James grew up on an Ozarks farm where tools like axes and picks were still used in the daily routine and the blades of stockman's pocketknives served their original functions. Receiving his first pocketknife at age four he got it open by himself nearly a year later and spent his formative years wandering the woods with a succession of ever larger knives, a book of matches and a rifle.
A veteran of Vietnam, James also served in Alaska during a stint in the Army, receiving his first intensive culinary training by setting a record for extra KP at Ft. Richardson.
Settling in the Pacific Northwest after his discharge, James crewed on sailing yachts in local races, backpacked hundreds of miles of mountain trails in search of good trout fishing, and occasionally attended college.
His first serious job as a civilian resulted from answering a Seattle Post Intelligencer want ad requesting someone who could lift 120 pounds repeatedly and wasn't afraid of fire. James apprenticed to John Frazier -- the most knowledgeable traditional foundryman in North America at that time -- for the next six years.
Returning to the Ozarks James made his living by growing ginseng on a hand-terraced wooded hillside and selling handmade wood turnery, furniture, sculpture and architectural carvings. James harvested trees from his own land, processing logs into posts and beams and turnery billets with saws, axes, froes and planes. Since many tools he needed were no longer available, James built his own forge from a barbeque grill, a vacuum cleaner and a 55 gallon steel drum, found a chunk of railroad track for his first anvil, and taught himself blacksmithing -- creating his own knives and tools from scrap steel and sweat.
Changing economic pressures eventually forced James back to the restaurant industry in Branson, Missouri, and later to even more success as a maintenance engineer for one of Branson's largest condominium resorts. Finally escaping to Indiana, James now makes his living telling true stories as a freelance writer.
The Samurai Zabimaru Katana accurately replicates the ordinary form of the magical weapon wielded by Renji Abarai in the popular Japanese manga series Bleach. Though sometimes described as having a red handle, the sword’s normal form is actually black-handled as shown here. Only during transformation does the color shift to red.
The tsuba or blade guard shows a lightning symbol appropriate to the sword, and both tsuba and pommel are cast from bronzed metal. Construction of the katana is largely traditional with a full tang blade of high carbon stainless steel. Simulation white rayskin covers the hardwood handle with a woven ito or grip of black cord over that. The sword’s scabbard is black lacquered hardwood with cast metal fittings and a black cord sageo. On the blade, you’ll find the wavy line of an etched hamon, representing the clay-tempering mark left behind when swords of high quality receive two tempering levels appropriate to the different functions of blade and spine.
As always with Bleach weapons, the magical counterpart of the sword would be very difficult to reproduce. The spirit Zabimaru — a baboon with a snake tail — resides in this blade and is one of the few weapon spirits who becomes visible in the Manga. In response to Renji’s shikai or battle cry, the sword transforms into a segmented metal whip of seemingly infinite length, capable of three strikes before it must collapse and reform. Zabimaru also has a higher form or bankai — a giant segmented serpent who bites or smashes the enemy.
See the Wabisuke Bleach Sword for an example of another magical weapon reproduced in its shikai form.
James grew up on an Ozarks farm where tools like axes and picks were still used in the daily routine and the blades of stockman's pocketknives served their original functions. Receiving his first pocketknife at age four he got it open by himself nearly a year later and spent his formative years wandering the woods with a succession of ever larger knives, a book of matches and a rifle.
A veteran of Vietnam, James also served in Alaska during a stint in the Army, receiving his first intensive culinary training by setting a record for extra KP at Ft. Richardson.
Settling in the Pacific Northwest after his discharge, James crewed on sailing yachts in local races, backpacked hundreds of miles of mountain trails in search of good trout fishing, and occasionally attended college.
His first serious job as a civilian resulted from answering a Seattle Post Intelligencer want ad requesting someone who could lift 120 pounds repeatedly and wasn't afraid of fire. James apprenticed to John Frazier -- the most knowledgeable traditional foundryman in North America at that time -- for the next six years.
Returning to the Ozarks James made his living by growing ginseng on a hand-terraced wooded hillside and selling handmade wood turnery, furniture, sculpture and architectural carvings. James harvested trees from his own land, processing logs into posts and beams and turnery billets with saws, axes, froes and planes. Since many tools he needed were no longer available, James built his own forge from a barbeque grill, a vacuum cleaner and a 55 gallon steel drum, found a chunk of railroad track for his first anvil, and taught himself blacksmithing -- creating his own knives and tools from scrap steel and sweat.
Changing economic pressures eventually forced James back to the restaurant industry in Branson, Missouri, and later to even more success as a maintenance engineer for one of Branson's largest condominium resorts. Finally escaping to Indiana, James now makes his living telling true stories as a freelance writer.
The Samurai Zabimaru Katana accurately replicates the ordinary form of the magical weapon wielded by Renji Abarai in the popular Japanese manga series Bleach. Though sometimes described as having a red handle, the sword’s normal form is actually black-handled as shown here. Only during transformation does the color shift to red.
