saber/sword differences

[Daniel Sullivan]

in my karate class we have been told a saber is not the same as a sword it is a big knife
what is the difference between a saber and a sword

No offense to your karate instructor, but he's seriously misinformed and is passing along bad information.

A sabre is a type of backsword, usually but not always curved, and usually single edged, though some have a false edge, sometimes a partial false edge. I've attached a picture of a USMC sabre for reference.

 

[Langenschwert]

Sabres are swords. Interestingly enough, the modern western sabre is in part descended from the Dussack, which is turn descended from the langes messer, which means "long knife."

-Mark

 

[pgsmith]

Sabres are swords. Interestingly enough, the modern western sabre is in part descended from the Dussack, which is turn descended from the langes messer, which means "long knife."

-Mark

Seeing as how the original poster said it was from his 'karate' instructor, that is probably pretty much at the heart of his confusion. If you look at the unihan data for the Japanese kanji for the terms "ken" which is generally used to refer to a double edged sword, and "katana" which is generally used to refer to the typical single edged Japanese sword (saber), then it can get confusing to someone without access to Japanese instruction. The kanji for ken (Chinese jian) is

(although there are a couple of variations, this is the one most commonly used) and the unihan definition is sword. The kanji for katana (dao in Chinese) is

and the unihan definition for it is knife. However, every Japanese to English dictionary will give you the word "sword" as the first definition for both kanji, although the on-line one that I always use gives additional definitions of saber and blade for 'ken', and katana and dagger for 'katana'.

 

[Langenschwert]

Seeing as how the original poster said it was from his 'karate' instructor, that is probably pretty much at the heart of his confusion.

Interesting. So you're saying that someone's dojo Japanese is worse than my dojo Middle High German? That's pretty cool.

-Mark

 

[pgsmith]

Interesting. So you're saying that someone's dojo Japanese is worse than my dojo Middle High German? That's pretty cool.

-Mark

That makes me think of one new student a number of years back. I was talking about strategy, and he asked what I would do in a certain situation if I happened to be faced with a samurai from old Japan. I told him I would wait until the fellow was laughing hysterically at my poor dojo Japanese pronunciation, and then I would attack.

 

[vincymull]

In fact there is no difference, as the sabre is simply one of many types of sword. The reference quoted above actually starts by saying "A sabre is a sword.."

Sword - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Other types of sword include foil and epee used in the sport of fencing, and weapons such as the cutlass, scimitar, etc

 

[Blindside]

Other types of sword include foil and epee used in the sport of fencing, and weapons such as the cutlass, scimitar, etc

The foil, epee, and sabre used in the sport of fencing are about as much a sword as the rattan stick I use in Kali. They are stand-ins for blades that only sort-of/kind-of resemble their real world counterparts.

 

[Dirty Dog]

In fact there is no difference, as the sabre is simply one of many types of sword. The reference quoted above actually starts by saying "A sabre is a sword.."

All sabers are swords, but not all swords are sabers.

And it's a mistake to call a foil or epee a sword; they are not. They are vaguely sword-shaped, but they are not swords.