The thing is, a Drunken Master has actual fighting skill. Vikings had strength in numbers, but as individuals I don't expect they were all that effective. The Samurai could just dodge his attacks until he knows the Viking's primitive technique, at which point he'd laugh and make Norseman-sushi.

Basically, what I was getting at is that it would be extremely unlikely for a viking axe to touch a samurai or his katana.

Here is what a high level samurai would look like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXsMSoXrNgo

Kuroda Sensei's family art has continued for hundreds of years.
I cannot find anyone teaching authentic viking combat arts as they would have been practiced.

There might be a reason for that.

Do you practice kendo or iai, out of curiosity?

I study a gendai art that comprises kenjutsu, iaijutsu, and aikijujutsu. I've only been at it a year, and have a very long way to go but I have had exposure to some very talented artists.

A viking berserker would probably roll right over me at this point, but I know a few people who could very well send him back in pieces ;)

I know what you mean about the blocks but it IS harder to redirect an axe then a sword. I would say try it but its a little dangerous. I study my arts so far through bujinkan and togakure ryu, also been doing jujutsu for 5 years and taekwondo since i could walk. It takes a skilled fighter to defend against brute strength just berserker like attacks but once you know how its fairly easy. I know this from experience with all the mma wannabes that come in and want to fight me but martial arts aside the viking does have a shield. If you ever practiced with the padded swords against someone with a shield it completely changes the game makes things alot more difficult.

I may be mistaken but weren't the early samurai primarily mounted warriors & it wasn't until the last couple of hundred years that focus on swordsmanship really flourished. A more interesting match up would be the Norseman against a Japanese warrior of the same time period. Now if the imagery of the Bayeux Tapestry is even remotely accurate a Dane axe in skilled hands will make one hell of a mess of both horse and rider ;) Sadly I won't ever witness such a match up :(

I thought the Shoguns were more mounted.

What I was trying to say was they didn't put as much emphasis on swordsmanship, the sword being a backup weapon and only used when their primary weaponry couldn't. I could be way off but I'm sure I read it somewhere or saw it on a documentary some time ago.

I don't think the sword was ever really a primary battlefield weapon - there it would have been pretty much archery and spears. Once someone got in close, things probably changed. I can only make conjecture though. From my understanding, almost all Japanese combat arts are taught from the sword - anything from empty hand, to the halberd... the body mechanics that go into cutting effectively translate really well into a number of applications. One of my instructors is a terror with the naginata - I'm hoping to put some of the footage from last weekend up on youtube or something similar soon. But basically, the sword is foundational knowledge.

Some really sophisticated sword work came out of the Edo period, which would have been about 200 years, yeah.