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.
Physics
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?
What Does Hitting Hard Mean?
From a physics point of view hitting ‘hard’ can be a somewhat difficult property to quantify. Learn a little bit about what can make a strike ‘hard’.
How Fast Do Swords Move? – Try 1
My first attempt at motion capture. It wasn’t great, but I got something. And you can all laugh and learn from my mistakes.
Introduction to Material Properties
When understanding equipment it’s important to have a basic understanding of material properties, and — most importantly — how they interact.
Force Vector: More than a science-ey sounding name
I’m guessing most probably don’t care too much about what the difference between a vector and a scalar is. Trust me, it can be a helpful tool for learning to beat people up.