I was wondering what the specifications of a typical Zweihander are?
How long were they usually? Both the blade and the handle.
How wide/thick was the blade?
What Oakeshott type were they?
Were their blades designed for thrusting or cleaving? I know they used half-swording techniques, but were they mainly cleaving weapons aside from that?
Did they all have,( I forget what they're called), parrying hooks along the blade?
Were they used like standard longswords? Or did they have a unique fighting style besides use against pike men?
Also, is it true that they cleave through a horse? If they were meant for cleaving I wouldn't be surprised if they could cut of a horses head.
Thanks.

simple one first, the typology falls outside the oakeshott typology, as they're mostly post-medieval blade types.

length; 150-175cm is the typical average for blade and hilt.
width, 50mm diamond section is a reasonable average.
weight, 3-9 lbs is the range, with the average probably somewhere around 5.

not all have the flukes, the parrying hook, but they're common on german ones.

A two-hander isn't a big longsword. It's a similar shape, and you can and will use similar guards, but movement is different. A longsword is just a little steel stick you can wave around with your arms, while a two-hander is a dance partner - you move together with it. Especially if you have one hand on the ricasso, it's more polearm than sword. Lever and thrust, push and hook with your parrying-hooks/flukes/secondary guard if present.

They can cut, and cut well, in good hands. Whether or not they're capable of the feats sometimes attributed to them (e.g., cutting clean through horse and rider at once for Chinese two-handers) is another story, but given a sharp blade moving at high speed, it will cut. There are some cutting vids on youtube using the Cold Steel two-hander (which is short) and the Hanwei Lowlander.

Thanks for your help guys!

See the following ARMA article on this subject. And also, search the forum to find the information you are looking for, because it has all been covered elsewhere.

http://www.thearma.org/essays/2HGS.html

Hello,

here is another link for you:
http://www.schwertkampf-ochs.de/Essays/aufsat...ert_v1.pdf

very good but only in german language ;)

Maybe you have someone for translation.


Greetings

Walter