# footage of any real sword fights **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 1, 2004, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footage-of-any-real-sword-fights/248016 "2004-06-01T03:43:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![drhess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/94ad74/32.png) [@drhess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drhess)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footage-of-any-real-sword-fights/248016/1 "2004-06-01T03:43:30Z")
Outside of highly regulated sports like fencing, is there any footage (video, etc.) of swordfighting? Doesn’t have to be “real” (i.e, can be people who have real training dueling in a sporting-but-realistic manner). However, I would be interested if any early newsfilms caught sword fights that were real or from real military training. I believe swords were used through WWI, maybe later? No? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footage-of-any-real-sword-fights/248016/2 "2004-06-01T04:05:06Z")
I recall my HS history teacher (about 1975 IIRC) showing us some color movies on Heidelberg duelers. The footage looked looked 50’s or 60’s ish, and these were no BS full on duels. The participants had the facial scars to prove it. Thsese were very different from movie duels. No fancy BS, just have at it, but with strict rules. It was fascinating, but actually kind of scary. One slip and someone gets sliced badly. ---
**Author:** ![drhess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/94ad74/32.png) [@drhess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drhess)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footage-of-any-real-sword-fights/248016/3 "2004-06-01T04:06:01Z")
> [@astro](#): > > I recall my HS history teacher (about 1975 IIRC) showing us some color movies on Heidelberg duelers. Heidelberg duelers? Que? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footage-of-any-real-sword-fights/248016/4 "2004-06-01T04:15:09Z")
[Heidelberg, Germany–I’ve just had a nineteenth century high tech experience–and a glimpse of the world to come](http://www.forbes.com/columnists/2001/02/27/0725malone.html) > [@](#): > > Some time, with the rise of Romanticism is the early nineteenth century (Goethe was the hometown writer, after all), the students began to clear away the tables after dinner and indulge themselves in the mock-Medieveal arts…dueling, in particular. Heidelberg was the capital of dueling, and the Mensurstube its center. > > It wasn’t long before some of the more serious young duelists were sporting accidental saber wounds on their faces–which yielded some very enviable manly-looking scars. After that, anybody who was anybody at Heildelberg U. had to have a couple white slashes on his cheekbones–the same scars that would grace the faces of every propaganda poster and movie bad guy during World War I. By the 1890s, the Mensurstube was hosting ten duels per day, the students wearing special masks to protect their nose and eyes, but leaving the rest of their faces exposed to the sharp blades. A doctor was on hand every day just to sew up (but not too well) wounds. Mark Twain, our first post-modernist, even took the time to satirize the experience in Innocents Abroad. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footage-of-any-real-sword-fights/248016/5 "2004-06-01T04:16:38Z")
Not en masse for hand-to-hand combat by infantry, no, not even in the US Civil War. Officers carried swords then and in WWI, but mostly in a ceremonial or symbolic capacity. Cavalry still carried swords in WWI, and [used them too](http://www.firstworldwar.com/diaries/cavalrybrigadeatcambrai.htm), but they were increasingly [replaced by firearms](http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/structure/army_cavalry.htm) . I can’t think when the last infantry swordfight would have been (perhaps C16th?)but it would be hundreds of years before movies. ---
**Author:** ![drhess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/94ad74/32.png) [@drhess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drhess)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footage-of-any-real-sword-fights/248016/6 "2004-06-01T04:32:11Z")
> [@AndrewT](#): > > Not en masse for hand-to-hand combat by infantry, no, not even in the US Civil War. Officers carried swords then and in WWI, but mostly in a ceremonial or symbolic capacity. > > Cavalry still carried swords in WWI, and [used them too](http://www.firstworldwar.com/diaries/cavalrybrigadeatcambrai.htm), but they were increasingly [replaced by firearms](http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/structure/army_cavalry.htm) . > > I can’t think when the last infantry swordfight would have been (perhaps C16th?)but it would be hundreds of years before movies. What about in the East? ---
**Author:** ![Loopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loopus/32/15343_2.png) [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footage-of-any-real-sword-fights/248016/7 "2004-06-01T04:57:36Z")
> [@](#): > > **From astro’s cite** > _Mark Twain, our first post-modernist, even took the time to satirize the experience in Innocents Abroad._ I believe it was actually in _A Tramp Abroad_ that Twain described the Heidelberg duelists. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footage-of-any-real-sword-fights/248016/8 "2004-06-01T04:58:56Z")
> [@drhess](#): > > What about in the East? In Japan the PBI mostly carried spears and other long arms, and elites like the Samurai the swords. Again the advance of firearms would put genuine sword-to-sword combat out of the movie era, I suspect, although a lot closer. But having re-read your OP I see film of simulated duels would satisfy you, and that I’m sure does exist. For instance [this place](http://www.fightingarts.com/) sells videos of instruction in Japanese swordfighting techniques, and [this place](http://www.medievalrepro.com/Books_and_Videos.html) has one called “How to Use the Viking Sword in Real Combat”, which sounds like the kind of thing you might like. I used a Google search of: videos of real sword fighting to find those, BTW. ---
**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footage-of-any-real-sword-fights/248016/9 "2004-06-01T11:45:07Z")
how could you not include in any discussion of real life sword fighting skills[star wars kid](http://www.screamingpickle.com/members/StarWarsKid/video_nolink/star_wars_kid.wmv)? ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footage-of-any-real-sword-fights/248016/10 "2004-06-01T12:48:32Z")
The History Channel show _Conquest_ had an episode on dueling w/ swords. ---
**Author:** ![Lilliphe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f0a364/32.png) [@Lilliphe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lilliphe)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footage-of-any-real-sword-fights/248016/11 "2004-06-01T13:20:27Z")
“Conquest” is an interesting show when it comes to some basic facts about ancient arms and armor, but when it comes to historically accurate fencing and martial arts, it’s no help at all. The whole premise is having modern guys wack eachother with these weapons without proper training. There are several groups dedicated to historical medieval and renaissance martial arts. These groups are probably the closest you will ever get to witnessing how these weapons were used during their time and what a ‘real’ sword fight looked like. The problem is finding the serious groups who concentrate in historical martial arts and avoiding other groups more interested in role-playing or stick fighting, or concentrating on the modern sport of fencing, rather than historical tecnique and martial application. My boyfriend is a historical fencer/martial artist and looking through some of his links I found this: [http://www.thehaca.com/Videos/TPVideos.htm](http://www.thehaca.com/Videos/TPVideos.htm) Should be a start for you. ---
**Author:** ![Lilliphe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f0a364/32.png) [@Lilliphe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lilliphe)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footage-of-any-real-sword-fights/248016/12 "2004-06-01T13:29:15Z")
I just remembered. He also showed me once two pictures showing the very nasty results of sword wounds. They were the bodies of two european (i believe) soldiers that fought against samurai in Japan during the wars there with the samurai. It was rather gory to see the two bodies and the huge, open gashes across the chest (revealing their ribs beneath) and across their arms (one of them was missing an arm, the other a hand IIRC). My boyfriend pointed at them and said: “This is a reminder that what I do is more than just art and tecnique. Ultimately it is a study of using these weapons to kill other people. I’m glad I live in a time where I don’t have to do that.” ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footage-of-any-real-sword-fights/248016/13 "2004-06-01T13:50:52Z")
> [@Lilliphe](#): > > “Conquest” is an interesting show when it comes to some basic facts about ancient arms and armor, but when it comes to historically accurate fencing and martial arts, it’s no help at all. The whole premise is having modern guys wack eachother with these weapons without proper training. Good point. The dueling episode did have discussion of historical technique, weapons used, and re-enactments of what sword fighting may have looked like. I should have been more specific. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![BestGore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@BestGore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BestGore)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footage-of-any-real-sword-fights/248016/14 "2013-02-08T01:51:22Z")
If you refer to the link provided, you can see a video of 2 men squaring off in the streets. Sadly they are not swords, but instead…MACHETES! C’mon, how is this not fun? Warning. This is **real** , however its not very graphic due to a low quality recording (I presumed he used a “Potato” to record this, 3rd world countries suck like that), and the victim did escape… Venture to the rest of the website at your own risk. You can find other fun videos here , from beheading to execution by gunshot, to even something a little more on the _ahem_ …“extreme” side. Suicide videos, impalement, and even some disembowelment if you search hard enough =) [http://www.bestgore.com/bloody-injuries/intense-machete-fight-street-dominican-republic/](http://www.bestgore.com/bloody-injuries/intense-machete-fight-street-dominican-republic/) I love 3rd world countries =) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footage-of-any-real-sword-fights/248016/15 "2013-02-08T02:05:48Z")
Reported. ---
**Author:** ![BestGore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@BestGore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BestGore)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footage-of-any-real-sword-fights/248016/16 "2013-02-08T02:07:37Z")
Wow, your cool bro =) . I simply complied with the original posters wishes, is all. He asked for sword fights, I gave him one. Maybe you should get your panties out of a bunch? 🙂 I too, have reported you. For spam. ---
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footage-of-any-real-sword-fights/248016/17 "2013-02-08T02:26:26Z")
Sorry, dude, but man’s inhumanity to man isn’t “fun.” You’re a spammer peddling death. Fuck you. ---
**Author:** ![BestGore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@BestGore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BestGore)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footage-of-any-real-sword-fights/248016/18 "2013-02-08T02:50:26Z")
A spammer? I am sorry butI have actually just started taking a liking to the forum, and have started actively making posts in threads I’m finding interesting. Maybe you might not enjoy my choice of entertainment, but that does not make me a spammer thank you very much. If you dont like it you can kindly take yourself out of the discussion, or simply ignore me 🙂 Oh, I also reported you for the “fuck you” statement. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footage-of-any-real-sword-fights/248016/19 "2013-02-08T03:14:42Z")
> [@astro](#): > > [Heidelberg, Germany–I’ve just had a nineteenth century high tech experience–and a glimpse of the world to come](http://www.forbes.com/columnists/2001/02/27/0725malone.html) My sister-in-law (the archaeologist) spent a year studying at Heidelberg. I told her that she had obviously wasted the entire year, as she came home without a single dueling scar. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footage-of-any-real-sword-fights/248016/20 "2013-02-08T03:39:04Z")
> [@BestGore](#): > > Wow, your cool bro =) . > > I simply complied with the original posters wishes, is all. He asked for sword fights, I gave him one. Maybe you should get your panties out of a bunch? 🙂 > > I too, have reported you. For spam. > [@Hung\_Mung](#): > > Sorry, dude, but man’s inhumanity to man isn’t “fun.” You’re a spammer peddling death. Fuck you. > [@BestGore](#): > > A spammer? I am sorry butI have actually just started taking a liking to the forum, and have started actively making posts in threads I’m finding interesting. Maybe you might not enjoy my choice of entertainment, but that does not make me a spammer thank you very much. If you dont like it you can kindly take yourself out of the discussion, or simply ignore me 🙂 Oh, I also reported you for the “fuck you” statement. This zombie is closed. **BestGore**. You need to slow down your posting. You’re gonna burn out. I predict a short life on this board if you don’t get a feeling for the culture. **Hung Mung**. Don’t insult another poster in General Questions. **samclem** , moderator