MURRAY CARTER
"Ever since I was a young boy I have been fascinated with blades,” ABS master smith Murray Carter writes. “Why some blades would cut and others would not was a mystery to me that I felt compelled to solve.
“A chance encounter at age 15 with a karate instructor began my love affair with Japan. A trip to Japan when I was 18 years old led to an unexpected encounter with an amazing man, Sensei Yasuyuki Sakemoto, who I would come to learn was the 16th-generation Yoshimoto bladesmith and whose family custom forged samurai swords for some of Japan’s most influential feudal lords. My relationship with Sensei Sakemoto led to a unique six-year apprenticeship, and upon its completion I was asked to continue on in the 420-year-old family blade-smithing tradition as the 17th-generation Yoshimoto bladesmith.”
Murray was off to the races. “I worked as a village bladesmith for 12 more years, constantly availing myself to other industry experts to glean what I could, and spent many long hours in the forge putting my newfound skills and knowledge to practice. I introduced my
