So, what I wrote about katanas has basically become the most popular thing I've ever published here, and the comments have been mostly random fan-boys telling me that I'm wrong or just flat out insulting me. What can I say? Sorry you don't share my sense of humour? I...
Let's play a game, shall we? What is the better sword in a fight: longsword, katana, or rapier?My post about katanas has gotten some pretty interesting discussion, and it seems that my point that a rapier would defeat both a katana and a longsword in single combat is...
Guys. GUYS. I sat down and watched Reclaiming the Blade. I was planning to live-tweet it, but honestly, I was just too engrossed in it. It's EXCELLENT.Well... mostly excellent. The voice-over by John Rhys-Davies was completely superfluous. I wanted much more of Bob...
A commenter got me on to this documentary, and I have to say, I am SUPER excited to watch it. Here's the synopsis from IMDB:The Medieval and Renaissance blade, a profound and beautiful object handcrafted by master artisans of old. An object of great complexity, yet...
The Shards of Narsil Edge damage is a big thing among swordfighters. It's a given that any kind of sparring is going to result in your weapon taking a beating. But it's an interesting question to ask - is it possible to break a sword, like they do in the movies? Is it...
It is a truth universally acknowledged, by swordfighters at least, that a curved sword is superior at cutting. But why? Why should the curvature of a blade have such an effect on the effectiveness of its cut? Today I'd like to delve into the physics of swordplay, and...
[EDIT: Apparently I have to be clear about the fact that this is not meant to be serious. I’m sorry you think that an article called “5 Reasons Why Katanas are Stupid” is in-depth academic discourse, but trust me, it isn’t. I just wrote it because I thought it’d be...
So, Season 6 of Game of Thrones has debuted, and everyone is predictably losing their marbles over it. Except for me, of course. My lack of interest in grimdark fantasy continues, and with it, my lack of interest in following along with Game of...
Let's have another movie swordfight breakdown! One of my faves is from, I kid you not, the Bond movie Die Another Day. Really! Swordfights show up in odd places sometimes. Now, all things considered, Die Another Day was a pretty terrible movie in most other respects -...
So, roleplaying games. The typical RPG has statistics for each player character - in the case of D&D, my system of choice, those stats are Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma. Stats are used to determine a base level for a...
Okay, time to talk about another all-time great movie swordfight, again from The Princess Bride. I've talked already about Inigo Montoya versus the Man in Black, and yes, I love that fight like whoah, but this one... oh man, this one. Inigo's Crowning Moment of...
There must be some kind of law about fantasy swords in video games. There's a recipe to them, if you know what I mean. It's not enough for a sword to be a long piece of sharp metal. It's got to have... extra stuff, extra colors, extra everything! Presumably this is...