Posted on 11/15/2006 11:04:58 AM PST by blam
European martial arts are enjoying (no pun intended) a kind of renaissance lately. There is much study going into reconstructing techniques from late medieval and renaissance sources.
LOL...
Thanks for the link. Skill does make a great deal of difference, but I specified a 17th centry cavalry officer, skilled at sword play because he would have been a noble, and had been taught to use a rapier throughout his lifetime.
Most sword fights ended in 8 to 10 seconds. They were not the extended play that is so often portrayed in period musicals,movies and competition. I am reminded of the best sword fight ever put on film involving Danny Kaye and a antagonist. Danny did the normal cutting through candles without moving them and then jumped on a table, downing a flagon of wine as he fended off a furious attack. Hilarious.
You would not be able to parry the leg hit because your swingin blade would be on the other side of your body. I said hit, not move. Toast. Crispy toast.
Steel, which is iron mixed with other materials, is just as hard, but is flexible and not so easy to shatter.
Actually, steelmaking is a refinement of ironmaking in which impurities (primarily carbon) are greatly reduced.
(Cast Iron = 2~5% carbon, Steel = 1% carbon or less.)
The controlled addition of alloying elements didn't evolve until much later.
The unique properties of Damascus Steel arise from its forging process, which is essentially a combination of heat treatment & mechanical working that affects the molecular structure of the residual carbon.
The Mongol armor that the Japanese were encountering was made from boiled leather. When you put vegetable-tanned leather into very hot water (the ideal temp is actually 180F rather than boiling), it comes out very stretchy and flexible, but when it cools it becomes hard (but with a good amount of "give"). I've seen examples of this leather and it is like plastic.
Leather armor can take a cutting blow from a European-style sword, give a little, and bounce back. It is best defeated by a slicing blow from a very sharp sword
Chain mail, OTOH, is best defeated by a chopping blow from a blade that acts like a cold chisel
I generally have better luck getting a really fine edge on carbon steel than alloy/stainless. It seems like the stainless work hardens quickly, and aggressive sharpening seems to work better. If I get too light with it, it seems like it starts wanting to chip at the edge rather than grind it.
Kind of a quibble, but they don't just reduce the carbon, they eliminate it and then add some back in.
Who said anything about a parry? I said "void" the leg shot, as in get my leg out of the way. In rapier terms, think inquartata or forward slope pace, depending on your attack. In that same time, your extended arm would be exposed to a counterstrike in half-time. My blade, held in high guard, would not be on the other side of my body, but ready to intercept the advanced, low directed arm. Stump. Bloody stump.
I love it when my opponent obligingly makes his first attack to my legs, especially when using a form where you haven't a secondary for defense while your blade is forward and low. Please don't throw me in that there briar patch!
That is nearly the very definition of a Tokugawa era samurai.
Most sword fights ended in 8 to 10 seconds. They were not the extended play that is so often portrayed in period musicals,movies and competition
True that. The majority of the fight consisted of footwork maneuver for openings, then suddenly decided. Anytime you are in blade reach, you are in mortal danger, so no real fights were fought like Rathbone and Flynn.
Kind of a quibble, but they don't just reduce the carbon, they eliminate it and then add some back in.
Maybe some modern mills can do that nowadays,
but there's no way they did it back in the Middle Ages.
Seriously, though, it's like any other martial art. Mastery over your own self and competition with others. If I'm going to a gun fight, I'll bring my scoped rifle and pump 12 g. backup.
LMBO! I was trying to think of a comeback, but nothing worthwhile came up.
It might be spelled "Wootz" but its pronounced, "Throat-Warbler Mangrove".
/Python
>>If I'm going to a gun fight, I'll bring my scoped rifle and pump 12 g. backup.
On that note, here's a worthwhile thread from the other day. Your comment is covered in Rule #1.
Marine Corp Rules for Gun Fighting
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1738671/posts
And rule #6.
I sand blast daily. It's the only way I can get any sensation from my habanero aftershave.
Try cutting your habanero with grain alcohol and lighting it. You'll get a longer lasting tingle.
I also find them safer around kids. I generally need to keep my guns locked up with my kids around. My daughters do understand "sharp! Don't touch", so I can leave swords at hand
In a close-quarters home invasion scenario, a good blade instantly at hand is better than a gun locked away in a safe upstairs. You also have less worries about stray rounds hitting innocents
You are a busy guy, wandering all over the map today!
for "A Brief History of Steel" go to
http://www.tf.uni-kiel.de/matwis/amat/def_en/kap_5/advanced/t5_1_4.html
Damascus steel is one of the steels discussed.
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