Be it in action or fantasy movies, most of us absolutely adore seeing guns and swords in action carving up villains to pieces every step of the way. However, amidst all the action and fighting scenes, what we don’t think about at all is how they were forged or created. Come to think of it in the case of guns, none of that even remotely occurs to us.
However in the case of swords, we do tend to wonder about their history from time to time especially in the case of fantasy movies. Then again do not be fooled into thinking that the movies offer a realistic picture/depiction of swords or how they are made. Nothing could be further from the real true and here are a few misconceptions that you need to discard :-
- The best swords are Katanas: Sure Quentin Tarantino would have you believe that with the Kill Bill series showing the swords sharp enough to cut through pretty much anything and everything from bones to armour to all kinds of metal. Well, you might want to slow down there for just a second. Some of the best katanas need to be yielded in a proper trained manner hence they are ultimately useless in the hands of a person who has no idea how to properly yield it.
- Swords have to be molten metal first: Enough movies have fed us this misconception over the years. And let’s face it – the birth of a sword as liquid fire onscreen looks super cool. However apart from looking really appealing, it is pure fiction. Swords that are made like that are more for wall decorations that anything to do with serious sword fighting.
- Swords need to have a blood groove to be battle ready: The little channel running down the flat of the blade is called a blood groove. However it’s main purpose (apart from making the sword easier to pull out of people of course) is to make the blade as a whole much more lighter. That way, you’ll be able to use the sword with a single hand.
- Alloyed metals make super-powerful swords: One could say that Game Of Thrones is the worst offender in this regard with bold talk of Valyrian steel being the strongest. Surely there must have been some magical alloys back in the Iron Age right. Well, extremely sorry to burst your bubble on that front, but no. There is just steel.
However on a much brighter note, not all steel is made in the same way. That is exactly where Damascus steel comes into the picture, which is a lot more powerful and lasting the ordinary steel. So maybe there’s just a glimmer of hope on the magical alloys after all, but no such thing as a variety of alloys.
Finally, you might just want to keep in mind the basic fact that swords are not quite the entity you envisioned when you first saw them on the big screen. It’s quite possible that in the setting of watching that movie, you got carried away about the fantasy/action movie storyline at hand. If you’re seriously thinking about getting into sword fighting, you’ll do good to keep that fact in mind.
