Tameshigiri

[1] It continues to the present day, but has evolved into a martial art which focuses on demonstrating the practitioner's skill with a sword.

Older swords can still be found which have inscriptions on their nakago (中心) (tang) that say such things as "5 bodies with Ryu Guruma (hip cut)".

Such an inscription, known as a tameshi-mei (試し銘) or saidan-mei (裁断銘) (cutting signature) would add greatly to a sword's value,[4] compensating the owner somewhat for the large sums of money typically charged for the test.

[5] Aside from specific cuts made on cadavers, there were the normal cuts of Japanese swordsmanship, i.e. downward diagonal Kesa-giri (袈裟斬り), upward diagonal (Kiri-age (切り上げ) or Gyaku-kesa (逆袈裟)), horizontal (Yoko (横) or Tsuihei), and straight downward (Jōdan-giri (上段斬り), Happonme (八本目), Makkō-giri (真向斬り), Shinchoku-giri (真直切り), or Dotan-giri (土壇切り)).

There is an apocryphal story of a condemned criminal who, after being told he was to be executed by a sword tester using a Kesa-giri cut, calmly joked that if he had known that was going to happen, he would have swallowed large stones to damage the blade.

"[6] In modern times, the practice of tameshigiri has come to focus on testing the swordsman's abilities, rather than the sword's cutting capability.

[citation needed] Targets today are typically made from goza, the top layer of the traditional tatami floor covering, either bundled or rolled into a cylindrical shape.

While goza, green bamboo (though rarely), and meat are the preferred cutting targets, other substances are commonly used due to being cheaper, and much easier to obtain: pool noodles, various gourds (pumpkins, squash, etc.