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I recently watched Game of Thrones. The show is set in a pseudo medieval world.
I'm wondering whether the swordfights and the swords are authentic repsentations?

Here're two (link, link) videos showing it.

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migrated from history.stackexchange.com Jun 13 '12 at 15:57

3 Answers

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Not particularly. While it is, in part, derived from European sword fighting, there are also dashes of Chinese sword theatrics (Wushu) along with exaggerated and dramatic moves designed to film well. As with hand-to-hand martial arts, actual real life fighting is a lot faster, direct and brutal. The downside is that these methods don't film well.

You might find this video useful: http://youtu.be/va_MZh9KwMs

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That's exactly what I was looking for thank you. – Richard Borcsik Jun 12 '12 at 5:54
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Actually, it was much slower... defense and recovery (returning to a defensible position after a failed attack) are integral parts of fencing that usually isn't very "Hollywood." Here's a metafilter thread on the topic, with a couple of linked videos and a very nice explanation. – RI Swamp Yankee Jun 12 '12 at 11:30
@RISwampYankee - Thanks for the additional info. I was mainly thinking of the attack portion being slowed down for better, more dramatic, filming, not to mention the safety of the actors and stunt people. I didn't consider the defense portion. – jfrankcarr Jun 12 '12 at 14:04
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It is worth bearing in mind that single handed swords did little against plate armour, they did little against maille and padding unless you landed a good solid thrust. Curved swords have almost no affect against solid armour too.

I have suits of maille and plate and regualarly fight in tounrments wearing them. We have fought at full power with swords and I have never been hurt despite getting hit a lot!

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Historically accurate as compared to what? Game of Thrones is a fantasy, not based on history or any historical period, so there is no basis for comparing it to a historical event like the Battle of Hastings, for example. The story, and the style of fighting, is in the minds of the show's creators.

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I disagree. It was inspired by real historical periods and real territories. There's also an accepted answer so I don't see the point of this "answer". Obviously the sets and the choreographies were not derived from thin air. – Richard Borcsik Feb 12 at 10:19

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