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one of the shows I liked to watch (Justified) last season had a character very enamored of a big knife. Several times during the season he mentioned the ?21 foot rule", and was clearly looking to prove it himself.

During one of the final episodes, he confronts the hero, who essentially, lets him try it. In a tragically humorous twist, as the knife guy rushes the hero, he falls into a hole (that he himself had just dug to bury his dog), and falls on his own knife. (it is dark, but....) end of stupid bad guy, hero didn't even have to draw...

When it comes to sword fighting, what we see on tv and in the movies is almost never sword fighting. Its dramatic swordplay, but not fighting the way it was really done. Dances with Swords.

Real swordfighting isn't like the movies, its not like fencing, or any kind of dueling, its a "kill the other guy" style that uses both ends of the sword, feet, fists, and anything else available. And, its often over very quickly. A single blow usually ends it, and unless both are very evenly matched, that single blow might be the only one struck. Of course, this isn't very entertaining to the audience, so in theater, adversaries bang swords together and dance around the room for a while before its over.

GO shopping in the right places and you can find theatrical swords, these look right at a glance, but have extra thick tangs, and sometimes blades (unsharpened, of course) to stand up to repeated banging against other swords and things, night after night on stage...

As has been said, the best swordsman in the land does not fear the second best swordsman, he fears the novice....because he knows what the second best swordsman will do...