When fighting with two swords......

The longer blade goes to your dominat hand. The shorter blade is used defensively...

My preference is to have both blade of equal length, weight, etc.

thothguard51 said:

The longer blade goes to your dominat hand. The shorter blade is used defensively...
.

Click to expand...

Unless you are psyching out your opponent, but then you'd better be as good as Inigo Montoya.

"I have some sad news for you. I am not really left handed."

McMich said:

For those that know how to sword fight:

When fighting with two blades- one longer and one shorter (but not a dagger size- more like 18" or so) which blade would you hold in your dominant hand?

Click to expand...

Possibly style dependent, but the offhand weapon is typically the smaller weapon. European parry daggers were off hand, as was Japanese Musashi style.

The lengths you are talking about aren't unusual either.

For the styles I'm familiar with, you'd use the larger blade in the dominant hand. Like the others have said, there's different ways/styles/doctrines regarding two swords. Musashi only dual-wielded when fighting multiple opponents, parrying styles, ect ect.

Dominant hand wields the longer blade... USUALLY. Depending on the era and style the dominant hand may or may NOT be held 'forward'. The swordsman might change stances and guards, placing either the dominant hand and foot forward, or the secondary, parrying weapon forward.

You can also choose between refused--off hand with shorter blade forward for parrying, then follow through with the primary, or presented--primary forward, secondary back as both a block and as an attack when both fighters' primary weapons are engaged.

Generally speaking, I'd favour the smaller blade in my off hand, probably inverted depending on how much smaller it is (for a really small blade, like a knife that's shorter than my hand, I'd hold it upright). As for stance, a weapon in each hand means you can put either foot forward, so it depends on what you're doing... I'd usually go with the dominant side forward, but that's because I've done a lot more one-handed than two-handed, so I feel more comfortable in what is essentially a fencing stance, but slightly less side-on to allow me to actually use the off-hand weapon. With two weapons I'd be more lax on footwork though, because there's often merit to switching feet so that you lead with the off-hand weapon and use it to parry, guard or otherwise keep your opponent's weapon away from your primary, and then use your primary to attack (probably with a thrust through the centre or a wide swing).