[ashtonkem]

It’s worth mentioning how much heavier and more energetic a longsword is compared to modern sport fencing weapons. A fencing saber weighs 500g (~1.1lbs) by regulation. Longswords on the other hand tend to weigh in the 3-4lb range based on the size of the fencer. Longswords are also relatively inflexible in the cutting direction to avoid a “whipping” effect, although they’ll flex on the thrust for safety.

For comparison’s sake here[0] is a very high quality practice fencing blade in a historically correct style. The weird shape is to help maintain the correct balance after the edge and point have been thickened to avoid injury.

We didn’t really go for point based scoring, since we were attempting to replicate a historical fencing school. In actual fights it is incredibly common for both combatants to fatally injure each other in an exchange, so we recognized the idea of dual hits where both combatants were struck. With both steel and plastic weapons the impacts are loud enough to not require any special detection equipment.

[0] - http://www.albion-swords.com/swords/albion/maestro/sword-pra...