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Explanation: Medieval European and Japanese swordplay were two… very different beasts.
First, I would like to emphasize that, in both cases, the sword was generally not the primary weapon of war for the nobility. A good noble was a good swordsman in both warrior traditions, but on the battlefield, you keep a sword in case you need it - other weapons will generally be your first priority. Swords are excellent weapons for cutting up unarmored foes or having a handy, yet deadly, weapon when about the town; less excellent for fending off horses, massed formations of troops, or battering through armor.
That being said, the Japanese katana is a nearly delicate weapon - it has a very fine cutting edge and is made for speed. Part of the reason for this is that the iron ore in much of Japan is actually of very low quality - it must be extensively worked to make a good blade out of it, and Japanese smiths made that necessity into an art form. The katana is, if you will, a weapon of finesse - to strike at the unarmored joints of an armored enemy, to make a deadly cut, and leave them bleeding out by a severed artery.
The European bastard sword and longsword (we can quibble about terminology elsewhere - I mean here the 14th-16th century weapon, not knightly arming swords), on the other hand, is meant as the most general of general-use weapons, and, for that matter, designed with the understanding that most enemies are going to be clad head-to-toe in armor in a way that the more iron-scarce samurai did not generally contend with. Very often, European noblemen were armored everywhere except the helmet’s visor - even joints and underarms were often covered by chain mail, which is a real pain to get through with a long blade! European longsword ‘fencing’ manuals often include a wide variety of techniques for every use-case imaginable - and bludgeoning an armored foe to death with the pommel is an astoundingly common recommendation! After all, armor will stop a blade’s edge, but you can still concuss a man through his helmet if you put enough force into it!
In both cases, though, something often forgotten by modern imaginings is that hand-to-hand combat is often a component! Martial arts were not simply for show; a good warrior - knight or samurai - could use their whole body as a weapon, not just their blade or polearm! European longsword fencing in particular can be very… physical… considering that the most reliable way to finish an enemy off in a duel was not a final, skillful cut past their misdirected guard (unlike later saber and rapier fencing), but to toss their armored ass on the ground, hop on top of them, and shove a dagger through their helmet’s eye slit!
Side note: my interest in HEMA and Japanese warfare is passing at best; I could give a rundown on the rough course of the Sengoku Jidai or the Hundred Years’ War, and I’ve read a handful of relevant works of the periods, but I can’t swear to the accuracy of this summary, and if some enthusiast of HEMA or Japanese swordplay comes in here to correct me, you should probably believe them over me.
The sword was the equivalent of the 20th century revolver. Carried by many on the battlefield, not really used.
On fighting with a sword, even when fighting a single opponent on foot, without armor, the spear is often superior. Range is a very important factor.
There’sa Documentary you might like called “ Reclaiming The Blade”.
Speaks to how swordplay (European martial arts) was lost, and not what we thought it was.
What I can say as a kinda new HEMA practitioner (only started 2 years ago) is that, while the mordhau/mordshlag isn’t that common in historical fencing treaties, a lot of them have other creative ways of using a sword. The most common one is half swording, which consists in placing one hand on the blade of your sword to make it easier to aim at smaller targets like the opponent’s visor or joints. It’s also really common to use the sword as a wresting tool, by using the pommel or the blade to put you opponent in an arm lock for example.
There’s even one instance of a fencing treaty describing the act of screwing off your own pommel before a fight and throwing it at your opponent to distract them while you charge.
I would add: throwing your sword as if it was a javelin.
End him rightly!
Always love the whole Japanese sword smiths fold the metal thousands of times and etc. and in fact it’s just because they had shit iron. No mines, just silt runoff in rivers to work with.
Really good katanas are more then forge welded steel, they were also laminated steel. They may be starting at a loss but they sure as shit made up for it with ingenuity.
bludgeoning an armored foe to death with the pommel
Ah yes, ending them rightly. The practice of unthreading the pommel and throwing it at the enemy! That’s totally what that means.
Side note: is your name @PugJesus@kbin.social because you really like the breed of dog, or because you play a lot of LFG/fill
I like the dog breed. Not sure what LFG/fill is
LFG is Looking for Group PUG can be a gaming term for Pick Up Group Fill as in to fill a group with random players
Like if your trying to play group content in a game but don’t have enough friends to make a full group.
Please tell me this is the German word for wielding a tire iron 🙏
Mord is murder, hau is punch or hit, so i say it murder hit.
