Swords Cutting Tatami Mats for Hurricane Relief

How does a little joke become a serious fundraiser?

RVA Katana in Richmond, Virginia makes educational short form videos about swords. One of our YouTube Shorts about cutting tatami went viral, with many commenters disappointed that we didn't cut a dry mat.

Our initial response was, to do so was a waste of money, and jokingly added that if our viewers wanted to see it, they should pay for the mat with a GoFundMe.

Since it's such a small amount, we then decided that anything above the $20 cost would be donated to Hurricane Helene relief, specifically, to the North Carolina Disaster Relief Fund (www.nc.gov/donate).

And since really, the cost of the mat is so tiny, we decided we would donate 100%, and match up to $1000, to the North Carolina Disaster Relief Fund (www.nc.gov/donate), administered by the United Way of North Carolina.

We will cut the mat live on Monday, October 15, at 8:30pm EST on our YouTube and TikTok channels.