The sharpened vs. blunt edged saber has been a subject on this or the Arms and Equipment board. The gist of the argument, as I remember, was that a sharpened edge would cut deeply enough to become stuck in one's opponent's extremities or body and result in the attacker losing his blade or being dragged from his mount, while the blunt edge would cause damage almost as bad as a cut, including broken bones, while being freer to leave the wound, to the advantage of th attacker. That sounds like what Gunny Ermey found, or demonstrated. Stan