h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

You might also like to mention the fact that a Katana was always paired with a Wakizashi (short-sword) that was made in a similar way. The pair were known together as a "Diasho" (at least I think that's the right spelling) and some fighting styles utilised the Wakizashi in place of a shield to fend off blows from an opponent, the Katana was not exclusivly a two-handed weapon. Some Japanese warriors also used a war-fan, or "Gunsen" which was made with a metal frame to distract a foe as well as deflect blows.

there are two other knives the kanta was paired with, the first was the dai-kantana, this was a longer kantana, and then also a tanto or japanese dagger

tanto would most of the time be carried up the sleeve for purposes of seppuku, as a samurai would always be willing to take his own life if he felt he had shamed himself, or his daimyo/shogun/emporer/ancestors,also most samurai would only fight one handed as the fighting style used with a katana i forget the technical term was very precise there was only a few samurai skilled enough to fight in the niten-ishi ryo style that was created by the Ronin myamoto musashi (i do believe there is an article relating to him some were on hootoo) i cant remember ever reading of samurai using the wakisashi like a french/itallian fencer would use a dirk with a rapier