Hank Reinhardt's The Book of the Sword (36 page)

I don't wish to be particularly bloody, but it should be noted that the purpose of the sword was to cut flesh and bone. Now, most people are rather reluctant to be cut, so they immediately started to try to protect themselves with armor. Thus was begun an arms race, as sword makers tried to make swords that would cut through the armor, while people continued to be stubborn and made thicker and better armor.

The edge of a sword must have support, and it must also have mass to give force to the blow. This mass is achieved by the width or the thickness of the sword blade. A thin, flat sword blade will cut quite well, but there are other things that have to be taken into consideration.

Anyone can swing a sword, and anything struck with a sharp edge is going to be damaged. How much damage depends on the sharpness of the steel, the mass of the sword, the speed and precision of the blow, and the ability of the man swinging the sword.

Let me switch over to something that is much closer to swinging a sword than you might think: carpentry. No, I'm not talking of building a house, but of driving a nail. I have known and seen carpenters who could set a nail with one tap, and then drive it home with two more. That was something that I couldn't do. I was able a few times to drive it home in three, but not often.
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Now these carpenters were not big brutes. Most were not as big as I am, or was at the time. Nor were they stronger—but they knew how to hit. The force of the blow was concentrated to gain maximum force on the head of the nail. This concentration of force can also be done with the sword.

How well can a sword cut? How do you practice? Is it necessary?

I will attempt to answer all of these questions in this chapter.

Curved swords, particularly those with deep curves, are very effective in the drawcut. The drawcut is essentially a slice, with the blade being drawn across the material. This will produce a long and deep cut in flesh, but is not very effective against many forms of armor.

Swords with more shallow curves, such as the katana, are still quite effective in the drawcut, but are also effective in a slash or chop. One of the most effective cutting strokes with the katana is the hard cut with a slight drawing motion. This is the motion generally used in cutting through people as well as tatami mats.

Straight swords can be quite effective in slashing and hacking cuts. They do not do drawcuts very well. However, they do have the added advantage of being capable of effective stabbing or thrusting.

The rapier is primarily a thrusting weapon. Although there were attempts to make the point and the cut equally effective, none worked very well. When attempts were made to increase the cutting power, either the point or the weight was changed, which also changed the characteristics of the sword.

A quick look at some cutting swords is in order.

Until the early 10th century, Viking swords were broad-bladed swords, usually about 2 inches wide and about 32 inches long and usually pattern welded. There was almost no taper to the blade, and the point was generally somewhat rounded. After the early 10th century all-steel swords began to appear, and usually these swords had a slight taper to the blade. This put more weight in the hand, and allowed the sword to be quicker in both strikes and returns, and yet did not sacrifice cutting power. The point was still somewhat round.

Generally speaking, European swords were not quite as sharp as many of the Eastern swords, particularly the Japanese katana. This reflects the type of combat more than anything else. Although mail was not worn at times, shield and helmet were the two most common methods of defense. A sword with a thin razor edge simply wouldn't last very long when used to strike mail or a tough wooden shield with a metal boss and rim.

In today's time, three edges are often used for katanas. The "battle" edge, the "social" edge, and the "competition edge." The latter one is used for cutting competitions on tatami mats, bamboo, etc. The thinner edge allows the swords to cut better. However, it is not as strong as the other two.

Middle Eastern swords, such as the shamshir, the yataghan, the talwar and kilij, have edges very similar to European blades. This is because mail was worn a great deal, and although the mail was lighter than the normal European mail, it was still iron or steel.

Simple laws of physics will tell you that the greater the speed, the more force generated. The greater the mass, ditto. Combine the two and you can get impressive results. But there are limits to each of these, and these limits are set by the human body. There is only so much speed that can be generated, and only so much mass that the muscles can handle. The effective sword is a combination of these factors plus edge, blade geometry, the individual swinging it, and—one that everyone seems to forget—the item being cut.

It is generally agreed that the best blade angle for a knife edge is approximately 17 degrees, and this would also be true for most swords. This allows you to cut flesh and bone without doing damage to the sword when the cut is properly made. Should you be required to cut something that is reinforced, say with leather, heavy clothing, or mail, you need a thicker edge. The most effective of this type of edge, as discussed in the chapter on katanas, is referred to variously as an "appleseed," a "channel," a "rounded," or today, a "Moran edge," in honor of Bill Moran, the noted knife maker. This edge has the cutting bevel rounded, and gives a lot of strength to the edge of the sword. A chisel edge is also effective, but the minute shoulders, small as they may be, still offer some drag to the penetration of the blade.

An appleseed edge (top) and a chisel edge (bottom).

For demonstration purposes, many swords will have thinner edges, which allow them to cut more smoothly. Remember that the cut is a wedge in action, and the material cut must slide over the blade unless there is tension pulling the cut material apart. This means that any raised surface on the blade will offer some resistance.

From a purely practical standpoint, those swords with raised central ribs are just as effective a weapon as a flat-bladed sword. The rib will make it stiffer in a thrust, and while it will offer resistance to cutting deeper, you can still cut several inches into the body, and that's enough to discourage most people.

For modern competition purposes, some swords are made with very sharp, and also thin, edges. This makes them devastating in cutting through bamboo and tatami mats. Frankly, they would also be quite devastating against an unarmored opponent as well. Just do not plan on trying to cut mail or armor with one.

In my own mind I have always differentiated various types of cut. A blow that is straight down, whether used with one or two hands, I have always considered a crushing cut, and can easily be called a "chop." A slashing cut is one that is designed to go through an object (whether it does or not) so that you are in a position to counter or continue the cut in a different direction. A "pushcut" is a cut where the sword is pushed forward on the blow, acting as a slice, whereas a "drawcut" is when the sword is pulled back from the object in a "drawing" motion. There is also the "snapping cut" where the blade is thrust forward and then the edge is snapped to the target.

A) A chop. B) A slash. C) A drawcut. D) A pushcut.

While the terms "drawcut" and "pushcut" are terms in common usage, chopping and slashing are somewhat arbitrary terms that I use for my own understanding. These are not to be taken as hard and fast settled terminology.

A drawcut is quite interesting. In real swordplay with the katana it was quite popular. As the blow is made and connects, the arms do not follow the straight downward path with which the blow was launched. Instead they are drawn back across the body, thus adding a slicing motion to the blow. This is very effective against flesh and bone, less so against armor. But it is not only effective for increasing the power and the depth of the cut, it is also effective in returning the sword to an attacking or defensive position.

Antique shamshir, circa 1800, 36 inches overall length. HRC39.

This drawing motion was also popular in the Near East. The Persian shamsir, which is a rather late sword, was designed with the drawcut in mind. It has been correctly stated that the shape of this sword gives you the longest possible cut when the arm and wrist is used in the most natural motion.
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This seems to imply a strange and different form of swordplay. Regretfully this is one area that I have been unable to follow up or to figure out how it might have been used. I do feel that it was different than Western saber fighting.

It has been said that the drawcut was unknown to the West. I find this hard to believe. The West has also struck me as being preeminent in the various ways to kill one's fellow man, so I doubt that it was not known. It may not have been
used
much, but not unknown.

The pushcut was used, but it is not as effective as the drawcut. In the pushcut, the edge is pushed forward when contact is made. Due to the mechanics of striking, the force available is not the same as the drawcut. Better control and somewhat more power can be delivered in the drawcut than in the pushcut.

The slashing cut is just as it is called, a slash. The direction of the blow can be diagonal, and either up or down. This is a simple cut where there is no action of the blade in a slicing motion. This is probably the most common blow used in swordplay.

The chopping type of cut is one that is primarily used in a downward stroke. Although it is possible to strike this way in a horizontal motion, downward is preferred, as it allows a great deal more force. This is the type of blow one might aim at a helmeted head, where force is very necessary to do damage.

You will hear of the "secrets" of learning to cut. As far as I've been able to ascertain, there is only one "secret" to the art of cutting well.
The edge of the blade must be perfectly aligned with the direction of the blow.
If the edge is misaligned even one to two degrees, the cut will not be effective. Interestingly enough, in many of the Icelandic sagas you will hear of swords that fail to "bite." This is attributed to sorcery usually, but sometimes the reason is that it is a poor blade. I suspect that often it was grip that had turned, or an edge that was misaligned. Edge misalignment is all too easy to achieve. Merely sharpening the sword on one side only can cause this.