List of Traditional Armaments - How To Read This Table

How To Read This Table

Martial uses

• Implement – (main use is a tool/but has been "known" to be used in battle or modified as a poor-mans weapon)
• War – (battle tested and usually standard issue)
• Practice – (hardly functional/can still be dangerous)
• Civilian – (impracticable for warfare/battlefields, similar to martial art category but not as formalized. primarily used as a deterrent; for self protection or dueling)
• Improvised – (make-shift or grabbing/but recorded to have been used)
• Martial art – (dueling and sparring/more likely to see it in a school then on the battlefield)
• Historic – (not a type but a "named" blade or of historical significance)
• Ceremony/ornament – (Main purpose is not as a weapon, but it isn't a toy either)
• Parry – (A parrying knife/ "sword breaker" Typically used off-hand; Paired with a main weapon to shield from incoming blows, counterattack or disarm)
• Relic – (surviving example of the ancient past, historic and precious )

First column header Prime example for comparison (weapon style/usage notation)

Era

• ANCIENT – Dawn of civilization stone/Bronze Age
• ANTIQUITY – (MEDITERRANEAN)Time of Greek & Roman states. roughly Iron Age
• MEDIEVAL – (Europe) Middle Ages 476 ad to 1450 ad
• RENAISSANCE – (Europe)14/15/16th century Europe
• MODERN – came into use fairly recently in the human time line
• TRADITIONAL – Modern use with roots in the distant past.

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