One of three professional Japanese sword polishers in Canada, Ottowa-based Christopher Lau - also known as "Motoyasu" - began collecting Japanese swords in the mid '80s. Initially, due to interest in their manufacture, he became an amateur smith, and made a number of blades in different kinds of styles. He originally learned polishing as a means of finishing the swords he had made. This later led to polishing Bob Engnath blades for martial artists. In moving to Ottawa, Canada where he now resides, he lost access to a forge and has concentrated on polishing.

A number of fellow collectors who later learned of his polishing prowess sent him their "beaters" (genuine blades that had been abused and mistreated over the years and were thus not worth the cost of sending to Japan for restoration polish.) He experienced repeat business as people sent him better blades to polish, which allowed him to see and study a large variety of historical blades - without spending a large amount of money! This honed him for kantei - the Japanese term for sword judgement, appraisal and identification.

Japanese sword polishing - known as togi - takes not only painstaking patience to master but incredible skill. In order for a sword polisher to be succesful, one must be exposed to many classic swords, as a foreknowledge of the smith, the school of manufacture, and the era it was created all come into play in restoring or polishing Japanese swords. Thus, having developed kantei ability from his exposure to these blades greatly helped his craft. "That is where ninety-nine percent of 'polishers' outside of Japan fail," says Christopher. "They have no sword judgement (kantei) ability, so they end up damaging the shape of swords and ruining lines, etc."

He further emphasizes that togi must be learned hands-on, and cannot be learned from a book. "Starting out on your own [self-made] blades or Engnath blades really does help you learn because you can make mistakes and not destroy an irreparable piece of history. I certainly believe I've benefitted from it because when I did start polishing antique blades, I was quite cognizant of just what could and could not be done, and where to fix problems and where to leave things alone".

Christopher goes on to note that "'Hands-on', however does not mean experimenting blindly on your own- I've been down this path: when I started polishing, I tried Western materials like Arkansas stones and sandpaper and acid; while I sometimes got close, even the best results were less than satisfying and I wasted a lot of time and effort and steel. Frustration finally led me to learn how the Japanese did things, and I've discovered that there is no substitute for the traditional methods of polishing, and no substitute for having somebody show you exactly how to do it and explain why it is done". To this end, he trained part-time under the late Tatsuo Akiyama out of Vancouver, and learned through correspondence with Doug Blain in Guelph, Ontario, and attended his polishing course in 1997. He returns to Guelph, this time to teach the same class this July, 1998.

Says Motoyasu, "I was a bladesmith myself, so I understand what a smith goes through when he makes a blade; as a polisher, I'm trained to respect the choices of the smith and unless there is no other way (as in a damaged blade), to reshape following the original intent of the smith, as well, a polisher desires to see and expose all the activity and life in the blade that are a mark of the smith's skill." Motoyasu further indicates that the artistry of the smith and polisher should be cherished and respected despite the monetary value that it may command in the eyes of collectors.

Motoyasu holds a Shodan ranking in Kenjutsu and a Forth Dan in Iaido.

We're honored to have Christopher Lau on SWORD FORUM, which is our online dicussion board on swords. He provides us with excellent technical - and inspirational - information on metallurgy, combat, and Japanese swords!

Website: Togi, the art of polishing, and choosing a polisher for your blade.