As commonly scene as a play item in youth, a wood sword is often seen as a toy. A wood sword or stick can also be seen frequently for training. But how dangerous can a wood sword or weapon be when used as a weapon?

An example is the legendary Taiaha (looks like a combination spear and sword) used by the Maori during century's of battles and warfare. Having visited New Zealand in the past, some love to note of the prowess of the weapon with tales of how a true maori warrior could decapatate an enemy in a single blow with a Taiaha.

Even though the thought of getting struck by a stick that is essentially sharpened is quite unpleasant,I thought maybe this could be simple exageration. However...with the show Deadliest Warrior, The Taiaha was pitted against a shaolin wood staff and completely out performed that weapon (including breaking the staff and was shown to have been tested by breaking cow spines, source - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiaha and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D..._M.C4.81ori_Warrior).

Now I wonder if it is indeed possible for a warrior to seperate the heads of his enemy's with a wooden sword.

I seriously doubt so, even if "sharpened" the usual way, a wooden sword would be to dull to be effective...

A bokken (Or a wooden sword) were made to give students the chance to train their hand-to-eye-coordination with the sword without endangering themselves or their sparringpartner too much.

PS... don't confuse the bokken for the kendo-sword (Shinai).. The Shinai isn't made outta wood, but outta bamboo..

Wooden swords and war clubs can certainly be deadly; Musashi was said to have preferred the bokken and used one to defeat his great rival.

However, decapitation requires a certain amount of cutting ability...
The Mayan/Aztek weapons like the Mahaquatil, studded with sharpened chunks of obsidian, would likely be capable.

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Now I wonder if it is indeed possible for a warrior to seperate the heads of his enemy's with a wooden sword.

With enough force, anything can tear the head off of a human. There have been cases of botched "long drop" hangings which resulted in decapitation just from a rope.

As I see it, the problems encountered with this idea are that no matter how fine an edge you put on the hardest wood, it is not durable enough to retain that edge for the duration of the cut, especially though bone. And the wood is far less dense than steel, so there is less assistance from the inertia built up during the swing. Friction from adhesion between the flesh and the wood probably creates more friction that polished steel.

Yes, Miyamoto Musashi did fight most of his duals with wooden swords, but is not recorded to have decapitated anyone with one.

I'm sure the claims I heard in the short time I was in NZ are exagerations that have been passed on during time. But if the sword did't strike bone and merely cut through the softer vertebral disk tissue, I wonder if the wood could retain enough of an edge to cause decapitation or near decapitation. on top of it, I would imagine type of wood woud be important as different woods have different density's

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Originally posted by lmlienau:
I'm sure the claims I heard in the short time I was in NZ are exagerations that have been passed on during time. But if the sword did't strike bone and merely cut through the softer vertebral disk tissue, I wonder if the wood could retain enough of an edge to cause decapitation or near decapitation. on top of it, I would imagine type of wood woud be important as different woods have different density's

I seriously doubt so.. A bokken was designed with a rounded blade edge, unlike the katana..

Therefore the damages of a bokken would be more consistant with damages inflicted by a blunt object instead of a sharp blade..

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Originally posted by lmlienau:
I'm sure the claims I heard in the short time I was in NZ are exagerations that have been passed on during time. But if the sword did't strike bone and merely cut through the softer vertebral disk tissue, I wonder if the wood could retain enough of an edge to cause decapitation or near decapitation. on top of it, I would imagine type of wood woud be important as different woods have different density's

Impossible.. Most Bokkens were rounded, not flattened like a normal sword.. And even so, the neck ain't made of jello.. The vertebrae is denser than that, and would be crushed, not cut, by a wooden sword...

The damages would be consistant of a hit with a blunt object, and very inconsistant of a hit with a sharp blade..

but I'm not talking of a Bokken or even any japanese related sword.

in particular I am refering to something along the line of a Taiaha as commonly used by polynesian warriors, especially Maori Warriors in New Zealand. in many cases it resembles a bladed sword with a very long handle which could possibly give some additional leverage.

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Originally posted by lmlienau:
but I'm not talking of a Bokken or even any japanese related sword.

in particular I am refering to something along the line of a Taiaha as commonly used by polynesian warriors, especially Maori Warriors in New Zealand. in many cases it resembles a bladed sword with a very long handle which could possibly give some additional leverage.

A Taiaha can kill, but it won't decapitate.. Instead it will inflict crushing wounds, just like if someone struck you over the neck with a a baseball bat or a warhammer..

Again, no decapitation..

If Jason did it in Friday the 13th with an oar then why not with a sword? But I think any decapitation would be from ripping and not from slicing.

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Originally posted by joezen777:
If Jason did it in Friday the 13th with an oar then why not with a sword? But I think any decapitation would be from ripping and not from slicing.

Friday the 13th is a movie.. It's not reality, and moviephysics cannot be taken for face value.

Tell me.. Do you really believe that one can curve bullets, just because it happened in Wanted?

I think it might be theoretically possible. Not with raw wood -- but wood can be tempered until it is almost as hard as iron.