Sword-like object: Difference between revisions

Content deleted Content added

Inline

Revision as of 08:16, 12 October 2005

Sword-like object (SLO) is a term originalyl coined by the Historical Armed Combat Association, and used by sword enthusiasts to mockingly describe cheap, non-functional, or inaccurate sword replicas, typically built as purely decorative pieces.

The term is thus one of subjective stance and not objectively defineable; many historical swords were of inferior quality and did break or deform.

Sword replicas

Many cheap modern sword replicas are built for decorative purposes and are either too brittle or too fragile for any practical use; simply swinging around can cause some of these to break, usually at the welded-on tang (the blade and tang are a single piece of metal in most real swords). In some the broken tang may result in an uncontrollable flying blade, much to the dismay of the owner and any bystanders.

The Danger of Stainless Steel

Another shortfall of most SLO is that they are made of industrial stainless steel, which cannot take very much stress compared to carbon steels. One graphic example of this is an infamous video circulating the internet. In the video a salesman bangs a "practice katana" on a table, supposedly to demonstrate its durability. On the third hit the blade breaks in two and the loose piece bounces up and stabs him!

Another example of the shortfalls of stainless steel in SLO is that when used to cut, huge chips will be taken out of the blade, if it does not break outright.

The Ten Pound Sword

On the other side of the scale, sword replicas touted as "battle ready" are unrealistically robust and heavy, so that while they will not break even under more stress than a historical sword could have endured, they are too heavy and unwieldy for effective use, and would qualify as a mace or club rather than a sword.

Other Types of SLO

In a broader, analogical sense, the term 'sword' is also used for weapons and instruments that resemble swords in shape and/or function, but lack their usefulness in combat. They may also untilize different construction, such as lacking the sharp blade and/or tip which could deliver wounding blows.

Practice weapons

In both Europe and Asia, wooden 'swords' were created to practice fencing without the physical danger of a real sword. These were known as wasters in Europe and bokken in Japan. Special sparring weapons, such as the bamboo shinai and the steel federschwerter, were also devised and used.

Certain martial arts styles, such as kendo, use shinai as their primary weapons, both in training and in competition.

Punishment device

The same shinai is also used in Japan as a spanking implement, more common in prized private extracurricular schools (illustrated in these 1975 and 1977 articles) than the paddling employed in US schools; hundreds of cases of illegal corporal punishment have been reported from public schools as well.

Similarly paddle-like devices for corporal punishment are used elsewhere in Asia (paddling or caning in Western terms, depending whether the implement is flat or round). For example, the Chinese movie Farewell to my Concubine] (1993) shows how a flat, softwood paddle, called 'the master's sword', is used intensively to discipline young opera trainees both on the (usually bared) buttocks and on the hand (even drawing blood).

Sources and References

External links:

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-'''Sword-like object''' (SLO) is a term originalyl coined by the [[ARMA|Historical Armed Combat Association]], and used by [[sword]] enthusiasts to mockingly describe cheap, non-functional or inaccurate [[sword]] replicas, typically built as purely decorative wall-hangers.
+'''Sword-like object''' (SLO) is a term originalyl coined by the [[ARMA|Historical Armed Combat Association]], and used by [[sword]] enthusiasts to mockingly describe cheap, non-functional, or inaccurate sword replicas, typically built as purely decorative pieces.
 The term is thus one of subjective stance and not objectively defineable; many historical swords were of inferior quality and did break or deform.
 ==Sword replicas==
-Many cheap modern sword replicas are built for decorative purposes and indeed either too brittle or too fragile for any practical use; simply swinging around can cause some of these to break, usually at the welded-on tang (the blade and tang are a single piece of metal in most real swords). In some the broken tang may result in an uncontrollable flying blade, much to the surprise of the owner and any bystanders.
+Many cheap modern sword replicas are built for decorative purposes and are either too brittle or too fragile for any practical use; simply swinging around can cause some of these to break, usually at the welded-on tang (the blade and tang are a single piece of metal in most real swords). In some the broken tang may result in an uncontrollable flying blade, much to the dismay of the owner and any bystanders.
 === The Danger of Stainless Steel ===
 Another shortfall of most SLO is that they are made of industrial stainless steel, which cannot take very much stress compared to carbon steels. One graphic example of this is an infamous video circulating the internet. In the video a salesman bangs a "practice katana" on a table, supposedly to demonstrate its durability. On the third hit the blade breaks in two and the loose piece bounces up and stabs him!
-Another example of the shortfalls of stainless steel in SLO is that when used to cut, huge chips will be taken out of the blade, if not outright breaking the blade.
+Another example of the shortfalls of stainless steel in SLO is that when used to cut, huge chips will be taken out of the blade, if it does not break outright.
 === The Ten Pound Sword ===
 On the other side of the scale, sword replicas touted as "battle ready" are unrealistically robust and heavy, so that while they will not break even under more stress than a historical sword could have endured, they are too heavy and unwieldy for effective use, and would qualify as a [[mace]] or [[club]] rather than a sword.
-==Other (blunt) 'swords'==
+==Other Types of SLO==
-In a broader, analogical sense, the term sword is also used for weapons and instruments that resemble it in shape and/or function, without its battle performance or even of different construction, notably without the sharp blade and/or tip to deliver the actual wounding blows.
+In a broader, analogical sense, the term 'sword' is also used for weapons and instruments that resemble swords in shape and/or function, but lack their usefulness in combat. They may also untilize different construction, such as lacking the sharp blade and/or tip which could deliver wounding blows.
 ===Practice weapons===
-Especially wooden 'swords' were created to practice fencing without the physical danger of a real sword.
+In both Europe and Asia, wooden 'swords' were created to practice fencing without the physical danger of a real sword. These were known as [[waster]]s in Europe and [[bokken]] in Japan. Special sparring weapons, such as the bamboo [[shinai]] and the steel [[federschwert]]er, were also devised and used.
-The alternative, preferred in western fencing, is to blunten the blade/tip of an otherwise nearly identical weapon.
-In certain Japanese (and other?) martial arts, like [[kendo]], such a non-cutting sword, the [[shinai]], is actually the weapon used only for fights in competition, not in war.
+Certain martial arts styles, such as [[kendo]], use shinai as their primary weapons, both in training and in competition.
 ===Punishment device===
-*The same [[shinai]] is also used in Japan as a [[spanking]] implement, more common in prized private extracurricular schools (illustrated in these 1975 and 1977 articles [http://www.corpun.com/jpsc7508.htm] &  [http://www.corpun.com/jpsc7706.htm]) than the US school paddling; in fact hundreds of cases of illegal corporal punishment were reported from public schools as well.
+The same [[shinai]] is also used in Japan as a [[spanking]] implement, more common in prized private extracurricular schools (illustrated in these [http://www.corpun.com/jpsc7508.htm 1975] and [http://www.corpun.com/jpsc7706.htm 1977] articles) than the paddling employed in US schools; hundreds of cases of illegal corporal punishment have been reported from public schools as well.
-*Similarly paddle-like devices for [[corporal punishment]] are used elsewhere in Asia, in western terms for [[paddling]] or [[caning]], depending whether the implement is flat or round. For example, the Chinese movie ''Farewell to my concubine'' (1993 - see IMDb [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106332/combined]) shows how a flat, not even very hard type of paddle, called the master's sword, is used intensively to discipline young opera trainees both on the (usually bared) buttocks and on the hand (even drawing blood).
+*Similarly paddle-like devices for [[corporal punishment]] are used elsewhere in Asia ([[paddling]] or [[caning]] in Western terms, depending whether the implement is flat or round). For example, the Chinese movie ''[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106332/combined Farewell to my Concubine]]'' (1993) shows how a flat, softwood paddle, called 'the master's sword', is used intensively to discipline young opera trainees both on the (usually bared) buttocks and on the hand (even drawing blood).
 ==See also==
-objects comparable to swords
+Objects comparable to swords:
 *[[Khopesh]]
 *[[Maquahuitl]]
-*[[Federschwert]]er
 *[[Waster]]
 *[[Bokken]], Japanese wooden practice sword.
 *[[Shinai]]
+*[[Federschwert]]er
 ==Sources and References==
@@ Line 42: / Line 42: @@
 [[Category:Swords]]
+[[Category:Martial arts]]