Sword A sword was a type of bladed weapon with one or both sides of the blade sharpened for cutting . Many types of sword also had sharp points for thrusting . The blades of the great majority of practically useful swords were either straight or simply curved . Swords were known to have been used in Human , Vulcan , and Klingon history . Swords are mentioned in " The Minstrel Boy " , " Jerusalem " , and " The Fall of Kang " . ( ; ) Medieval knight s used swords as one of their main weapons , ( ) as did the Viking s . ( ) The Kalar of Rigel VII wielded swords in combat . In 2254 , Captain Christopher Pike , later speaking about his experience on this planet , said to Doctor Philip Boyce that he should have sensed trouble when he saw the swords and the armor . Instead , he became trapped in a fortress and had to fight one of the Kalar warrior s . ( ) " In the alternate reality , used a retractable sword to fight Romulan s . " ( ) Sulu showed his skill with a fencing blade during the polywater intoxication . ( ) On the planet 892 - IV , swords were still used in every day life , the police and guards carried gladii as a second weapon . They were also used in gladiatorial combat and for execution s . Captain Kirk was almost executed with a Roman gladius by the Master of the Games on live Empire TV . ( ) When the Beta XII - A entity had the crew of the fight against Kang ' s men , most of the weapons were turned into swords . Scott had a claymore , Chekov had a gladius , Sulu a Japanese katana , and Kirk an 18th century cutlass . ( ) When Trelane chased Captain Kirk , Kirk disarmed Trelane and broke his cutlass . ( ) When Q appeared to the crew of the in 2364 for the first time , he was dressed as a 16th century sea captain and wearing a sword . ( ) Captain Picard was an expert in Europe an - style fencing , a sport which involved light , slim - bladed and blunted swords ; protective clothing was worn which made the activity almost risk free . ( ) In 2372 , Miles O ' Brien described the Battle of Clontarf as being " like the Battle of Britain , only with swords . " ( ) In early 2375 , O ' Brien and Worf reminisced about " Geordi waving that sword around " in " The Three Musketeers " holoprogram nine years earlier . ( ) Swordfights . In 2268 , after being captured on the planet 892 - IV , to try and force Kirk to surrender his crew , Proconsul Claudius Marcus forced Doctor McCoy and Spock to fight on television against gladiators . Spock ' s opponent instantly tried to kill him , however as McCoy ' s had adopted the planet ' s new religion , he was unwilling , until the Master of the Games forced him to . Toward the end it looked like McCoy was going to lose , however in the nick of time Spock defeated his opponent and used the Vulcan nerve pinch to disable McCoy ' s . ( ) Later in 2268 , after the Beta XII - A entity altered some of the matter on the ship to create primitive weapons , several sword fights broke out between the crew of the " Enterprise " and Kang ' s crew , notable ones including the Klingons battling their way out of containment , them taking engineering , and the final fight in engineering . In the final fight , Kirk used inter - ship beaming to get to engineering to try and convince Kang to stop the fighting , but Kang was so filled with rage that he attacked , and the two collided with imitation gladii . As they did , McCoy and Spock led several guards to engineering , the two of them managed to fight their way through , but left the crewmen in combat with the Klingons . Kang and Kirk continued to battle , but just as he got Kang at a disadvantage , Kirk told him how they were being used , and convinced him the fight was pointless , realizing the truth , Kang followed Kirk ' s action , and dropped his sword , he then ordered his men to cease fire , as did Kirk . ( ) In 2367 , as part of Q ' s Robin Hood scenario , the senior staff of the " Enterprise " - D were mostly given long swords . After saving Captain Picard from his execution , the crew took on Guy of Gisbourne ' s knights , while Picard took Gisbourne himself , although originally it seemed that Gisbourne would win , with him remarking " " I ' ll have you know I ' m the greatest swordsman in all of Nottingham ! " " Picard did win , and killed Gisbourne , shortly after replying , " " very impressive . There ' s something you should know , I ' m not from Nottingham ! " " ( ) In 2367 , Duras used a Klingon sword to defend himself during a duel with Worf initiated under the Klingon Right of Vengeance after the council member slew K ' Ehleyr . He lost the duel and was killed by Worf . ( ) In 2371 , after Harry Kim ' s holoprogram was invaded by a photonic - based lifeform which kidnapped several crewmen in response to them unintentionally kidnapping other photonic lifeforms , they sent The Doctor in . Upon first meeting Unferth he was attacked by the warrior , although barely able to lift the sword , he saved himself by changing his mass , so the blade went right through him . Later after Unferth killed Freya , he was attacked by Unferth again , who tried to cover his crime by blaming The Doctor , however this time , as The Doctor was filled with rage at the death of one he loved , he easily defeated Unferth with Freya ' s sword . ( )