There was a lot of debate as to whether it was better to cut from horseback (thus a curved blade) or use the weight of the charge to simply thrust through (thus a straight blade). Patton was an advocate of the latter tactic. The idea was that it took more accuracy to slice as you rode by than it did to simply present the point, and then let the forward momentum run the guy through and pull the blade out as you passed.
“The idea was that it took more accuracy to slice as you rode by than it did to simply present the point, and then let the forward momentum run the guy through and pull the blade out as you passed.”
The difficulty in pulling the blade out was why cavalry sabers were curved in the first place.
And it really doesn’t take a lot of skill to learn basic cuts.
“Not much call for either technique these days.”
Not since Winston Churchill was a young man, it seems.