Steel: What?
Steel is a good choice for swords. But what is it in the first place?
Articles by Sean Franklin
Steel: Why?
What makes steel a good material for swords? There isn’t just one reason, steel just happens to be right in the middle of a bunch of desirable properties.
Do they Double a Lot in the Swordfish Finals?
Some people have taken issue with the matches on the Swordfish finals due to a perceived high number of double hits. Let’s crunch some numbers and see if this is actually true.
Survive the Pools and Fence the Finals?
Many people perceive that pool fighting is uglier and leads to more double hits than elimination bracket fights. But is this really the case?
Concussion – Not a normal injury
Healing broken bones is fairly routine in modern medical practice, but a brain injury is a completely different story. The physics behind what causes concussions, and why they are fundamentally different from injuries as we are used to thinking about them.
What makes a sword stiff?
Stiffness of a training simulator is something that is often thrown around to help determine its safety. But what makes something that way?
Tatami Ballistics
What does it matter how a tatami falls down? When the fall is all that’s left, it matters a great deal.
Geometry Grab Bag
A small collection of things too small to deserve their own article.
Control Theory
You don’t have to understand crazy math with imaginary numbers to appreciate the principles of control theory. They can be applied to sword fighting, and might give you a different perspective on your training or interpretations.
Sword cutting… and how the target pushes back!
When cutting, the sword exerts force on the target, and the target exerts force right back on the sword. This force is what causes cuts to be less effective, and possibly fail. And where does it come from?