5. Your action sequence is too long.
Hollywood lied to you. Fights go fast.
The number of exchanges depends on the weapon, and unarmed combat lasts longer. It only takes one proper strike from a longsword to sever a limb or cut through the spine. Though at least one german manual says you should get in three killing hits, just to be sure. One master of Italian rapier said that you should land your thrust and end your opponent without ever interacting with their blade or giving them an opportunity to defend themselves.
Additionally, each exchange happens lightning fast. You can cut twice with a longsword in the time you take a single step. I’ve seen fighters be “stabbed” 15 times by a knife in a 30 second sparring match. So unless your characters are very skilled and either a) not actually trying to hurt each other or b) toying with each other, the fight probably lasts for a handful of exchanges.
4. Swords are not that heavy.
One of my least favorite tropes is the delicate FMC struggling to lift a sword.
I fence longsword, which is one of the largest swords commonly used in European history, and my blunt longsword is 140cm (4.5 feet) long and 2 kg (4.4 lbs). I have astrophysics textbooks that are heavier. My copy of The Way of Kings is probably heavier. I can, and do, swing it for hours on a regular basis.
There are longer/heavier swords swords. Some two-handed swords are designed to be nearly as tall as or even taller than the wielder and weigh up to 3-4 kg (6.5-9 lbs). These swords (great swords, zwei-handers, montantes, etc) were often used by bodyguards or city guards. There are specific techniques for these swords that involve big sweeping motions, but someone who trains long enough can use them the same way they would use a standard longsword.
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"Portrait of a Man with a Great Sword" – after a painting attributed to Rembrandt van Rijn (now in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge).
3. Technique is often more important than strength or speed.
The point of a martial art is to use technique so that you don’t require extreme force or speed, and a novice won’t beat an expert through sheer physicality. However, in hand-to-hand combat and grappling, size can be an advantage for opponents with similar skills. However, weapons are great equalizers.
Speed, strength, and reach are only advantages if you know how to use them, and they can’t compensate for bad technique when blades are involved. There is a baseline level of strength is needed for martial techniques, and cardio fitness is really important, but in a sword fight, skill will win over innate properties like speed and strength every time.
2. Archery isn’t for the weak.
In fiction, we often see characters who aren’t strong enough for melee combat using a bow. Drawing a bow requires strength. In medieval times, 50-60 lbs (220-270 N)a,b,c was a reasonable draw weight for a hunting bow. War bows in the period are estimated to have an average draw weight of 90-110 lbs (360 N - 490). The English and Welsh were famous for their longbows and estimates of the draw weight for those weapons are as high as 150-180 lbs (670-800 N)d.
a. Robert E. Kaiser The Medieval English Longbow. Journal of the Society of Archer-Antiquaries, volume 23, 1980
b. Count M. Mildmay Stayner, Recorder, The British Longbow Society. Letter, 8th April, 1976.
c. W.F. Paterson, Chairman, Society of Archer-Antiquaries. Letters, 5th May, 1976
d. Strickland, Matthew and Hardy, Robert (2005). The Great Warbow: From Hastings to the Mary Rose. Sutton Publishing.
1. You are too caught up on details.
The technical details of a fight are boring. Get in your characters head, tell us what they are experiencing. I polled my HEMA club discord for their biggest pet peeve in fight scenes, and it was actually “authors get too hung up on the details.” Let me repeat. A group of people who practice historical martial arts as a hobby collectively said the biggest mistake authors make is getting caught up on technical details.