A Swiss sword fighter had a blade specially made for his world record attempt.
Alex Gueffroy (Switzerland) teamed up with bladesmith Reto Zürcher (also Switzerland) on this very special project.
Alex used Reto’s creation – a sword named Dumenic – to break the record for most martial arts sword cuts in one minute (rice straw).
He made a whopping 100 cuts.
Alex, 35, has practised sword fighting for many years and wanted to test his skills.
“A record like this is a challenge for both the swordsman and also for the blade he wields,” he told us.
So was Dumenic up for the task?
Undoubtedly. It appeared to take little more than a flick of the wrist to chop through the rice straw with deadly precision.Advertisements
In this video, we see Alex standing inside a circle formed of podiums with rolled up rice straw mats sat on top of them.
He works his way around the space, expertly manoeuvring his sword to slice each roll as many times as he can.
A team of three men follow behind him, resetting the podiums with new bales of rice straw ready for his return.
Reflecting, Alex said it was all about the technique: making short, quick blows that were intense enough to cut through the mats in the right place.
He explained: “The density of such a mat is approximate to that of flesh.
“My personal goal was 100 cuts. I set myself a pace then tried to maintain that speed during the whole minute.
“I also had to get a lot of stamina to get through this minute.”
Of his training regime, Alex added: “Training involved many cuts, it was practice for me but also for Dumenic.
“I made about 600 cuts through different materials. Reto had to sharpen the sword just one time before the attempt, and I think this was a great result for his skills as a blacksmith as well.”
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