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I saw this over at another site and was pretty impressed. Katana vs German Longsword...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVCaJdYZmCU

Flame on!

Additionally...are there any MAF for ancient European weapons anywhere or are we stuck with boxing, wrestling and fencing? I was thinking something along the lines of the Italian, German, or Spanish school of fencing or perhaps the Liechtenauer, Capo Ferro or Agrippa school... I think there was a Pankration MAF in one of the Rifters...

-STS

If you dig through this: http://www.geocities.ws/kuseru/PMAN/index.htm, I'm sure you'll find some sword-based martial arts, including at least one Italian sword-fighting style. There's also Swashbuckling which is heavy on swordplay(and quite fun!).

How can some Italian Swashbuckler deal with grab/slash?

Tor wrote:How can some Italian Swashbuckler deal with grab/slash?

With a suitably dirty insult regarding his attacker's likely parentage, along with a kick to the teeth and a run-thru with his blade.

http://www.geocities.ws/kuseru/PMAN/Styles/swashbuckling.htm

Italians and Pirates are too lacking in chi to put up a fight.

Tor wrote:Italians and Pirates are too lacking in chi to put up a fight.

Chi-based fight, maybe, but give Italians something worth fighting for, and they'll put their heart into it.

Meh, as a piercing weapon a katana is generally better than a giant european sword. It bends way less. And it's better at cutting...

Though, man don't put a samurai up against chainmail unless he has a spear or something. /seppuku

Chainmail doesn't cover everything does it?

It doesn't cover everything on your body, no. That isn't the issue though. You'll spend more time crippling opponents before you can kill them rather than just cutting them down. A cut from shoulder to hip pretty much downs someone. It's an easy cut to perform, though it can be tough to land on someone who knows how to defend. Cutting the leg is much tougher because it often leaves your torso open to attack, but that and possibly the wrists (depending on what kind of crossbar their weapon has or if they wear good gauntlets) are the best ways to cripple someone before a kill.

You can ignore all that artistry and just lunge right in if you are wielding a spear instead.

Alrik Vas wrote:Meh, as a piercing weapon a katana is generally better than a giant european sword. It bends way less. And it's better at cutting...

Though, man don't put a samurai up against chainmail unless he has a spear or something. /seppuku

The Katana is better at Armor piercing then the european long sword because of the way it bends. In line with the thrust and along the spine of the sword so the energy stored in the flexing enhances the thrust, rather then flexing to one side or the other. You can see this in the high speed footage.

What specific sword type did you mean when you said "giant european sword."?

German long sword, i think was what they used for comparison. It looked like what most people expect when someone says Bastard Sword.