General knife care questions

I've noticed that teppanyaki chefs cut their meat directly on the metal grill surface. Won't that f up their edge? Their knives still seem super sharp too!

What about cutting ice cubes in bars? Will typical japanese paring be able to handle cutting that?

Am i the only one who thinks a Stickied 'General questions about knife care and usage' would be useful? So people like me with random (and embarassing) questions won't start a whole topic.

From what I've seen it's really thin knives using draw cuts where only the tip is really contacting the metal surface

The knives they use are on the softer side of Japanese knives, usually like HRC57 or so, and they're probably sharpened every couple days.

I am having a hard time understanding your question about cutting ice cubes though. In general you shouldn't be cutting frozen things.

Latest craze to separate metros from their money is to hand carve the cubes for a drink.

Yea, exactly what dave said. i think there are a few examples of that in the youtube awesome thread in the media center.

But i suppose bartenders aren't as obsessed with the knife at the bar than a chef in the kitchen would?

Something that comes to mind regarding the teriyaki. I suppose the grill plate would probably be of a much lower hardness... especially with it being tempered continuously. Not that 'tis good for the knife, but I can imagine it to at least be a lot more gentle than ceramic plate.
Also keep in mind that they might deliberately trade showmanship or practicality for wear and tear on the equipment. You probably won't see them do this with high-end expensive honyaki yanagibas.