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- Mar 31, 2010
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So I had the day off. I have always wanted to make an Aztec Sword ever since I first saw one in the hands of a very famous statue they have in Tijuana of the last Aztec emperor Cuauhtémoc.
Here is some history on the maquahuitl (or Aztec Sword)
The maquahuitl (a name that was derived from the Nahuatl language) is a weapon shaped like a wooden sword. Its sides are embedded with prismatic blades made from obsidian, a volcanic glass stone frequently used for tool making by the Aztec and other pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures. It was similar to a large wooden club with cuts in the side to hold the sharpened obsidian.
According to an account by Bernal Diaz del Castillo, one of Hernán Cortés’s conquistadors, it could even decapitate a horse:
Pedro de Moron was a very good horseman, and as he charged with three other horsemen into the ranks of the enemy the Indians seized hold of his lance and he was not able to drag it away, and others gave him cuts with their broadswords, and wounded him badly, and then they slashed at the mare, and cut her head off at the neck so that it hung by the skin, and she fell dead
The macuahuitl was an excellent tool for providing sacrificial victims: the design of the macuahuitl allowed the warrior to injure the opponent with the obsidian blades while the blunt top could be used to render an individual unconscious for easy capture and later sacrifice.
For SpikeTV's reality show Deadliest Warrior, a replica was created to test. It was tested against a replica of a horse's head created using a horse's skeleton and ballistics gel. Actor and martial artist Eder Saul Lopez was able to decapitate the model. However, it took three swings. It was most effective when it was swung and then dragged backwards, creating a sawing motion similar to that of the Leiomano, the Shark Tooth Club, the Maori Warriors used in Season 1.:thumbup:
I don’t have any obsidian at hand, so I decided on making a steel version, I’m not trying to make a replica just something that can actually be used as a weapon; I think a succeeded in doing so.
I took an old shovel handle and carved out the shape. I used 4 iron pins that I hammered trough the sides of the shaft. I then welded on the blades i made, to both sides. This thing is scary sharp and very fast in hand.
’m not sure what else to add to it. Maybe some leather wrapping or some carving may be. I like its simple look. What do you guys think ?
(Thanks again Pipman for the grate bag, its practically bulletproof)
Here is some history on the maquahuitl (or Aztec Sword)
The maquahuitl (a name that was derived from the Nahuatl language) is a weapon shaped like a wooden sword. Its sides are embedded with prismatic blades made from obsidian, a volcanic glass stone frequently used for tool making by the Aztec and other pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures. It was similar to a large wooden club with cuts in the side to hold the sharpened obsidian.
According to an account by Bernal Diaz del Castillo, one of Hernán Cortés’s conquistadors, it could even decapitate a horse:
Pedro de Moron was a very good horseman, and as he charged with three other horsemen into the ranks of the enemy the Indians seized hold of his lance and he was not able to drag it away, and others gave him cuts with their broadswords, and wounded him badly, and then they slashed at the mare, and cut her head off at the neck so that it hung by the skin, and she fell dead
The macuahuitl was an excellent tool for providing sacrificial victims: the design of the macuahuitl allowed the warrior to injure the opponent with the obsidian blades while the blunt top could be used to render an individual unconscious for easy capture and later sacrifice.
For SpikeTV's reality show Deadliest Warrior, a replica was created to test. It was tested against a replica of a horse's head created using a horse's skeleton and ballistics gel. Actor and martial artist Eder Saul Lopez was able to decapitate the model. However, it took three swings. It was most effective when it was swung and then dragged backwards, creating a sawing motion similar to that of the Leiomano, the Shark Tooth Club, the Maori Warriors used in Season 1.:thumbup:
I don’t have any obsidian at hand, so I decided on making a steel version, I’m not trying to make a replica just something that can actually be used as a weapon; I think a succeeded in doing so.
I took an old shovel handle and carved out the shape. I used 4 iron pins that I hammered trough the sides of the shaft. I then welded on the blades i made, to both sides. This thing is scary sharp and very fast in hand.
’m not sure what else to add to it. Maybe some leather wrapping or some carving may be. I like its simple look. What do you guys think ?
(Thanks again Pipman for the grate bag, its practically bulletproof)
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