Posted 04 November 2010 - 01:33 PM
Personally I think everyone should own one functional sword, not for any practical defensive purpose, but because of the values and history that swords represent. Most poeple don't know this but western Martial Arts were every bit as formalized, codified, precise, complex, and effective as their eastern counterparts. We actually have far more in the way of detailed style manuals from a variety of regions and countries than they have in the west. The reason they have fallen out of disfavor is becaues the sword is a completely inseperable part of that. Every man in europe was expected to own a sword for much of western history (it might be a crappy sword, but it was a sword), in most European cultures a slave was given a sword when freed as a sign of his freedom. Western martial arts were made up of two inseperable components; swordplay and grappling. The swordplay is what you did under ideal circumstances, the grappling was what you did when you didn't have a sword any more, for whatever reason. Both were taught in detail, and were taught together. Once the gun took over the practical teaching of western martial arts died. The fencing component survived first as classical fencing, and later as academic competitive fencing (note: NOT real swordplay). Personally I love academic competitive fencing, but it doesn't really give you more than the absolute basics of real swordplay. In real swordplay you CAN use your off hand, you CAN grab your opponents blade or even your own, you can slap your opponents blade out of line with your off hand, you can move in any direction (not JUST forward and back!), there are no rules on when to attack or defend, you CAN kick, punch, trip, or grapple as necessary. Real swords are stiff; they don't bend double and they aren't whippy. Academic fencing is just not "real". Classical fencing is better, but it's based on choreography mostly, and putting on a show, and most importantly not killing anybody, so it still suffers in the acuracy department. And God knows most of what we see in Hollywood isn't real. I can think of maybe a half-dozen movies with accurate western sword fighting in it, the rest are all crap. Entertaining crap, but crap none the less.
If we look around though, we see that despite the near death of western martial arts in their true form the sword is everywhere. It's the sign of truth, justice, freedom, honor, bravery, etc. etc. It's been associated with every positive characteristic you can think of as far back as the original manuscripts of the Bible, and probably farther. They are a part of our western heritage that simply won't die, it'll never leave. There is a sense of honor and responsibility, the weight of history I think most people feel when they hold an antique (or reproduction) sword in their hand. Obviously that's true for the military which still uses dress swords as part of the uniform, but I think it's true for people in general. It's something which has the force to draw people back to the better parts of a man's soul, to certain ellements of character that aren't properly embraced anymore. A sword on the wall is a sign of something more than an appreciation for craftsmanship or pointy objects. I think that's something everybody should be a part of.
And it's worth mentioning that swordsmithing was the absolute height of skill for a blacksmith. If you could do that, you were going to be well off. If you could do that well you were a rockstar. They were the pinnacle of weapons technology really up through the 18th Century in Europe. The painstaking study and effort and hours of work that went into making a perfectly ballanced, forged, and tempered blade is just spectacular, and at least to me inspiring. It's an incredible piece of functional art.
I think the place I would like to start my collection would be a British Pattern 1908 Cavalry Officer's Saber. Then a smallsword. But if I had a strong connection to my Scottish heritage for instance, that first step might be the purchase of a proper Claymore. If you're from Ireland it might be that perfect dirk you found on eBay. If you're from Germany you may be looking for a Großes Messer (Grosse Messer). If you're from France you may start with a classic Rapier or maybe the Smallsword with parrying dagger. Etc. etc.
Edit: If you're of asian heritage this argument starts to break down, but I think you could make a similar argument for learning a traditional martial art from the region in which your ancestors lived. That may involve a sword or other weapon.
