How are swords still have a sharp edge after blocking so many direct slashes from a sharp tempered blade.
Imo sword should look like saws after even one session of blocking really anything made of metal.
In: 1711
Battles in history and battles in movies have very little in common. Most screen battles immediately devolve into a chaotic furball of isolated fights because it looks intense and allows the story teller to pair up specific characters. In truth battles were far more ordered: blocks of soldiers “pushing” on each other stabbing with spears and blocking with shields. A terrifying place to be but still waaaay better than a Hollywood fight… as long as your front line holds together. If that stops being the case your best bet was to drop everything and run as fast as you could. In a movie battle you would have no idea which of these folks are your enemies and which are your friends. You literally couldn’t fight like that.
So we already see a few key differences:
* you’re not using swords, you’re using spears or spear like weapons such as halberds.
* you’re not hitting weapons with weapons. You’re hitting people or shields
* it’s also much more of psychological fight, trying to get the other side to run than just trying to kill as many as you can
So battles are out. That’s not what swords were used for. Swords are personal weapons used for defense, duels and such. But even there Hollywood lies to us. Movies use heavy forceful blows to convey aggression and strength and wide sweeping blows to convey skill, discipline and elegance. These moves are also easy to follow for a layperson. The problem is they are also easy to follow for your opponent. If your opponent knows what your weapon will be doing for the next second(s) then they have that time to do whatever they want and you are not in a position to react to it. “Winding up” for a big powerful strike just gives your opponent a free pass to stab you in the face.
Movies have also settled on this idea that a good sword is heavy and the bigger a weapon the slower it is. But it makes up for it with more “POWER” – which is what you want to hammer through the opponent’s defenses. In practice swords are far more nimble than that and two handed ones just as much. So swords are extremely unlikely to bash into each other “hammer and anvil” style and more likely “dance” around each other, quickly repositioning and trying new angles until you have the opportunity to strike without being hit in return.
There are a great many clips on YouTube about historians and sword masters reacting to Hollywood fights.
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