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Swords, one of the most popular weapons the world has ever seen, evolved very differently in various parts of the world. The more I learn about swords, the more amazed I am at how quickly the creation and used of the sword swept the world. Mayans used long knives with obsidian tipped blades, while the Aztecs had wooden swords with obsidian pieces placed into the blade. India developed both a straight sword (khanda) and a curved sword (talwar). In Japan, they developed the katana. When European knights marched east toward the Holy Land, they found an enemy whose weapons and armor were very different from their own. Instead of the straight long swords that the Europeans were used to using and facing off against, the Muslims used scimitars, curved swords that were also called a saif or a shamshir, which means sword. Interestingly, many believe the word to actually mean ‘lion’s claw’, and they thought this was how the curved weapon got its name. The sword is a truly global weapon!