THE CUTTING OF SWORDS

The sword was, and remains, a powerful symbol of civilization and social order:

·         The sword was one of the earliest images accessible to us of the light in man; his inborn weapon for conquering ignorance and darkness without.

Laurens van der Post - 'The Sword and the Doll'

·         Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil is rightwise king born of all England.

Thomas Malory - Morte d'Arthur

·         Nevertheless, it is logical to speak of martial arts in specific reference to the long sword because society and individuals are both ordered by way of the powers of the long sword.

Miyamoto Musashi

Right from the beginning there was an arms race to produce the deadliest sword:

The sickle sword, the Egyptian khopesh, (the word means the foreleg of an animal), was introduced into Egypt around 1400 BCE and rapidly spread throughout the Middle East.  It was the preferred weapon of Israel from the time of Joshua. And they struck them with the edge of the sword and burned the city with fire. (Judges 18:27) The sickle-sword had a shape very much like an ordinary sickle with a blade about forty centimeters long. It was about five to ten centimeters wide with the cutting edge on the outside making it ideal for slashing.  The handle was for a one-handed or two-handed grip and sometimes up to a meter long.  There seems to be no consistent format for the sword with the only common feature the sickle shape. This indicates these weapons were individually tailored and constantly adapted by a variety of sword-smiths in a constant search for the ultimate design. 

The sword was, and remains, a presence in human mythology:

In the olden days there were 'magic' swords and from them came the legends. But there was no magic, the swords were real and made according to the rules of science - and a good dollop of skill or 'art'. What made them seem supernatural was the ability to cut through any armor (of the time) and they got sharper the more they were used. The sword of Apollonius described in I Maccabees 3: 12 must have been one of them. (Wherefore Judas took their spoils, and Apollonius' sword also, and therewith he fought all his life long.)

The problem for the ancient sword-smith making a 'magic' sword was firstly to find a suitable metal. Copper and bronze was too soft to take a good edge and the available iron was unsuitable due to impurities.  The answer to the problem of impure iron was meteorites where the impurities had been burnt off. This is where the 'swords from heaven' myths started. In Anatolia, swords were made from meteorite iron in 3000 BCE and by 2 500 BCE it was common practice in Egypt. The ancient Greeks valued it greatly as can be seen from Homer's description in 'The Iliad' where  Achilles stopped them and told them all to sit down in a wide ring where the sports were to be held.  For these he brought out prizes from the ships - cauldrons and tripods, horses, mules and sturdy cattle, grey iron, and women in their girdled gowns. Meteorite iron remained the best source for sword-making steel until 1890.

The second problem for the sword-smith was the increased brittleness if air-cooled after forging. Everyone else tried quenching their swords in the blood of seven virgins but the ancient Greeks solved this problem by using oil. This small technological lead gave them the 'edge' and led to further advances.

By 500 BCE, meteorite iron had become a great scarcity and almost impossible to find. The Greeks solved the problem of impurities by folding, hammering and refolding the iron ore endlessly at high temperatures - the impurities were literally hammered out. An additional benefit of this method was a sword made out of thousands of layers - greater flexibility made it less prone to snapping.  By using an incredibly clever double furnace, they introduced carbon into the iron to produce a 3% carbon steel - higher than modern steel at 1%. This gave it durability and a constantly sharpening keen blade. The result was the kopis - a terrifying weapon with a single edge used for slashing and with it they conquered the world. 

NOTE: Everywhere Alexander the Great went on his conquest, archeological remains of this furnace has been found.

After Alexander, the Greeks lost the 'secret' and reverted to short swords as did the Romans and most of the rest of the world. The secret of the kopis remained hidden in India and vanished in the smoke of legend. Many centuries later it re-emerged and the steel became known as 'Damascus steel' - it was finished and marketed to Arabs (Muslims) only through the Syrian city of Damascus.  The superior quality of these swords was already acknowledged in Europe in 1430 when Bertrandon de la Brocquière wrote, as to its temper, it is perfect; and I have nowhere seen swords that cut so excellently but he warns that export was strictly controlled and buying one was risky - the swords were often tested on prospective Western buyers. 

Besides being a symbol and part of mythology, the sword was first and foremost, a weapon:

Since Egyptian times it was known the best swords were curved but working with steel in the many layers and producing a curve was very difficult and the method was kept secret. 

NOTE: The Crusaders had straight swords not because they thought it looked like the cross or because they did not realize the superiority of the Saracen scimitars - they did not know how to make a curved sword. 

The curved sword is as good a stabbing weapon as a straight sword and is superior for instant killing as the point can be curled upwards with a low stab to the lungs and heart. 

As a slashing weapon, it has two great advantages over the straight sword. The curved sword stays stable in the air during the slash and hits the target with the cutting edge.  When a fast slash is made with a straight sword, the blade twists because of the physics involved and this is transferred to the hilt-attachment which is the weakest part of the sword, as well as the gripping hand.  If the blade twists the target is hit with the flat of the blade.  The harder the slash, the more the torque, and the more impossible it becomes to control the sword.

A sharp point penetrates a surface easier than a blunt one does. This is stating the obvious. As obvious is that a curved blade penetrates easier than a straight blade, if the same pressure is applied - as there is less contact surface.  (It is the same reason stiletto heeled shoes damage a floor easier than flat shoes.) The curved sword therefore not only stays stable in the   

The sword became more than a weapon when it became a way of life:

The Japanese tried to copy the Damascus sword but could not get the curve right.  They managed to get a slight curve as is seen in the katana but when they tried to increase the curve, the blade broke easily. So they stayed with the almost straight sword and solved the problem of torque with a two-handed hilt - it allowed for a stronger attachment and a better grip as in a golf club. But like the golf club, Japanese swords were developed for sport - duels with strict rules and killing unarmed peasants.  It did not originate on the battlefield where a shield was essential - a two handed grip in war was a laughable idea. They soon realized the shortcoming. When you have a bow or a spear in your left hand, or whatever other weapon you are wielding, in any case you use the long sword with one hand; therefore, to wield the long sword with both hands is not the true way.  . . .  (Miyamoto Musashi)

The Japanese solved the problem in a truly Japanese manner - when the weapon cannot be improved, improve the man. To solve the problem of torque the sword is swung with a slower stroke to prevent twisting and then drawn towards the body of the wielder so the blade cuts in the same manner a steak is cut. It is all in the 'draw' or 'pulling in'.   The idea is to swing the sword calmly, so that it is easy to do.  When you try to swing a long sword fast, the way you might when using a fan or a short sword, you deviate from the 'way' of the long sword, so it is hard to swing.  That is called "short sword mincing" and is ineffective for killing a man with a long sword.  (Miyamoto Musashi) To get this right took a lifetime of dedicated physical and mental training. It was called 'the way' and only a handful of people ever achieved it to a level usable on a battlefield.