I saw a pretty interesting video of a samurai cutting some bamboo and it made me think about what swords look like after battles. I mean we have all these swords that are super sharp today and competitions where they do what I saw in that video, but you don't see people fighting with their swords. I mean like we see in the movies, the swords can't be that sharp after smashing a couple other pieces of metal edge on. Maybe swords back in the day where much harder and less sharp or something. But we see movies of medieval times where people will battle maybe upwards of an hour with their sword smashing people and stabbing people. How realistic is that? How long would it take to fix the sword afterwards? I suppose too it was a natural progression to the times of the "musketeers" or whatever (I can't presume to guess the years), we're swords were more for poking than slashing. Where am I completely wrong?
While this might not directly answer your question, I can direct you to our FAQ, and in particular this AMA on Medieval Arms, Armor, and Military Equipment. Suffice it to say, the classic Hollywood battle, where two hordes of men charge one another to engage in a series of one on one sword duels is a Hollywood invention. The nature of battle changes dramatically as you go from the Roman armies of antiquity, through the long series of changes that occur throughout the Medieval period, and the developments in the early modern as gunpowder weapons begin to be introduced. It's such a vast period that you can't really generalise, but hopefully these resources can help give you a better idea of how swords were used in battle, as well as how battles might have played out.