OK Fearn, I spent the better part of an evening thumbing through Stones, and didn't find any evidence of sliding weights or anything similar....but must say it was still enjoyable as always.I really love that book!!
No matter how many times guys like to hammer away at Stone for the occasional errors, it's still fun to read so much very early data.He really set the stage for weapons research, and encouraged future researchers, such as us, to correct the inevitable errors with new evidence and revised data.
One thing I did find, and at the risk of mentioning something which applies only indirectly and is most probably irrelevant, I found:
"...Cestus: Heavy leather things, often weighted with lead or iron, wound around the hands and arms of Roman boxers to give additional weight to thier blows"
-Stone, p.168
Once again, leave it to the legacy of the ancients. Obviously, this note is purely speculative correlating the concept in dynamics and influences of many aspects of earlier cultures in application in later times. Clearly one would not need to seek such simplistic dynamics for the increase of force in a sword in ancient boxing, but the coincidence seemed worthy of note.
The search for the elusive sword with the slide continues
Best regards,
Jim