The sword is one of the oldest weapons known to man a piece of metal with a sharp cutting edge; sometimes both sides were honed to enable it to cut irrespective of which direction the slash was from. Reverse blade swords are different from normal single cutting edge swords in that the cutting and blunt edges of the weapon are reversed. With a traditional sword, the side that is used to strike the opponent is the sharp side the idea is to cut and injure the opponent. When the same blow is struck with a reverse blade sword the blunt edge does not cut the skin and the injury is limited to pain and bruising.
When a reverse blade sword is used in training it allows the learner to refines his abilities as a swordsman without risking injury to the opponent. Reverse blade swords can be of any design and duplicate the shape, weight and look of various types of swords the only difference is that the cutting edge is reversed. The most well documented historical reverse blade swords known are the Sakaba swords of ancient Japan. Sakaba is a word that does not refer to any particular type of sword but merely makes it clear that the blade is reversed.
Sakaba swords were used not only for training in swordsmanship but for all types of combat training. Their popularity was due to the fact that using a reverse blade sword allowed the learner to use a sword that was almost the real thing and gain proficiency in its use without risking serious injury to other trainees he was practicing with. Although unlikely to cause serious injury during training, these swords were still hard and heavy enough to cause painful blows and bruising, which was enough to make trainees take seriously the art of avoiding the blows. There is a belief that cannot be proved, that Sakaba swords were also used in real life situations where a warrior wanted to capture an opponent by hurting him enough to cause him to be unable to fight without the risk of killing him.
The popularity of Japanese anime where warriors are often shown as using these reverse blade swords in warfare has made them well known, especially among children. Also, modern safety concerns make the use of the swords the best option of those who want to learn swordsmanship as part of their martial arts training.
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