As I mentioned in my last blog, I’ve read a lot of romantasy recently, and one thing the books all had in common was a clear lack of fighting research or experience. Obviously, this didn’t stop them from being bestsellers—but I think realistic fight scenes can elevate a work.

I’m far from an expert, but I’ve been practicing Aikido (a Japanese martial art) for three years now, and I’ve done a lot of research on HEMA (Historical European martial arts) to inform my own writing.

Here are a few basic fighting facts that will hopefully make your fight scenes more realistic than the romantasy bestsellers (if you can’t beat them with sales, beat them with swords, I always say):

• Swords are not heavy; they typically weigh two to three pounds.
• Reach matters a lot! Generally, a person with a sword will defeat a person with a dagger. A person with a montante will defeat a person with a smallsword.
• In a knife fight, the winner is probably getting stabbed too. The goal is to not get stabbed in a lethal area. (“In a knife fight, the loser dies in the street while the winner dies in the hospital” is a saying for a reason.)
• Reverse grip (also called icepick grip) can be effective for daggers, but not for swords (they’re too long for the leverage to work).
• Back scabbards are impractical for swords. Hip scabbards are both easier to carry and draw from.
• If the fighter is barehanded, punching their opponent’s face may injure their own hand. Bare fists are better for soft targets, like the gut or kidneys. An open-handed heel strike is safer when hitting the face.
• Swords are not strength-based weapons. With proper technique, you use the chain of your body, not your arm muscles, to strike.
• Weight matters in grappling. It’s far from the only factor, but it’s certainly one of them. It’s why weight classes exist in wrestling and BJJ.
• No (sane) people spar with sharps (i.e., sharpened swords/daggers). Even when using dull metal swords, fighters wear protective equipment such as face masks.
• A fighter shouldn’t look at their opponent’s fist or blade directly. Instead, they should watch their opponent’s shoulders or clavicle. This will give them a faster reaction time than staring at the blade/fist.

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