Isao Machii, who has five Guinness World Records for iaijutsu notched in his belt, his a modern-day sword master who can slice just about anything--including flying fruit and moving BB pellets--with deadly precision. The Motoman-MH24 is a robot developed by Japanese company Yaskawa, designed to be especially precise in function for shipping, packaging, and collection. When you pit the two of them together in a display of cutting skill, you get quite the tense video!

Because of the dangers involved with a real sword being used, the cameraman was outfitted with armor and many safety precautions were taken for the staff. Once this was all set into place, things got kicked up a notch.

The Showdown!

The duel isn't entirely from scratch. The staff has a powerful tool in the Motoman-MH24, but the robot needed a quick crash course in samurai technique. In order to do so, they used motion-capture technology to collect data on Machii's cutting technique and movements, and then input it into the Motoman-MH24 to put the skillset of Japanese swordmaster into the hands of a state-of-the-art robot! As if the robot has been possessed with samurai spirit, it's ready to join the battle with a sword selected by Machii himself, a rare blade from the Edo era.

The two then square off in a series of slicing demonstrations, cutting diagonally, horizontally, and in a rising uppercut fashion. Not to be outdone, the robot delivers admirably, accurately slicing and dicing multiple oranges and even an edamame!

Taking on a new world record with a Thousand Cuts!

In the final display, both of the contestants demonstrate their skill in a challenge titled the "Thousand Cuts." They deliver a thousand strikes to a series of targets. Had this been official, Isao Machii would have collected another world record in 29 minutes!

By the competition's end, the two appear to have earned each other's battle-tested respect, and bow to each other to show so. It's quite a cool display of traditional skill and an impressive glimpse at how far modern robotics has come! Take a look at the whole video and witness for yourself--samurai vs. robot!