[url=http://www.thearma.org/essays/edgemyth.htm]Defense with a cutting sword is often a much misunderstood aspect of employing the weapon. It is vital to realize that parries (the opposition blocking of attacks) with a medieval sword or with any edged cutting blade are made not with the edge of the blade but with the flat ("mit der flech"). Yet it is astounding how often this basic fact of swordsmanship is violated or ignored. Many enthusiasts and students incorrectly continue to naively believe that a cutting sword can easily use its edge to parry with –or should even do so preferably.
Despite what some enthusiasts imagine they see, there are also no edge-on-edge blocks in the various editions of Hans Talhoffer’s fencing texts (c.1443-1467). As researcher-practitioner Mark Rector notes in his modern version of the 1467 Talhoffer Fechtbuch, “Talhoffer never shows anything resembling static, blade on blade blocks. His setting aside techniques are fluid and dynamic, and naturally lead into counter-attacks.” (p. 12).[/url]