Well, I've been under the impression that Mihawk used to fight Shanks on many occasions without a clear winner because they are equally strong with each other. And it was pointed that Shanks was a great swordsman, I think Buggy said that in that very first arc. My early impression and probably still the same now, is that Shanks has always been fighting as a swordsman.
But yes, if it wasn't a fact then I could be wrong.
My posts above also point out that Shanks could be stronger in other ways and not weaker than Mihawk because Mihawk is the 'World's Strongest Swordsman'.
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Originally Posted by kari-no-sugata
This is quite possibly an overkill etymology lesson (and others may disagree on the details), but: From what I remember, while 'katana' could be said to just mean sword, it's a bit more complicated than that. The closest equivalent to the English word 'sword' in Japanese would probably be 'ken' - as in "Hikari no Ken" (Sword of Light) or "kenjitsu" (the art of the sword). In Japanese, "katana" didn't become common until about the 16th century, replacing the older word "tsurugi".
IIRC In Japanese, it would be generally incorrect to refer to a double-edged sword as a "katana" ("tsurugi" or "ken" would probably be used instead). I think "tsurugi" can refer to a "Samurai sword" but would be odd to do so in modern Japanese. Within a single story, if you have "katana" and "tsurugi" being referred to, it's probably being used to distinguish single-edged and double-edged swords.
Going back on-topic slightly and as a general note to everyone... I think it would be wise to not take the data books literally - or rather, translations of them. From what I've seen, some of the translations are quite poor.
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Yea, I know the word does have a more specific meaning.
I'm not saying a rapier or claymore is a katana, but a wielder of a katana, is just a swordsman like a wielder of a rapier or claymore.
Oda seems to be stretching the term 'katana' as well, seeing that Mihawk's sword is also a wazamono, which is supposed to be a ranking system for katanas.
EDIT: On the data book translations, yes its not properly translated. One of the problem is that the translators seem to be translating from the chinese version of the book. A translation of a translation will definitely have something lost in translation.