[Paul Watson]

I've done a quick search here on this forum and turned up nothing and I think I know why.

My understanding is that the only "benefit" gained by throwing a sword is to disarm yourself. In a discussion elsewhere on the matter I have been referred to the font of all wisdom, Youtube, for clips of practitioners throwing swords. What I have seen does not seem effective for several reasons including telegraphing the attack, poor range, poor alignment, lack of strength/velocity of the attack against anything but bare flesh and extremely limited almost non existant accuracy. The chance of an effective attack by the techniques I have seen seem to be very low percentage. Can anyone please confirm the status of sword throwing as a martial practise. I do not refer to any specialised weapons, only proper swords.

[Mike Ruhala]

Sword throwing shows up in Medieval fight books and it is perfectly valid if you have a hand-to-hand weapon but the situation calls for a ranged weapon.

[T. Kew]

Well, it was a known manoeuvre - it turns up in Fiore (although incredibly briefly). Very niche, but many techniques are. You hold the sword around the cross guard, and throw it roughly like a javelin - it's about 3lbs, with a sharp point and a keen edge, so will be pretty effective on an unarmoured opponent. When thrown like this they tend to fly fairly stably and accurately, although some practice helps to get your eye in. Matt Easton used to have a demonstration video up on youtube, but it seems to have gone away now.

I've used it in sparring successfully (once). Transition into a lower hanger while well out of measure, change the grip on the sword (this is relatively out of sight of your opponent, so it's hard for them to see), and then throw. If you aim low at the stomach, it can get inside their guard before they realise it's a true attack, and it hits point first with reasonable force - a viable way to run them through in blossfechten.

However, 1 v 1 feels like it isn't the ideal place to use this. Where I would think about pulling it out is a small group melee - if you have no opponent, it might be a viable way to make an attack against someone who is distracted and isn't looking at you. Having unexpectedly more reach, even if it's only 10-20ft, can be really handy in the moment, especially if hitting the target now is crucial - say you're part of a group of bodyguards, and an attacker has got past you and is running towards your principal.

So to sum up: it is effective enough on a purely mechanical level, and could easily deliver enough injury to an unarmoured attacker. It is a very niche technique, and in almost no cases would it be useful, especially against a single opponent who is focused entirely on you. But it can still be used sometimes, and occasionally it fills a niche nothing else in your arsenal does.

[Jean Thibodeau]

Well, it does seem like a last ditch method when one has no better options !

Maybe if surprised at close range by a crossbowman one might throw the sword in the hope of taking him out or distracting him enough to miss .... good to have another weapon to charge in.

Another scenario is to distract and turn and run away fast.

If used in any way other than as a desperate techniques one would have to have practiced it enough to have some confidence in one's skill in hitting the target a lot more often than missing.

[Ben Coomer]

A little practice makes it an adequate throwing weapon, particularly when its got an awl point. Just going by strawbales, at ranges of 3-4 m, they lodge pretty deep with not particularly forceful throws (hey, I wasn't going to go flinging my precious swords all willy nilly...). Against unarmored people, it'd probably pierce them through.

Now tactically, its maybe not the greatest idea, but say you saw a crossbow being aimed 10 ft away, it might be a better option then trying to dodge it. Even if it doesn't hit, the distraction probably will let you close in and grapple.

Now on a level, uncluttered battlefield, throwing your sword seems stupid, but battlefields like that are not the norm. So knowing how to use your weapon in all sorts of situations to your advantage makes a lot of sense, even if the situation of using your sword as a makeshift javelin is an unlikely one.

[Timo Nieminen]

Can work in one-on-one. Aim at face or belly. They think they are out of range, and throwing can surprise them enough to hit without them doing much to defend. Such a throw will be at close range.

When you throw, you will either close while they're distracted to grapple and stab with dagger, immediately run away, draw or pick up another weapon, or wait and see what happens.

I think it's a low-percentage move. You might do it if you think that conventional fighting will leave you with even less chance. Perhaps you are against a good fighter who has a large reach advantage. Perhaps you are against a much better fighter. You might just want to distract them so as to have an extra second head start for running away.

[Paul Watson]

Thanks for all the feedback. It seems to confirm the low percentage of real applicability and likely successful execution of this manouvere. It may have been well to train for this with respect to exhausting every possible application of sword use but it doesn't seem likely to have been used at all or to any extent of note. The likely benefits seem to be far outweighed by the drawbacks of such an attack.

[Peter Messent]

[T. Kew]

[Jean Thibodeau]

[Shahril Dzulkifli]

To me swords are not for throwing like axes or knives. They often miss their target and fall to the ground if thrown.

[Terry Thompson]

Fiore felt it was worth a mention. In my imagination, I could see throwing the sword being a last ditch effort against a spear or pole arm or spearman.
Assuming you've dispatched or done away with any other adversaries, or you just want to take out one more before you go down, your sword would be at a great disadvantage versus a pole arm or spear. Lets assume the pole arm is walking towards you affirmed in the knowledge that he can step back from your sword swinging range and rain hacking and stabbing blows on you at will. Range is a very considerable thought in hand to hand combat even against like-sized weapons!

A pole-arms-man might be too overconfident that he has the upper hand with range, and though he could possibly bat a thrown sword at him if he sees it coming, it could otherwise be a deadly surprise to him. It would only take a moments distraction as he carefully is slowly edging his way to optimal range, to become an affective disabling blow.

A thrown sword as a javelin may not even kill a pole-arms-man, but if it struck the armpit or inside elbow, it could fully take out the arm supporting the head of the pole, and disabling that one arm could be enough to give you the advantage of closing in even further and finishing the opponent off with a dagger. Pole arms almost always need 2 hands to be effective.

If I knew I was very competent at throwing a sword like a javelin and hitting the mark, in the above situation, I'd probably do it rather than give the advantage of range to the opponent.
-Terry

[Benjamin H. Abbott]

If we go by manuals, throwing both swords and daggers could be effective in at least specific circumstances. Talhoffer included one dagger throw.

[William P]

http://s81.photobucket.com/user/HuronKing/med...r.jpg.html you mean this one?

the scenario also does nicely demonstrate a reason for throwing, the dagger person is being threatened by a spear so one of the few ways to plausibly negate the range is to throw your hat to distract, then the dagger to kill/ distract then you run away

in japan, just as an aside regarding thrown weapons in general, it;s mentioned that the shuriken occupies a space between the minimum practical range for the bow, and the outer reach of the sword. no menttion of spears but the point still stands and would apply to throwing other weapons like swords, axes, and even maces as was showcased both in the bayeux tapestry, and attested to in byzantine written and artistic sources..

[Mark T]

Strategy and tactics aside, for a good source on knife throwing technique that can also be used with swords, check out Ralph Thorn's Combat Knife Throwing book and DVD: http://www.paladin-press.com/product/Combat_K...nd_Dvd_Set

The Thorn method is billed as 'any knife, any angle, any distance' ... and it is. Fairly quick and easy to learn, it's a winner. And, yes, on the video, he throws swords, from distance, with effective and solid 'sticks'.

[Fabrice Cognot]

Throwing swords is documented in Froissart's Chronicles. Even sometimes piercing plate armour.

[Joe Maccarrone]

[Mart Shearer]

Throwing the sword can be useful when there is no chance of your opponent throwing it back.
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b55006072j/f174.item

[Tyler Jordan]

Well, if you don't want to throw your whole sword at your opponent, you can always unscrew the pommel and throw that, ending him rightly.
http://imgur.com/gallery/MVK8H

[Matthew P. Adams]

That's for a duel, challenger must strike the first blow.