[HoneyBadger]

Couple things here: first of all, forget about the triple katana-it's just not a good structure for a weapon. Possibly it could work like a big rake as a polearm, but katana blades are too fragile for that kind of thing, generally, and the overall concept would be unwieldy if the blades were too long. I'd personally rather just be armed with a staff or a spear because then the balance wouldn't be off. You can talk claws, in which case the Indians and the Japanese both came up with some good ideas there, but they're much shorter, normally 6 inches or less, and as often as not lack blades, being just points. What gives katanas their excellence in combat is the single, razor sharp blade, and the skill of the samurai in using the weapon-a skill which is different than that of other swordfighting. The concept is somewhat similar for a glaive/naginada. A single heavy, relatively simple blade, designed for direct action, rather than other polearms which often used hooks or different types of weapons on a single shaft-ala the billhook, halberd, or lucern hammer. The Naginada was an evolution of the spear but also of the katana, rather than evolving from a farmtool like more of the European and Western polearms. Nunchaku (numchucks) were based on farm implements, as were other weapons, but not the Naginada. Infact, there's a type of weapon (I can't remember the name off the top of my head) that's in between a Naginada and a No-Dashi, featuring an extended handle (3-5 feet) and a blade that's almost the same length as the handle. Armblades are alright, and would provide some defense, although not as much as a shield or maybe even a buckler, especially against larger weapons, since you're taking more of the impact directly on your bone instead of distributing it along the face and length of the shield. Such weapons would also be very close, which is a disadvantage to defense as well as attack and while they'd be quick to use (which is why Gloves of the Gladiator allows 4 attacks), they may lose something in sheer power.