Armoured MMA

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I got your examples confused at first . . . "Wow! They used to slap each other at Magic tournaments?!?!"

Sometimes, my initial impressions are really dumb.

It seems, I am not smarter than the average Dire Bare.

 

[Willie the Duck]

It’s modeled after the medieval sport fighters would use to compete to show off and hopefully get hired for real combat.

And lots of the surviving manuals are for this kind of stuff (jousting and dueling during the unarmored eras, mostly, but still some of this). Interesting to see how much this ends up looking like that.

It does occur to me--and I have no experience or insight into this but maybe @darjr can provide some--in a real fight between two knights back in the day, if swords are so useless, why would they bother with swords at all? Why wouldn't one just rugby tackle the other, and then immediately stab him with a dagger? I figure there must be more nuance to it beyond 'swords are pretty much useless against armour'. The sword has a function, presumably, beyond beating ineffectually against a tin can for 20 minutes until they get tired and fall over?

At the narrow point in time when knights were (effectively, nearly) completely covered in metal plates, the function of most swords was 'for use against everyone except that.' On a battlefield, you never know what you'll end up being up against, and a sword is a relatively light and convenient. If someone were actually dueling (see above), such that your only possible opponent was another knight, perhaps foregoing the sword would be optimal. I guess the number of times having two daggers at your waist instead of one sword and one dagger would be pretty limited, and reach (even half-swording, you'll have more than a dagger) always counts for a lot as an option (as do options in general).

The sword wasn't a primary weapon, for a fully plate armoured knight. It was generally a backup to a primary like a polearm. (A whack on the head from a poleaxe is still going to take someone out, if only from concussion.) It would work well on lesser armoured opponents and wasn't completely useless on a fully armoured opponent. By "half-swording" you could grab the blade halfway, making it possible to better control the tip to get into spaces in the armour. It also provided leverage for wrestling an armoured opponent to the ground, where a dagger or half-sworded sword could get at something vital.

Also apparently* they would sometime reverse the sword, grab it by the blade** and smash the other guy with the quillons like a hammer. I'm not sure how often this would be preferable to other options, but it seems to have been something of a thing.
*Todd and Scholagladatoria keep referencing its inclusion in a lot of manuals
**somehow. I don't feel like the insides of the gauntlets of the era would prevent you from being cut

 

[Umbran]

**somehow. I don't feel like the insides of the gauntlets of the era would prevent you from being cut

Swords built for that are generally not sharpened near the hilt.

 

[Ryujin]

Swords built for that are generally not sharpened near the hilt.

And you can typically grab a sharp sword and not get cut, as long as it's not drawn or pushed. Not ideal, but possible.

 

[Umbran]

It does occur to me--and I have no experience or insight into this but maybe @darjr can provide some--in a real fight between two knights back in the day, if swords are so useless, why would they bother with swords at all?

Remember that in a field battle, most of the people are not in that heavy plate armor. Swords are good for killing people in lesser armor.

If your intent is to go after one of those human armadillos, an axe, mace, or hammer would be more appropriate, as any of them can deform the armor significantly.

Of course, this is a sport, so you aren't looking to stave in a helmet with someone's head inside.

 

[Willie the Duck]

Swords built for that are generally not sharpened near the hilt.

Hmm. I knew that (that's also how the half-swording works), but I guess I thought you'd want to grip the blade not-near-the-hilt (to get the most leverage possible).

And you can typically grab a sharp sword and not get cut, as long as it's not drawn or pushed. Not ideal, but possible.

I, uh... while swinging it by the sharp edge, attempting the collide it with someone else at high velocity. I mean, anything in a moment of desperation, but wow. Even those bronze-age swords without crossguards keeping your hand from the blade make me nervous (yes, gives me the willies, prospective pun-maker).