The tang is the portion of the blade which resides in the hilt of the sword. It is ultimately this part of the sword that you hold via the grip, and it must be of proper thickness, width, length and taper in order to counterbalance and maneuver the blade.

The shape of the tang is important because improper tang design can compromise the safety and durability of the weapon. The following is an "x-ray" of three sword hilts illustrating three different styles of tangs.

Traditional Tang (First Example)

The traditional tang is roughly banana-shaped and follows the natural curvature of the blade. Some tradtional smiths approximate it to one-fifth of the blade's length, but this is not necessarily a hard-set rule. While traditionally the amount of tang within the grip spans two-thirds the hilt length, there have been many historical exceptions. Ultimately it is a "feel" thing: the sword must respond synergistically to the user in terms of weight distribution and handling dynamics, and the hilt must not be compromised by stress points and potential points of breakage.

What is a stress point? A stress point is any point within a blade that when stressed can cause breakage. Breakage can be to the tang itself or to the interior walls of the wooden grip, causing the handle to break apart.

In the above illustration, the first example illustrates a traditional tang. In this case, the tang spans the full length of the hilt. Notice that approximately one inch is occupied by the habaki (colored yellow). Approximately 1/4" is occupied by the tsuba (guard). The fuchi-kashira caps (colored green) enclose the wooden halves of the hilt. There is little chance of breakage, as any shock or impact is evenly distributed.

As mentioned before, good tang designs are a balance of thickness, width, length and taper. The tang must not be so thick and wide that you cannot slip a habaki on. The tang will be narrower and thinner on the pommel end. A tang too thin may cause the balance of the sword to feel "off" as there is little substance within the grip to counterbalance the sword. Conversely, a tang that is wide and thick will cause the sword to feel heavier. A properly designed sword will feel "alive" in one's hands.

Non-Traditional Tang (Second Example)

In the cases of some decorative swords manufactured in Spain and/or Taiwan, short, thick stubby tangs are encased in plastic hilts. The short tangs cause stress to the interior of the brittle plastic hilts, causing breakage.

This may be extreme, but ideally with swords made traditionally, if the clearance of the wood grip beyond the end of the tang is too great, this can result in a stress point as shown in the second illustration. Stronger wood would be preferable, especially if the blade itself were thicker and causing stress to the hilt interior. It is advisable to not allow the clearance to exceed the width of one's hand and/or remain one-third or less than the overall length of the hilt. There are no hard-set rules to this - every sword is unique and different, and proper guaging can be determined by an experienced sword maker. Martial arts practitioners may be sensitive to the overall balance of the sword but sometimes improper tang design cannot be discerned.

Rat-Tail Tang (Third Example)

Often what is done with decorative swords made in Spain and Taiwan is welding a thin "rat tail" to the end of a short tang. This is common practice with some manufacturers of fixed bladed knives. However, since swords are not knives but are subject to different degrees of stress altogether, it is vital to either have an extremely strong and flawless weld, or to avoid a rat-tail altogether.

In the case of one popular sword manufacturer that boasts fantasy marketing as forging blades that "function as a single crystal" and emmanating an "electromagnetic signature" it was observed that a rat-tail was welded to the shoulder/base of a heavy blade, and this rat-tail was the only tang of the sword. The sword was costly, but cost the owner much more grief. The sword broke where the rat-tail was welded to the blade. So much for "magic" - all was lost due to poor overall design and execution. Carrying such a "weapon" to the battlefield would have resulted in the owner's own death!

ILLUSTRATIONS BY ADRIAN KO