army and the Imperial Japanese Navy implemented swords called Shin guntō and Kai guntō which were worn tachi style (cutting edge down).