My lawyer strongly urges me not to discuss Little Jimmies on the Internet! But he doesn't speak French, so: "Je m'appelle Jim, ainsi j'utulise ce nom de temps en temps ici...mais jamais directement en association avec moi-meme. Fou, non?"
Little Jimmy's Top Ten Blade Forms
<font size=1>Just in case there are any sword-freaks in the house.</font>
1: Rapier. A thin-bladed, highly flexible sword intended for use with the point only. A particularly European contrivance dating back to Roman times, the rapier is, IMHO, the most deadly bladed weapon developed by humans. It gains this distinction by using the straight-line attack, which minimizes the distance (in a lunge) to the target. Getting 'run through' often happened very quick, and was usually a surprise.
2: Katana. Otherwise known as the Samurai sword, it is a moderately-bent single-edged sword for use with both hands. The long handle makes it highly meaneuverable in close quarters, and the distant placement of hands give one a powerful stroke. Most swordsmen acknowledge the katana as the best bladed weapon ever invented, but I count points off because the point is so hard to use. Picture someone lunging with a Samurai sword--see?
3: Shortsword. A catchall phrase, entirely modern, intended to describe any sword in the two-foot-length variety. A Roman gladius would be a good example; they are mostly used in close quarters.
4: Yataghan. A Turkish design with its roots in ancient Egypt, it is an S-shaped blade with the outside curve toward the end. In the late nineteenth century, the French widely produced a soldier's sword and a bayonet version of the yataghan. In combat, its double curves make it versatile, and a powerful cutter.
5: Kukhri. Essentially, a knife version of the yataghan from Nepal, its roots equally ancient. The blade is broad and tough; Nepalese Gurkha troops in WW2 carried kukhris into combat, where it gained a reputation as a good field and fighting knife.
6: Celtic scramasax. A parallel evolution of the S-shaped blade, in a throwing dagger.
7: Saxon scramasax. A different weapon, much like a bowie knife. Some were used as swords, and some were small enough to be thrown. Its blade shape comes to us through history in many single-bladed pocket knives.
8: Saber. A half-bent sword like the katana, originating in India, only intended for one hand. It shares the katana's handicap with the point, without it's two-handed advantages. Nevertheless, very effective on horseback.
9: Stiletto. Another ancient blade form going back to Egypt, it is simply a thin-bladed dagger designed to slip through the primitive armor of the period. It survives to this day in the switchblade knife, the 'personal dagger' of modern times.
10: Claymore. The long, two-handed sword we all saw Mel Gibson use in Braveheart. Although the sword was way, way too big for Mel, it can be an effective weapon in the hands of someone with enough stature to use it...like a naked, blue Scotsman. Arr.
That's enough! No more sword talk till we get these pigeons watered...
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"The entire universe is simply the fractal chaos boundary between intersecting domains of high and low energy."
--Imladil the Bouncy
"SSD, VSD, ISD...if it looks like pizza, but I don't want none--it's a star destroyer!"
--Little Jimmy