Swords and other dangerous things....

The Claymore

2008-01-18T11:46:00.000-08:00

The Loch Ness babster!

The two-handed claymore was a large sword used in the Medieval period. It was used in the constant clan warfare and border fights with the English from circa 1500 to 1700.[citation needed] The last known battle in which it is considered to have been used in a significant number was the Battle of Killiecrankie in 1689. It was somewhat smaller than other two-handed swords of the era. The two-handed claymore seems to be an offshoot of Early Scottish medieval swords which had developed a distinctive style of a cross-hilt with downsloping arms that ended in spatulate swellings. The spatulate swellings were frequently made in a quatrefoil design.

The average claymore ran about 140 cm (55") in overall length, with a 33 cm (13") grip, 107 cm (42") blade, and a weight of approximately 2.5 kg (5.5 lb), the blades are most similar to the type XIIIa, using the Oakeshott typology. Fairly uniform in style, the sword was set with a wheel pommel often capped by a crescent-shaped nut and a guard with straight, down-sloping arms ending in quatrefoils and langets running down the center of the blade from the guard. Another common style of two-handed claymore (though lesser known today) was the "clamshell hilted" claymore. It had a crossguard that consisted of two downward-curving arms and two large, round, concave plates that protected the foregrip. It was so named because the round guards resembled an open clam.

GoGo and her trusty Tanto

2007-02-08T22:24:00.000-08:00

A tantō (短刀; "short sword", tantō) is a common Japanese single or, occasionally, double edged knife or dagger with a blade length between 15 and 30 cm (6-12 inches). There is a disputed saying about the tantō, wakizashi, and katana stating that they are "the same sword in different lengths". The tantō differs from the others as it was designed primarily as a stabbing instrument, but the edge can be used to slash as well. Tantō first began to appear in the Heian period, however these blades lacked artistic qualities and were purely weapons. In the Early Kamakura period high quality tantō with artistic qualities began to appear, and the famous Yoshimitsu (the greatest tantō maker in Japanese history) began his forging.

Tantō production increased greatly around the Muromachi period and then dropped off in the Shintō period ("new sword" period). Shintō period tantō are quite rare. Tantō gained popularity again in the Shin-Shintō Period ("new-new sword" period) and production increased.
Tantō are forged generally in hira-zukuri, meaning that they have no ridge-line, unlike the shinogi-zukuri shape of a katana. Some tantō are very thick with a triangular type construction and no ridgeline are called yoroidoshi and are designed for armor-piercing. Tantō were mostly carried by samurai; commoners did not generally carry them. Women sometimes carried a small tantō called a kaiken in their obi for self defence. It was sometimes worn as the shōtō in place of a wakizashi in a daisho especially on the battlefield. Before the 16th century it was common for a samurai to carry a tachi and a tantō as opposed to a katana and a wakizashi.
Myths about the ninja say that it was a favorite weapon of theirs because
of its light weight, and was favored for assassination. It was also a popular
weapon among the yakuza.

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Zanbato

2007-01-26T19:36:00.000-08:00

Mmmmmmiho!

A zanbatō (斬馬刀, literally "horse-slaying sword" or "horse-chopping saber"), also spelled zanbatou or zambatou, is an especially large type of Japanese sword of which its historical use is disputed. The sword closely resembles the nodachi or ōdachi however it differs from the nodachi by having additional wrapping down an unsharpened portion of the handle approximately 12" to 18" inches. This lends more to the theory of the sword having a practical use in feudal Japan. The increased length of the blade along with the extra grip would give it dual uses as a sword as well as a spear type weapon used for attacking advancing cavalry. This style of zanbatō sword can be found for sale in rural shops and stands in Kyoto and Nara prefectures of Japan.

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Viking Sword

2005-12-09T09:42:00.000-08:00

Olga patiently awaits Svens return from a hard day of rape and pillaging at the office.

Our knowledge about arms and armour of the Viking age (8th to 11th centuries Europe) is based on relatively sparse archaeological finds, pictorial representation, and to some extent on the accounts in the Norse sagas and Norse laws recorded in the 13th century.

According to custom, all free Norse men were required to own weapons, as well as permitted to carry them at all times. These arms were also indicative of a Viking's social status. A wealthy Viking would have a complete ensemble of a helmet, shield, chainmail shirt, and animal-skin coat, among various other armaments. A lesser off man, however, could only afford a single weapon, and perhaps a shield.
The spear and shield were the most basic armaments of the Viking warrior; most would probably also wear a dagger or knife of some description, commonly of the seax type. As an alternative, or perhaps in addition, to the spear a warrior might carry a bow or axe. The wealthiest Vikings would have worn a sword in addition to his primary arms and have had access to body armour, such as a helmet and a maille hauberk

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Twin Thai Swords

2005-12-07T21:11:00.000-08:00

"Moooothraaaaaaaaaaaa..."

The Sword of Victory or Phra Saeng Khan Chai Si (Thai: พระแสงขรรค์ชัยศรี) has an ancient history. In 1784, Chao Phraya Apai Pubek of Cambodia had found this fantastic sword in Tonle Sap, and gave it to King Rama I of Thailand. This sword has the meaning "The Wisdom of the King". The hilt has a length of 25.4 centimeters with the blade measuring 64.5 centimeters. When placed in the scabbard the sword has a total length of 101 centimeters and weighs 1.9 kg. Though fighting with two swords was rare, it was not unheard of. I believe these two are of Thai design They were apparently used by mercenaries in China also. I will do more reasearch on them. I mainly just wanted to get them on here so could put the pic of those HOT twins up!

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Dussack

2005-12-07T20:52:00.000-08:00

How do you say "OOOOH!" in German?

A Dussack (also dusack, dysack, tesak, tuseckn, thuseckn, disackn, or dusägge, dusegge, dusegg) is a type of German practice weapon that originated around the 16th century. The dussack was intended to represent various short, single-edged weapons in a training environment. Using a dussack, one could train for the falchion, or cutlass, Hiebmesser or grosses Messer (which translates to English as "big knife").

As usage of the dussack became more widespread, various schools turned use of the dussack into a sport as opposed to training for a real weapon.
Based primarily on the Messer rather than the falchion, dussacks had a short, thick, single-edged blade measuring between 70 and 95 cm. A dussack was usually made of wood, although metal ones were also made. Additionally there is a single reference to dussacks also being made from leather. The dussack was gently curved and brought to a point at the tip. The dussack often lacked a hilt. Instead, the handgrip was merely a hole cut inside of the blade; without a pommel or upper guard, it looked something like a large hole for gripping scissors.
No wooden (or leather) dussacks are known to have survived; unsuprising given the perishable nature of the dussack, and only woodcuts and training manuals from the period document their existence. A single unusual iron dussack is known to survive.
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Long Sword

2005-12-07T13:57:00.000-08:00

You aren't worthy!

Despite having several names - War Sword, Great Sword, Long Sword and even Two-Hand Sword - and causing some confusion among collectors, the largesword was quite a popular weapon. Its great length gave it both reach andpower, since the length increased the velocity substantially. However, withthe addition of the long ricasso, the sword became even more formidable. The ricasso allowed the sword to be gripped past the guard, thus shortening the sword and allowing it to be used as short spear. This made a thrust more solid since the blade is held securely at two separate points.

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Cutlass

2005-12-07T07:05:00.000-08:00

Well shiver me timber...please!

A cutlass is a short thick sword with a curved blade sharpened on the convex side, or a gross sabre. Best known as the sailor's weapon of choice, likely because it was also robust enough to hack through heavy ropes, canvas and wood. It is also short enough to use in relatively close quarters, such as in the rigging or below decks.

Another advantage to the cutlass was its simplicity of use. The cutlass required less training than the rapier or court sword, and was more effective as an infantry weapon than the saber. The cutlass is the sword most usually portrayed in films about pirates.
It was also used on land, particularly by cavalrymen such as the Mamelukes, since its curved blade made it useful for slashing and slicing combat. The typical European cavalry sword resembles a longer and thinner cutlass.

cutlasses aboard the frigate Grand Turk
A cutlass is as often an agricultural implement and tool, as a weapon (cf. machete, to which the same comment applies), being used commonly in rain forest and sugar cane areas, such as the Caribbean and Central America.
According to pirate myth, the cutlass was invented by the Caribbean buccaneers, and was originally a long knife made for cutting meat. As a historical fact, however, this remains dubious. It must be noted that the hey-day of corsairs and pirates were well over before the widespread use of cutlass. The weapons used by such were most likely to be falchions.
The word cutlass is probably derived from the Italian coltelaccio, meaning "big knife." This was the name of a short, broad-bladed saber popular in Italy during the 16:th century.

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Scimitar

2005-12-07T06:34:00.000-08:00

Who needs oil? I do I do!!

The term scimitar refers to a sword with a curved blade from western Asia (Middle East).
While the name "scimitar" is quite prevalent when speaking of Arabian swords, in reality there is no such "historic sword" called a scimitar.

The word scimitar is a derivative from the Persian shamshir. This is indeed a deeply curved sword found in Middle Eastern history; however, "scimitar" has become a catch-all which often includes the Indian talwar and the archetypal Turkish kilij. Modern vendors sell scimitars which are in fact fantasy blades with no historical bearing. These often come from stylized artistic representation of Arab arms (paintings, and film); similarly the romanticized notion that these curved swords were used to combat the crusaders in the 11th to 13th centuries is inaccurate (swords of the time were mostly straight with a slightly curved tip).
Scimitars can be found in one or two handed variants, with blades typically ranging in length from 30 to 36 inches (76 to 92 centimetres), and the blades, while commonly depicted as being very wide (from cutting edge to the rear of the blade), seem most often to have been very thin.

A scimitar with a thin blade (shamshir)
It seems likely that scimitar-type weapons were developed from examples of swords brought by the conquering Macedonians under Alexander the Great, such as the kopis sword, itself derived from the ancient Egyptian khopesh sword. Further, it is possible that the falchion swords employed in the Middle Ages by Europeans were inspired by the scimitars of the Turks. Modern examples of similar blades are cavalry sabres and cutlasses of pirate fame.

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Rapier

2005-12-06T20:33:00.000-08:00

Salma just seemed right for this one......

A rapier is a relatively slender (blade 2.5 centimetres or less in width), sharply pointed sword with a blade at least 90 centimetres in length, often sporting an elaborate hilt and hand-guard. For most of its period of use, the rapier was double-edged, some later rapiers were single-edged (with a sharply triangular blade) or edgeless. A rapier is capable of both cutting and thrusting attacks, but the thrust is the main attack in all rapier fighting styles.

The term refers to a variety of blade and hilt forms depending on who is writing and when. It can refer to earlier "spada da lato" (much like the "espada ropera") through the high rapier period of the 17th century through the smallsword and duelling swords, thus context is important in understanding what is meant by the word. (It should be noted that the term "sidesword", used among some modern historical martial arts reconstructionists, is a 21st century translation in English from the Italian "spada da lato" and is not referred to the slender, long rapier, but only to the early 16th century italian sword with a broader and shorter blade that is considered its ancestor).

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For a fabulous selection of authentic reproduction and fantasy swords and armour, please be sure and visit Reliks Swords and Collectibles

The Katana

2005-12-05T21:42:00.000-08:00

Yes..her name is Katana.

The katana (刀) is the Japanese backsword or longsword (大刀 daitō), although many Japanese use this word generically as a catch-all word for swor d.

Katana (pronounced [ka-ta-na]) is the kun'yomi (Japanese reading) of the kanji 刀 ; the on'yomi (Chinese reading) is tō. In Mandarin, it is pronounced dāo. While the word has no separate plural form in Japanese, it has been adopted as a loan word by the English language, where it is commonly pluralised as katanas.

It refers to a specific type of curved, single-edged sword traditionally used by the Japanese samurai. The weapon was typically paired with the wakizashi, a similarly made but shorter sword both worn by the members of the buke (bushi) warrior class, it could also be worn with the tanto, an even smaller similarly shaped blade. The two weapons together were called the daisho, and represented the social power and personal honor of the samurai (buke retainers to the daimyo). The long blade was used for open combat, while the shorter blade was considered a side arm, and also more suited for stabbing, close combat (such as indoors), and seppuku, a form of ritual suicide. (In fact, seppuku was a right reserved for samurai in order to preserve their honor by taking their own life should the need arise.) The scabbard for a katana is referred to as a saya, and the handguard piece, often intricately designed as individual works of art especially in later years of the Edo period, was called the tsuba.
It is primarily used for cutting (although the chisel-like tip, called the kissaki, allows for thrusting) and can be wielded one- or two-handed, the latter being the most common mode. It is traditionally worn edge up. While the practical arts for using the sword for its original purpose are now somewhat obsolete, kenjutsu has turned into gendai budo — modern martial arts for a modern time. The art of drawing the katana is iaido (also known as battōjutsu or iaijutsu), and kendo is an art of fencing with a shinai (bamboo sword) protected by helmet and armour, additionally, iaijutsu is an older style of battle field type fencing. Old koryu sword schools do still exist (Kashima Shinto-ryu, Kashima Shin-ryu, Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu). Perhaps one of the more famous types of Japanese fencing was "Nitto Ryu" or the use of both the katana and wakizashi in tandem; a technique most famously used by Miyamoto Musashi.

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