User blog comment:Pygmy Hippo 2/Miyamoto Musashi vs. Andrew Jackson (Collab with Elgb333)/@comment-27358240-20190203044724

Kazanshin's "天上天下唯我独尊！" edges:

Short range: There isn't much to say here. The wakizashi is longer, can be used alongside the uchigatana for the Nitou-ryu style and, well, that's about it. Knife vs sword, sword wins. Simple. Edge: 宮本武蔵

Mid range: Can somebody please, please tell me where you got the idea that Japanese steel is so shitty? Like, I've been looking around but there's no good scientific proof stating so, only a bunch of people saying "Japanese steel is overrated, it's actually shit so fuck the katana". Like, if someone was to present to me a study done on iron composition and fcarbon content of the different steels and alloys, I would have nothing against it, but I've really seen nothing about it. Another thing is that during the Edo Jidai, nihontos shifted to a more ceremonial/artistic form ("Shinto 新刀" or "New swords") than an actual battle weapon ("Koto 古刀" or "Old sword"). Most modern day reconstructions are based off Edo Jidai "Shinto" swords, which makes many of the "tests" between Japanese and European swords a bad representation of how an actual battle blade would fare. Considering Musashi was born during the late Sengoku and won his first battles before the beggining of the Edo Jidai, it's safe to assume his swords would be battle Kotos. Therefore, I doubt there will be much difference in steel quality, durability and sharpness. However, with all of that said I still give the edge to the saber. This is an unarmored duel, which means the two warriors will mainly be fighting using slashes. In such a case, the one handed saber with a hand-guard will have a considerable advantage. While slashing wouldn't do jackshit against most types of armor, against an unarmored opponent it's more than enough. Hand sniping and better reach wins the comparison for the officer sword. Edge: Andrew Jackson

Long range: Gun vs tiny throwing stars that were never made to kill. To be fair, it's been stated somewhere that a shuriken can penetrate through a tatami mat somewhere, so it could probably kill if it hits the right spot, but come on, this is a gun we're comparing it against. The range of the duel means Andrew will even be able to accurately hit Musashi, something impossible at a long range with the flintlock pistol. Edge: Andrew Jackson

Special weapons: An actual bludgeoning weapon used to kill people vs a walking cane. Fueh. Edge: 宮本武蔵

X-Factors and final verdict: As much as I want to vote for Musashi, it's really not possible in this case. The thing here is that Musashi's duels revolve around swordfighting while Andrew's are all about shooting your enemy with a gun 'Murica style. As inncurate as the flintlock is, from a range of 4.5 meters there's no way he's going to miss. Musashi is definitely the better fighter up close, with all the "best swordsman in human history" thing and being the master of an entire school of kenjustu working to his advantage and unarmored, close quarters duels being much more about personal skills than the actual weapons. However, I could kill the world's greatest swordsman in all of human possibilities and probabilities if I had a gun. Even if Musashi is all ready to fight with his swords and shurikens, there's nothing stopping Jackson from just shooting him and killing him like that. It's a classic case of "the gun is mightier than the sword". Hmm, a genius quote, don't you think? The world isn't an anime, people. Gun beats sword, which in the end means the win goes to prototype Donald Trump. Deadliest Warrior: Andrew Jackson