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The Annoyed Man wrote:We have GOT to have a beer together some day. I could talk about this stuff all day long. I've got to get down to Houston sometime this spring to talk to the French consulate there about obtaining my French passport. Maybe we can have dinner or something.

If we can pull that together, I'd love to do it. But not if you only speak French to me. You start stringin' paragraphs together in French, I'm outta there and you're stuck with the bill.

The Annoyed Man wrote:I agree. A gladius, supplemented with a puglio, would make an excellent EDC choice. There are other such combinations, like a katana and a wakizashi for instance. It's no accident that sword bearing cultures often developed both a short and medium length sword to be carried together.

When I lived in the Philippines and studied Arnis, back before it really showed up in the U.S., the system I was taught was referred to as "Espada y Daga," literally, "sword and dagger" ("Olisi y Baraw" in Cebuano dialects). It was the 16th century Spanish Conquistadors (notably using cutlass-like swords, not rapiers as did the Spanish gentry in Europe) who influenced this, with the Filipinos adapting and melding methods into their native fighting techniques. The two are taught to be used first in tandem; the shorter weapon, in the non-dominant hand, used for both offense and defense (blocking and trapping) at close-range (corto) distances. The instructional theory, dating back some 400 years, is that if you're taught to use both simultaneously--which is a bit intricate given the different structure and primary purpose of each--you are also learning to employ either the sword or knife separately, if needed.

Some of the Espada y Daga influence may also have come to the Philippines from Japan, albeit later than the Conquistadors. Use of a katana and wakizashi or tanto simultaneously as a standard part of swordsmanship was not traditionally taught. The legendary Miyamoto Musashi was considered a radical when he decided, in the early 17th century, that the traditional way of deploying a katana, always with two hands on the hilt (tsuka), was inflexible, limited side-to-side reach, and was far less practical on horseback than training to use it with one hand. He eventually called his system Niten Ichi Ryu (two different heavens as one), and used a katana and wakizashi (or tanto)--or even two katanas--at the same time. He even incorporated specific techniques to throw the short sword or knife during a fight.

And speaking of the samurai, horse culture and use of the bow were every much as integral as the sword. So, to the OP, if we have no firearms I'll also assume we have no internal combustion engines, or similar. In which case, I gotta go with Musashi and the samurai: a good horse, a good bow, and good long and short swords.

tbrown wrote:

Flightmare wrote:Lightsaber!

Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.

We've wondered for years whether tbrown was actually Nathan Fillion or Harrison Ford. Now we finally know. Thank goodness.