Although not on topic, what was the purpose of the grooves seen that run along the top of a broadsword? I have heard them called blood grooves. Sometimes a double edge sword will have it down the center.
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Best thing ever said by an SD guy.Quote:
If the kid took more than one the teacher cant be much. who cares. KC
Yeah, that's it.
At the Cracker Barrel restaurant near me, they have an old scythe on the wall with two grooves cut into it. I'm sure its for the same reason.
Really I just put the question out there for an example of what we hear isn't always correct. ;) If we totally disagree with somebody's opinion because it differs from what we have been told, you just might miss something.
But it's universal---in Europe and the East. Typically, in the late English tradition, the blood channel (called a "fuller") was forged into the blade for the purpose of keeping blood from washing all over the blade and possibly over the hilt. It's like a river bank, so when you pull out the blade after impaling someone, the blood has a channel it's supposed to flow through, rather than washing over the side, or pouring over the hilt and comprimising your grip.
That's not a consensus opinion, though. Most steel-smiths say it's there to lighten the weapon and give it a stiffer constitution so it doesn't shatter as easily.
In my antique weapons, they were cut, not forged. I think you may have meant cast. The difference between cast and forge is just as it sounds, there is a mold with the impression of the shape you want when you cast something. The material is poured into the mold. To forge is to strike.
I was just thinking that the internet is a lot like newspapers. At one time in England, stories of dragons in the countryside were common. When newspapers started making their presence in smaller towns, less stories about dragons occured until there were none.
We all heard of Kwan Dos that weighed X lbs even when experts of different cultures agree that the heaviest weapons weilded by hand would have weighed not much more than 12lbs due to the fatigue of battle. Or that there were speciality built Tai Chi swords. And I really, really dislike giving him a plug on here, Scott Rodell has put to rest many claims of Chinese weapons. He sells antiques and has seen many to have formed a better opinion than anyone on here. The guy whom I have bought my antiques from lives in Illinois and is named Fred. Forgot his last name but a search for him could find him using Fre****s swords or something like that. I do not recommend scott. But you can find him on the web. Just like they said at the first Woodstock concert " Don't take the brown acid, but it's your trip." :D
Right. And a Dao isn't exactly a "stick in you" weapon, it's a "chop off your arm" weapon. I doubt suction is much of a problem when you hack someone up.
I'm by no means an expert in the field, just what I've read and such. But in thinking of the usage of a Western sword, it was thicker and slower, because part of its usage involved battery, such as Western armor was thick and didn't provide much opportunity for "hacking off limbs". Generally, you battered someone, and stabbed him in the *****s of his armor.
MK, what do you know of medieval Chinese armor? I've always been curious to see what it involved. It obviously wasn't the thick-heavy-weighted stuff favored by the larger, thicker Europeans. Was it leather?
The reason I asked is I imagine the usage of the fuller was the same, even though swords were used quite differently. Besides its use for balance, and perhaps the blood channel, the obvious significance would be to make the weapon lighter/sturdier. The Blood channel idea would make sense in stabbing, not so much as slashing and hacking. So it kind of rules out that as a major factor, although it does still make sense in a small degree.
Eastern and Western swords were used differently (I guess, although their use was to do the same thing, hack, slash, stab), so I assume the common factor would be the lightness/sturdiness of the blade.