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Very good argument Avatar, and quite true. Their weapons, armor and technique were engineered on their individual and unique societies. The variables include everything from what the average enemy fought with, what materials were available in what quantities, and not least tradition. My original post was not meant to bring the sword saints down, but to bring the european knight up. It seems as if the knight is being portrayed as a lumbering dufus with an IQ of 35. European weapons are being portrayed as cheap iron crowbars with a hilt. The armor as weighing 150 lbs and rendering the knight all but immobile. This is simply not true. Conversely, samurai and asian martial artists are being portrayed as superhuman and undefeatable. The katana is portrayed as a veritible "light sabre", carving through anything and everything in sight. Don't think that I don't appreciate a fine katana. I once held a $1600 custom katana made by a japanese master craftsman. It belonged to a buddy of mine who owned a blade shop. Strong, light, agile, and sharp. A beautiful blade. The only reason it was so cheap is that it was relatively simple and unadorned. It was still made of tempered carbon steel. It was no more capable of cutting something than another blade of equal quality. Europe had equally fine smithies. I blame the media for these misperceptions. For years they have embellished the samurai, monk, and ninja. Made them out to be borderline superheroes. Able to run up walls and jump eight feet in the air. Historical accuracy doesn't sell movies, games and merchandise you know. People also tend to balk when someone tries to humanize their favorite fantasy hero.
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