In The Logic of Steel, the book that made more money for a Japanese bookseller in 10 weeks than it did for its author in ten years, I covered real sword use, in the chapter Awesome but Obsolete. Briefly my conclusions were that, while forensically the most lethal edged-weapon, swords tend to be brandished more often then used to injure, maim or kill. Conversely, if a dude picks up a pencil and comes after you, you are virtually guaranteed that he means to put it in you. But with a sword he probably just wants respect of some misplaced sort. The one lethal sword use in the book, and another since then, both occurred on the swordsman’s property. So, if you are at someone else’s place and they draw a sword, we are looking at something a bit more serious.

The news story in the link below from my one-time home town seems to follow the broader trend of wimps deploying swords as an expression of penis envy, as well as the other notable weaponry trend which indicates that the more makeshift a weapon is the more likely it is to be used in a an effective or ruthless manner.