I want to buy a Katana and do some training with it, at least to a novice level.  Need some recommendations on what to buy and where to train at.

On my research, I've seen that Katana's can be damaged very easily and it requires a good amount of skill to cut things properly.  So I'm considering starting with a cheap used monosteel Katana like a Dojo Pro for around $200.  Then later on look at a Motohara or similar that looks nice but can still be used.  Am I on the right track?

I want to buy a Katana and do some training with it, at least to a novice level.  Need some recommendations on what to buy and where to train at.

On my research, I've seen that Katana's can be damaged very easily and it requires a good amount of skill to cut things properly.  So I'm considering starting with a cheap used monosteel Katana like a Dojo Pro for around $200.  Then later on look at a Motohara or similar that looks nice but can still be used.  Am I on the right track?

I am by no means an expert but I have learned a few things.

If you just want to practice movements you can get a solid wood training sword. If you want to spar then there are a number of training options made of rubber or plastic which you can swing around and bang on stuff all day long. Some material is so hard though that you would need to get protective gloves and a mask/helmet.

If you want to practice cutting things I know there are different grades of katana. Probably want to start out with something affordable, like $500 range to go cut the tatami mats and stuff like that. Cold steel has a variety, Hanwei is another well known sword brand that makes useable replicas. Cult of Athena (a retailer) has a lot of sword options.  I would say pay attention to the steel because that will probably tell you a good deal. A lot of swords are made of 1055 which is very durable but not as hard.

Traditional katana have soft steel sandwiching a hard steel compared to European swords which tend to be a tempered monosteel. The harder edge of a katana would be more likely to chip than the tempered edge of a european style.

Shadiversity has a lot of videos on various swords on you tube.,

I have been wanting to get a Messemer.... Similar to a Katana in shape with some advantages.

I could always try to make a sword for you

Check out Hanwei swords. There used to be a couple of local dealers, one working out of a self-storage office. I’d have to look up the card and invoice, but they were really good. Helped with getting warranty on one of the nicer katanas that I bought. I also have a few of their “practical” line, which are meant for practice cutting. I have a few katanas and a shinobi. All great and comes super sharp.

I heard the reason the Japanese folded the crap out of their steel was that it wasn't very good back in the day. That's just second hand so take it with a grain of salt. Obviously they have some highly sought after kitchen knives these days.

There's been a lot of interesting new types of steel coming out over the past few years with impressive qualities, but it's difficult to get unbiased opinions sometimes. You can probably spend a lot of time watching tool abuse videos to see how stuff holds up when getting smashed for views and subscribes.  Also worth considering the difficulty of sharpening yourself if you don't want to spend lots of money getting it cleaned up while you're learning.

As far as learning sword technique Aikido is supposedly based off sword attacks and defenses. It's been in Hawaii a long time but is not as popular since MMA took over. I bet there's some dojos that still teach the traditional stuff after you learn the open hand basics. If you find a good sensei LMK I might join you.

...I had one but it disappeared. I think one of my kids got it.

Anybody planning to open carry their katanas? 

That would be neat.

The main thing to remember is that to be good at using a katana, it takes much more practice than a European type sword.  Katana's are made to slash and not hack. This means the swinging motion is to pull away as you make contact.  Compare this to a EU type sword where you just swing away (like an axe).

But I get why you would want a katana over a EU type sword.  Our family had one, but my grandma gave it away in the 70's due to it having bad karma cause it spilled blood generations ago. #facepalm.

Anybody planning to open carry their katanas? 

That would be neat.

I would have to get another one for that purpose. The one I have is from the period just before WW2 so I would treat it like a collectors item. I might go with a wakizashi though, smaller and easier to carry.

The main thing to remember is that to be good at using a katana, it takes much more practice than a European type sword.  Katana's are made to slash and not hack. This means the swinging motion is to pull away as you make contact.  Compare this to a EU type sword where you just swing away (like an axe).

But I get why you would want a katana over a EU type sword.  Our family had one, but my grandma gave it away in the 70's due to it having bad karma cause it spilled blood generations ago. #facepalm.

A katana has some advantages and some drawbacks. Their curve could make it harder to thrust but at the same time, the wedge shape of a katana blade actually helps to make a cut easier by keeping the blade centered whereas a thinner angle european blade has more chance at deflecting. I think both could hack just fine though, given a sharp edge and similar weight to a comparable sword. I think the slash just improves the strike. Some european swords are curved too like the german messers

I eneded up buying this Dojo Pro Katana used on ebay.  It was a very good deal at $190 for a good condition sword.  New it costs $337 with shipping.  It has good reviews and is very durable.

The Hanwei and Cold Steel also have good reviews.  But I feel I got a good deal on the Dojo Pro.   won't feel bad if I break it.

I eneded up buying this Dojo Pro Katana used on ebay.  It was a very good deal at $190 for a good condition sword.  New it costs $337 with shipping.  It has good reviews and is very durable.

The Hanwei and Cold Steel also have good reviews.  But I feel I got a good deal on the Dojo Pro.   won't feel bad if I break it.

1060 is a good durable carbon steel. Keep it oiled though because it will rust. You might roll an edge from heavy use but it shouldn't chip easily. Let us know how you like it!

I want to buy a Katana and do some training with it, at least to a novice level.  Need some recommendations on what to buy and where to train at.

On my research, I've seen that Katana's can be damaged very easily and it requires a good amount of skill to cut things properly.  So I'm considering starting with a cheap used monosteel Katana like a Dojo Pro for around $200.  Then later on look at a Motohara or similar that looks nice but can still be used.  Am I on the right track?

You are talking about multiple different things.

If you want to train how to use a katana as martial "art", it's one thing. To use it for actual combat, another. If you want to become proficient at cutting, it's totally different from the latter two.

Recommending katana is difficult because it's not one size fits all; you choose the katana based on your intention and your personal physical characteristics, which affects the length of both the blade and tsuka (grip), blade characteristics (i.e. width, thickness, cutting edge geometry), tsuba (hand guard) dimensions, etc.

To answer your question better, will need to know what your intentions are.

I am by no means an expert but I have learned a few things.

If you just want to practice movements you can get a solid wood training sword. If you want to spar then there are a number of training options made of rubber or plastic which you can swing around and bang on stuff all day long. Some material is so hard though that you would need to get protective gloves and a mask/helmet.

If you want to practice cutting things I know there are different grades of katana. Probably want to start out with something affordable, like $500 range to go cut the tatami mats and stuff like that. Cold steel has a variety, Hanwei is another well known sword brand that makes useable replicas. Cult of Athena (a retailer) has a lot of sword options.  I would say pay attention to the steel because that will probably tell you a good deal. A lot of swords are made of 1055 which is very durable but not as hard.

Traditional katana have soft steel sandwiching a hard steel compared to European swords which tend to be a tempered monosteel. The harder edge of a katana would be more likely to chip than the tempered edge of a european style.

There is no sandwiching. The blade is differentially tempered with the edge forged at higher temperatures than the body/spine, which allows the edge to be sharpened and maintain a cutting edge while preventing the rest of the blade to becoming too brittle and snapping.

European swords (for which I think you are referring to longswords) are tapering spring monosteels, which is essentially spring steel.

A katana has some advantages and some drawbacks. Their curve could make it harder to thrust but at the same time, the wedge shape of a katana blade actually helps to make a cut easier by keeping the blade centered whereas a thinner angle european blade has more chance at deflecting. I think both could hack just fine though, given a sharp edge and similar weight to a comparable sword. I think the slash just improves the strike. Some european swords are curved too like the german messers

This isn't correct. Blade curve evolved over the centuries to accommodate application. Not all katana are hyper curved, with some not being curved at all. It's the same with the kissaki (point of the sword), which went through multiple different configurations to accommodate needs of the time. For instance, the chu-kissaki is the form most people see on modern katana because it provides more structure to the kissaki to resist breaking, at the expense of less penetration potential. Compare that to my preferred style of kissaki, shobu zukuri, which is exponentially. better for penetration at the expense of being significantly more brittle.

With centering, you're referring to what people call self/auto alignment on cuts, which has already been disproven. Blade geometry and weight distribution have more impact on cut alignment than sword type.

The Messer is a solid choice. I would recommend a quality Messer over most katana produced today as it's design is more ergonomic and realistic for combat

The main thing to remember is that to be good at using a katana, it takes much more practice than a European type sword.  Katana's are made to slash and not hack. This means the swinging motion is to pull away as you make contact.  Compare this to a EU type sword where you just swing away (like an axe).

But I get why you would want a katana over a EU type sword.  Our family had one, but my grandma gave it away in the 70's due to it having bad karma cause it spilled blood generations ago. #facepalm.

European swords actually require equally, if not more skill to master. Most people have only been exposed to Hollywood portrayals of European weapons, which is why they think they are "hacky"; same goes with the perspective that the katana is superior because of how romanticized it is in action movies.

The only weapons that generally required low skillsets were clubs, spears and axes, in that order. All were the cheapest to produce and required little training to become proficient in the applications they were used in throughout the centuries.

Here's a choreographed messer fight. There's a lot to be said for WMA

You are talking about multiple different things.

If you want to train how to use a katana as martial "art", it's one thing. To use it for actual combat, another. If you want to become proficient at cutting, it's totally different from the latter two.

Recommending katana is difficult because it's not one size fits all; you choose the katana based on your intention and your personal physical characteristics, which affects the length of both the blade and tsuka (grip), blade characteristics (i.e. width, thickness, cutting edge geometry), tsuba (hand guard) dimensions, etc.

To answer your question better, will need to know what your intentions are.

This sword is mainly for a sword rally if it happens.  But i've always wanted to own a sword and have it for cultural and traditional purposes.  With that, I'd like to learn a little about it if I have one, not just hang it on a wall.  I'm not looking to get really involved with it, maybe spend a year or two on it and become a novice. More on the practical aspects of it on movement, strikes, how to cut properly, etc and learn a little on the art side.  I don't know anything about swords but Kendo is probably involved.  Not sure how to get the training for using a real sword.

The sword I bought is for the rally next month and to use as a beginner/beater sword.  I'll probably buy a couple more swords in the future as I get trained.

This sword is mainly for a sword rally if it happens.  But i've always wanted to own a sword and have it for cultural and traditional purposes.  With that, I'd like to learn a little about it if I have one, not just hang it on a wall.  I'm not looking to get really involved with it, maybe spend a year or two on it and become a novice. More on the practical aspects of it on movement, strikes, how to cut properly, etc and learn a little on the art side.  I don't know anything about swords but Kendo is probably involved.  Not sure how to get the training for using a real sword.

The sword I bought is for the rally next month and to use as a beginner/beater sword.  I'll probably buy a couple more swords in the future as I get trained.

Watch the stuff by Seki Sensei on YouTube. A lot of his content covers the basics and his school is one of the last that teaches true budo. I believe he offers online courses now due to him gaining popularity, so that's something you can look into.

Sword you bought is fine your intended purpose and a decent entry level katana. I would have sold you one from my collection that you could have used for the rally and to fool around with, but you bought it before I could offer.

If you're going to use it for messing around with cutting, don't do more than water bottles. Also check the tsuka (hilt, aka handle), mekugi (bamboo/metal hilt locking pins), tsuba (hand guard), seppa (tsuba spacers) and habaki (ferrule) are all tight before attempting any cutting and make sure they stay tight.

Not a fan of kendo but it's the closest sport to using a katana, albeit with very little transferrable skills. Believe it or not, you'll get a lot more practical training with a HEMA group, particularly if they give instruction on longsword and one/two handed saber, which has a lot of transferrable skills to katana.