Dont forget the Gurhkas.  They are quite good with their deadly looking Kukri. 

I'd say pretty much anyone who lives and dies by their skill with a blade is someone you really don't want to get close to, whether they are roman or phillipino. If you are within a couple of meters they can be every bit as deadly as someone with a gun and inside a meter you are better off using your gun to parry and club.

 

That said, it is a lot easier finding good phillipino style training than most other realistic weapon styles. The phillipino systems also teach stick fighting which is basically just a substitute for cane knife (think machette) fighting so it works extremely well for a varitey of weapons that are smaller than a full fledged sword, and my only concern with using arnis technique with even a katana would be the need for spcialized training necessary to learn to use that weapon without breaking the *@#! blade.

...and that wouldn't apply unless it was a traditional weapon. Industrially produced ones don't have the same weaknesses.

Preferences??

Nowadays , serrated (body armor) .



Cheers .

Tanto, dagger, how long??, single edge point, drop point ???