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b*****d swords /are/ handy.

and a half!

hah!

eh im more of a gun person ilove gun replicas i want the resident evil 4 gun replica they promoted in japan

That is about as specific as saying I like to eat.

@ DA: True... and those things weigh a ton... Why not just get a zahnbatoe?

@ everyone: Katanas are not bad swords, really. In fact, they're quite excellent. Even their wooden counterparts, Bokkens, can cut through a man. The thing is though, modern western society has been doped up though anime so much they don't realize how hard it is for a katana to be wielded. First of all, its a two-handed weapon, and its design demands that the user uses both hands. Its entire strength lies in the ability to manipulate its fulcrum point, and create a guillitine effect. The Katana is probably the most efficient sword to use if used correctly, because it is one of the few that can use a person's entire body to deliver a blow.

However, Katanas are worthless if you use them one-handed, or try to pull a BS move such as having one in each hand. The weight alone is enough to make them too slow in many people's hands, and if you can actually counter that, then the other part stems from the problem that unless you use two hands, the fulcrum is not utilized, and thereinforth, the slices and cuts are drastically disarmed... making something as simple as a saber to have more punch...

Also, everyone believes they're samurai when they have a katana as well, despite the fact Katana's were actually not used in battle. The Tachi (i suck with trying to remember its name, suprizingly), the katana's larger cousin, was often much more used, and a wakasahi (sp?) was the equivalent of a dagger. in fact, many katanas were simply ornamental and training only.

I'm not much into b*****d swords, since pound per pound for a two hander I'd prefer the katana. But a hilt-and-a-half sword (yes, that is a kind of sword) isn't half bad. Which is more what AC is probably thinking of, since that was the most common kind of sword used in the Medieval ages. Due to its design, it could be wielded one handed, in conjunction with a shield, but had enough handle to be able to used two handed, if something went wrong.

My personal favorite sword is probably either rapier, sabre, or shamshir...

I'm more of a spear kind of guy. Much more manuverable and has a longer reach than a normal sword. I say give me a quan do or a quarter staff any day.

Yep. The hand-and-a-half is what I fancy. I think there was another kind that I'm also drawn to, as well, which is also a hand-and-a-halfer. Probably the Claymore.

I'm a warhammer fan. Sure, they're a little slow, but it only takes a hit or two to finish an enemy.

Aisde from big ol' hammers, I like glaives. They're pretty awexome.

Warhammers are so unwieldy. They were never used in combat, due to the sheer weight and lack of defense. At least to my knowledge. Those were one of the many weapons that were designed in Fantasy, i believe, just for the idea of what I call, the "cool factor".

And Rhovi, when you say glaive, are you talking about the javalin type, or the hand held discus kind? Nowadays, people make so many different kinds of weapons and call them the same name, its hard to keep track of sometimes...

Nin itachi: Yes, a staff is longer reach, but a spear is not used the same way. A spear's technique relys on thrusts, not spins and blocks. Spears must be at least 9 feet long, though the standard length is 12 feet. Something twice the size of a normal man is not easily wielded like that of a quarterstaff. Its not really more maneuverable.


My personal favorite weapon actually is nothing we talked about yet. I prefer Sai, myself. Call me Elektra, and You will have horrible mental images about my fugly self in a skin tight leather outfit.