Unsheathed katana - practise fail compilation has been added as a related post - related requested by mintbbb on that post.

Am I missing something? It really doesn't seem that difficult. Swing a few times and slice an object in random places.

Yes, you're missing perspective;) Give it a try and you'll realize these guys are ridiculously skilled.

It's much harder than you might imagine. Basically you have to keep the flat of the blade perfectly in line with your swing. If you tilt the blade even the slightest bit you end up pushing the object, rather than cutting it, as you can see in the "fail" video.
Those people in the fail vid aren't amateurs either, and those swords are ridiculously sharp, but you have to be so extremely precise if you want a clean cut. It gets even more difficult, would probably be impossible for untrained people like us, once you start changing direction in mid swing and trying to make multiple cuts on the same object, let alone while it's in mid-air.

Kinda needs the fails to be the successes into context.

i agree with the skillful tag, but isn't this how we all image us doing it... well at least from our couches?

failure compilation! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwkuNuP0Sv0

There doesn't seem to be the same amount of effort as the fail video. This one flows more. In the fails, they wind up like a home run derby.

It has already been sifted and added as a related post when I was posting this video. If you just scroll to the top comment..

This video, along with the Japanese Moving Company video demonstrate a common mindset in Japanese culture. Practice and dedication to the point of Mastery. They make it look so easy because of the years of hard work they've put in to their skill. The movie "Jiro Dreams of Sushi" also perfectly show this dedication.

I read that as 'kabana'.

It would have been better with kabana.

Everything is better with kabana.