How real to life are the sword fights we see in film and TV?

by olliewinss

How real to life are the sword fights we see in film and TV such as Game Of Thrones? I have always thought they must be inaccurate due to safety concerns for the actors.

mrjones1975

[The swordfight between Wesley and Montoya uses a variety of swordfighting styles, most of which are referenced in the dialogue during that fight] (https://combativecorner.wordpress.com/2010/11/11/fencing-language-in-the-princess-bride/). It's [generally quite highly regarded] (https://gradingfightscenes.com/2013/03/21/the-princess-bride-fight-1-of-2/)

[The Last Samurai I believe is also recognised for the accuracy of the fighting (in that the kendo training scene is essentially over in a split second, it's mostly waiting for the moment to strike)] (https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-best-realistic-swordfight-in-film)

[I also recall it being said that the knife fighting in "The Hunted" are supposed to be well choreographed and relatively realistic] (http://www.headstuff.org/2015/11/great-movie-fight-scene-part-5-the-hunted-shows-a-knife-fight-at-its-most-realistic-and-brutal/)

Hope that helps :-)

(I guess my point being that 'realistic' fights are the exception rather than the rule, although I would point out that a majority of modern tv/films will have experienced choreographers on baord, many of whom will be experts in their field - however, the primary issues with swordfights in particular is that they're generally not that cinematic - you just wouldn't twirl around etc... In terms of GoT, I always liked Arya's trainer, if only for his attitude!)

coldsteeleyes

A number of fantastic answers can be seen at https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/157upf/what_was_sword_fighting_actually_like_did_it/

https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/sapz2/hello_i_am_miltos_yerolemou_i_am_an_actor_you/c4cubrv

When you say tv and film do you mean medieval style shows such as AGoT or series such as Rome as they have much different fighting styles. The Romans liked stabbing rather then slashing for example

(Roots of Strategy: The 5 Greatest Military Classics of All Time By Thomas Raphael Phillips)

Also swords are not the best at hacking through Armour so the scenes you see of People swinging their swords widely and sliding right through plate breastplates is not very accurate for one example. With the Knight on Knight (or Ser on Ser) you would see a lot more shield bashes and physical contact such as shoulder checks as well as attacks to the body rather then at the weapon

Admittedly my education is more towards the history that the sword use caused rather then the swords and their technique themselves but i hope that linka would point you in the right direction

(Some Links you might find helpful from previous threads)

http://www.thearma.org/essays/armoredlongsword.html#.V1iCt75l2bs

http://myarmoury.com/features.html

I'll try and flesh my answer out more when I get home form work