Headed Sword

How difficult is it to actually cut someone’s head off with one swing of a sword?

Assuming that the sword was razor sharp, and with enough weight and durability to complete the blow, can anyone tell me what the success rate is? Also, please list potential problems and tips for success. (e.g. Is it better for the sword to enter high on the neck to avoid the shoulder bone, or low on the neck to avoid the skull bone?)

Did you post this in medicine because you thought a doctor would know something about beheadings with a sword? Just what do you think we study in medical school? Now, if you had asked me about garroting or exploding a head off, we could talk. And I got an A in guillotining. But swords? I’m offended.

Seriously, though, I think that it would take a very strong man who was practiced at the art and knew what he was doing, and it would help if his sword was very sharp, very massive (he’d need momentum to generate maximum force and a sharp edge to concentrate it), that he used both hands while whirling, and made contact between vertebrae rather than on bone. It would also help if the victim was not another warrior with a massive, muscular neck. But given all the right conditions, we might reasonably expect a beheading.

This is just an educated guess based on years of cutting and eating meat. Even in the case of a chicken, it takes a strong blow with a sharp hatchet to make a clean cut in one swipe.

I would be concerned about why crouching doggie seems so knowledgeable on the subject.

LIFE MC + SKITSLAM 2002 ALBUM TRACK 7 FEAT = MAJAS