I find that to be silly, given that weapon and empty hand training are intrinsically intertwined in martial arts training. A great example is the jujutsu you love and kenjutsu, for example, or fencing and boxing, or bajiquan and the spear. Don't disparage the training of weapons, friend. Weapons are just extensions of the body. And it is no surprise that many of the greatest empty hand fighters of the past were also masters with one or many weapons, and vice-versa.
Well to me, this is my opinion, if you're nice with a sword but get the crap beat out of you with your hands i cant say that you're really a bad ass. I dont respect the vikings. They were mauraders who preyed on the weak and even they knew their limitations. There were certain areas in europe that had real nikkas they wouldnt even consider fukkin with. At the same time, europe had a lot weak people in general so its easy to paint the picture of them being these badasses when they were going up against weaklines.