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This question is based on this question, please read it first.

So, as you may have noticed, the weapon has gaps between the handle and the blades. would it be possible to snag melee weapons in these gaps and then twist or rotate the weapon to disarm/break the opponent's weapon? The weapon is very strong, but it is possible to break. Assume that the wielders of these weapons are some variants of highly-trained monks who have been practicing for decades. I could also see this for block fists and breaking them (although it is a lot more practical to disarm in other methods).

Would this actually be viable as a combat option, or would it be impractical?

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    $\begingroup$ I suggest that we need a better illustration of a single weapon with the gaps clearly identified - I'm guessing that maybe you are saying that what looks like patterning on the shaft is actually holes, but questions need to be clear enough that we should not have to guess. We also need dimensions and materials - I would have assumed that the spear shaft was only a couple of cm in diameter, which makes the maybe-holes tiny enough that only a narrow stiletto could fit into them. $\endgroup$ Commented Sep 2, 2025 at 9:36
  • $\begingroup$ Isn't your light-spear a laser? It would cut through melee weapons. In regards to lightsabers they use "The Force" so I don't think you can break the "blade". This doesn't seem anywhere in the realm of science based though. $\endgroup$ Commented Sep 2, 2025 at 9:49
  • $\begingroup$ While I wouldn't say it is impossible on this alone, the fact that no such weapons exist or have ever existed is a strong indicator of the impracticality of this possibility. If it were possible to have traps for swords meant to easily disarm, someone somewhere would have figured out a way to make a semi-practical design. My intuition tells me it wouldn't work because of leverage. Also getting your opponent's sword stuck in yours doesn't mean you're free either. $\endgroup$ Commented Sep 2, 2025 at 13:36
  • $\begingroup$ I'm with HSharp on this. I thought the blades were made of focused energy. As such, you couldn't use it to snag anything. $\endgroup$ Commented Sep 2, 2025 at 15:09
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    $\begingroup$ VTC:Not About Worldbuilding. I can use a rubber ball to catch a melee weapon, it's just not particularly efficient. Worse, the science-based tag requires us to point out the weapon wouldn't ever exist other than as a decorative ceremonial weapon. The "lightsaber"-esque design from the original question means, as others have said, this can't trap anything. But above all, what problem are you trying to solve? Are you just looking for someone to agree with you that it could be used that way? Because the weapon is nearly useless in real combat (science-based!). $\endgroup$ Commented Sep 2, 2025 at 17:34

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Allow me to point out the obvious… Using this weapon to trap a blade would effectively trap the blade right by one's own hand, which wouldn't bode well for one's fingers. Weapons designed to trap blades (of which there are a few) are usually shaped like forks (with tines pointing away from the hand) or like saw blades (with slots or extended tines pointing sideways). They simultaneously trap the blade and protect the hand from the slicing cuts that will occur as the opponent tries to withdraw the trapped blade.

I'll add that the whole design is problematic. If one grips the weapon only in the center, one loses all the power advantages of torque that come from gripping the weapon toward its end, but to grip anywhere else on the haft one has to slip his hand carefully under the cutting edge, which is (again) likely to cost fingers in the heat of battle. Not a weapon I would use…

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Swords have had shaped quillions that can trap the opponent's blade. Some examples are given in this article. If the blade is trapped close to the sword handle, the sword owner can twist the blade and perhaps disarm his opponent. The weapon in the question, as far as I can understand it, is trapping the blade far from the handle, which will make it a lot harder to twist. Anyone who has tried to trim a hedge with a small electric chainsaw at the end of an extending handle will know this.

I reckon this device would lose out to the shaped quillion that does the same job but better, and it may also lose to something like a billhook or pike which would engage with one of the traps furthest from the user's hold.

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Not reliably, no.

For some background: I'm not a weapons expert by any means, but I have trained in a few martial arts in my time, including one that did include specific use of sword-catching weapons like the sai.

What makes a weapon a good sword-catcher?

Take a look at a sai and notice what's different about it in comparison to your blades. Take a look at the hook sword and the jitte, as well. See the common features?

When you use a sword-catching weapon to block or parry an attack, the weapon should ideally funnel the weapon from the largest part of the weapon into the sword-catching part. This means that when you are using a sai, the opponent's blade can strike at any point along the sai's length and it will naturally be funneled into the severely hooked crossguards. This greatly increases the margin of error for successfully catching a weapon. The hook sword does this differently, funneling an opponent's weapon into the hook at the end rather than the base, but it's the same principle. Large blocking surface, small catching area.

What makes this weapon different?

With that in mind, what is your opponent striking on your staff-blade that will funnel the attack into a trapping point? Because if you're expecting them to just stab into the enclosed holes, you have a lot to learn about how actual fighting works.

The central hilt part may present a possibility, though, if you held the weapon in staff mode at either end and then tried to slide an attack towards the middle. This would also theoretically give you a lot of leverage against your foe's weapon. However, the problem here is that the blades all around you would greatly limit your range of motion for attempting to twist the opponent's weapon and attempt a disarm. This isn't even a matter of your warrior-monks accidentally stabbing themselves - it's just plain cumbersome! The inability to freely slide your grip or bring the weapon in close to your own body would be massive liabilities.

How could it be improved?

In your original post, these blades are made of lasers. If you could turn off parts of your laser sword and then re-activate them after the opponent's weapon has struck the haft, it would immediately trap the offending attack. See my original answer on your original question for other benefits of selectively turning off your laser sections.

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I think it would not be so practical.

For starter, it would maybe be effective only against swords. Hammers, axes, and other melee weapons relying on concussion more than slicing would hardly be caught in the opening. Against them it would act at most as a cumbersome shield, because of its size.

And even against swords, it's hardly the case that sword attacks are carried as in foil during a battle, using only the tip of the sword. They would be used to slash with their side or to hit with the flat. Trapping a slash requires extreme agility and coordination to align the slit with the blade, and for the flat hit. See above about hammers.

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As impractical as Darth Maul's weapon was (ie a quarterstaff where you can only touch the middle) this is even worse. Doing any kind of fancy spins or parries would likely result in the loss of fingers (or worse), even if the blades were just metal.

Setting that aside, looking solely at its functionality of capturing a blade that was stabbing directly at you (forget about catching a slashing weapon) your only real hope would be that you have become an absolute master of this unwieldly and inefficient weapon (ie you would be even better if your used a different weapon, like a stick), and your opponent only knew how to fence and was fairly inexperienced.

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