Question Author
Sorry, perhaps I should have given a warning, whoops. I remember reading in children's book years ago about how the ancients samurai sword makers used to test that the swords were up to scratch. What they'd do is get a slave to kneel down in front and then would use the sword to cut through the slave from head to between the legs. If the slave did not end up in two pieces then the sword was not up to standard. Don't know if there is any truth to it, of course.