sebastianface

While my experience comes from iaido, and not European styles like Liechtenauer, the concept is the same: I don't want to cut further than is necessary because it leaves an opening for a counter attack. That also extends to keeping the torso upright on vertical cuts. It would be bad to present your neck to the enemy by bending forward with the cut. All the power of the cut comes from the body. Bending forward actually works against you somewhat since you are not using your mass effectively. By bending forward you essentially are pushing your center of mass (hips) rearward. As for the muscles themselves, the hands are tense to maintain grip. The grip is what stops the sword. The pectorals or shoulder blades are what initiate the momentum depending on which cut. The hip always push toward the enemy and are facilitated by an upright posture with straight back leg and slightly bent forward leg. The upper arm and shoulder are relatively loose. You don't "power through" a cut. You set the sword in motion at the angle desired, and stop it when needed. If you tense up during the swing, the cut ends up being poor in quality due to the sword vibrating as it moves through the air or target. It's like making a wavy line instead of a straight one. Even worse is if this is the case, the sword may turn inside the target or get stuck. Even if it is fatal, they may have time to kill you as well. Mutual kills were not uncommon. I agree and would personally would love an animation mod. The animations are pretty good except for the body posture and swings......... and spin attacks. Spin attacks get you stabbed in the back. Keep steel between yourself and the enemy. I play in first person specifically because I have to pretend that the reason my character wins is because everyone else's technique is bad. Now axes and maces I know nothing about. Bows too, for that matter. Sorry if it comes off this way, but I don't mean to ramble or preach. I just wanted to explain why two very different styles both did things in a similar manner.

Actually, weight is not an issue. Many people believe that swords weigh a, frankly,ridiculous amount. The reality is that a "typical" (Oakeshotte XVa for example) with a length of 46" only weighs about 3 lbs 6 oz. The balance is not unwieldy, either. The proper balance point of most sword types (barring cavalry sabres which tend to be tip heavy) is approximately 1/3 the length of the blade from the guard. The only difference between the swords used in most videos of this type is the practice swords are dull and not of the same steel quality. However, some videos use actual swords for demonstrations<ahref=" "> </a> Here's an old video of iaido, a traditional Japanese martial art:<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwglX0YUwqE">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwglX0YUwqE</a>It's a very old recording, so the quality is not very good, but that is a "real" sword (shinken). Compare either of these videos with the combat animations in vanilla skyrim and it's maddening. Edit: Paragraphs, and added link, said XV meant XVa