Weapon dances incorporating swords or similar weapons are recorded throughout world history. There are various traditions of solo and mock-battle sword dances in Africa, Asia and Europe. Some traditions use sticks or clubs in place of bladed weapons, while most modern performers employ dulled replications to avoid injury.

General types of sword dance include:

Sword dances in China and Vietnam, known as jian wu or múa kiếm, began as a military training exercise with swords and spears which evolved into an elaborate acrobatic dance. Jian wu was one of four classical dances that were used in the Chinese and Vietnamese opera. Each of these dances was very meaningful within the opera performances and they often were used for plot descriptions and characterization. Sword dancing also found a use in Chinese and Vietnamese cultures through communicating with the supernatural; sword dancing was done in an effort to communicate feelings to the dead spirits that may be disrupting a household.

There are quite a few styles within the actual art of sword dancing. The first style focuses on relaxation and flexibility while the other style focuses on speed and strength. There are also different types of swords and weapons used during each dance. A long sword is usually wielded with slower dramatic movements during a solo performance while shorter scimitars are used at a very high pace during a sword dance between two or more people. Each style requires certain movements that require the dancer to be highly agile and athletic.

Many sword-dances in the Indian subcontinent originated with the martial traditions of the region, the paragon of which exemplified in the long-established Gatka tradition, arising from the tenet of monolithic, theosophical militarization found within Sikhism. The paika akhada which were previously used to train Orissan warriors now perform weapon dances in the streets during festivals. Other dances like the mer dandiya are simply theatrical depictions of battle, while some like the choliya of the Kumaon region were used to ward off evil spirits. Sword dances are still commonly performed for weddings and other occasions in the Indian subcontinent today.

In the Indian subcontinent, the chhau sword dance, Firkal sword dance, Khasi tribal sword dance, Bhotiya tribe sword dance, Lakharu-li sword dance, Khaijama-Phanai sword dance, Gujarat sword dance and the Khattak sword dance are performed on festive occasions.^{[citation needed]}

Arab sword dances (raqs al-saïf) evolved out of sword fighting between men, in both Egypt and Turkey. There was even a time when sword dancing was banned by the sultan during Ottoman rule, as it was believed that dancers, who took swords from soldiers and pretended to "kill" them at the end of the performances, collected the swords to begin a resistance against the army. These swords were never returned. Female sword dancing was not widespread in West Asia. Men in Egypt performed a dance called el ard, a martial dance involving upraised swords, but women were not widely known to use swords as props during their dancing in public. However, paintings and engravings by French artist Jean-Léon Gérôme (who visited Egypt in the 18th century) show sword dancers balancing sabers on their heads. The Turkish Kılıç Kalkan dance of Bursa is performed exclusively by men with a sword and shield, and represents the Ottoman conquest of the city. The performers wear early Ottoman battle dress and dance to the sound of clashing swords and shields without music.

Hilt-and-point sword dances are, or were, performed all over Europe. These are particularly concentrated in an area corresponding to the boundaries of the Holy Roman Empire at around 1400–1500, and many of these traditional dances are still performed in England, Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, North Italy, France, Flanders, and the Iberian Peninsula, with a particular concentration in Basque Country, Galicia and Andalusia. Sword dances are also performed by Albanians, both in the Balkans and in Italy. Into the late 1400s Albanian sword dances were imitated by Italian tarantellas.