I was thinking about this subject for quite some time and I finally got around to it. I was reading the Book series 2920, Last Year of the First Era, and I thought about the fight scene between the Emperor's son and the Potentate's son. One of the quotes that strike me as interesting is this:

"We don't have shields in our culture," murmured Versidue-Shaie to the Emperor. "It seems strange to my boy, I imagine. In our country, if you don't want to get hit, you move out of the way." - Verdisue-Shaie

With that quote it seems that the Akaviri culture view sword fighting in a different light than the Tamrielics. This video might be used to shed some light on how they fight. Dodging mostly and striking while dodging.

Video: Skip to 0:06, if you would. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2XDEECHc9U


/Discuss

Yeah, I've always been disappointed that they lack the traditional stance with a katana. One of the first mmos i ever played... Shadowbane.... had a class called the Blademaster that used a specific stance with their katanas. That game came out in 2003 and looked like crap. But if they can do it, so should Bethesda.

Could you post a link to the class or a video that shows the class off? Much appreciated.

I don't think there's much material to be found for that game anymore. it was made by Ubisoft, but like most mmos, it bombed. I just thought it interesting that it changed stance and fighting style completely if you changed to a katana. As for what it looked like, it was samurai styled swordsmanship (just look at any videos on Kendo). There's some precedent of katanas used with shields, but they are mostly made for two handed fighting (one look at the long grip will say as much).

True. It would be neat if Bethesda could really show the Akaviri Katana in all its glory. One could hope.