The tsuba is usually a round or occasionally squarish guard at the end of the grip of bladed Japanese weapons, like the katana and its various declinations, tachi, wakizashi, tantM, naginata etc. They contribute to the balance of the weapon and to the protection of the hand. The tsuba was mostly meant to be used to prevent the hand from sliding onto the blade during thrusts as opposed to protecting from an opponent's blade. The chudan no kamae guard is determined by the tsuba and the curvature of the blade. The diameter of the average katana tsuba is 7.5-8 centimetres (3.0-3.1 in), wakizashi tsube is 6.2-6.6 cm (2.4-2.6 in), and a tanto tsuba is 4.5-6 cm (1.8-2.4in).
Accepts: