Hmm, quite interestingly, as a HEMA practitioner, I would say that the sword is a pretty aerodynamic weapon and in some cases it can be used (and actually have been historically) as a throwing weapon (see the link below). The argument of being unarmed after releasing your sword is brought up by the reneissance masters, but as a knight has rarely been carrying only a single piece of weaponry to the battle you can possibly imagine such situations happen at the battlefield.
www.aemma.org/onlineResources/liberi/liberi00.htm
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The trope focuses on throwing the sword in 'end over end' manner. This works for the weapons that have centre of gravity moved toward the tip, like throwing knives. Most swords are build so that their centre of gravity is located near the crossguard, i.e. on the other side of the weapon. But throwing the sword like a spear (i.e. so it moves along its longer axis) might be effective, especially on short distances.
I managed to throw a basket-hilted broad sword like a javelin. Pulled my hand out the basket in such a way that sword spins anti-clockwise and then I grab it underneath and then throw like a javelin and hit my opponent in the throat. I'm guessing I had it at about the balancing point.
If hypothetically we were on a battlefield and you've just grabbed a sword off the ground, throwing it as you charge could help.
Does the Buster Keaton silent movie "The General" count. Buster accidentally lets his sword fly out of the scabbard in that one.
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If it works, then yes. It would probably qualify as parody, unless it predates the popularization of the trope. Either way it's more clearly an example of "guy is randomly effective when something slips out of his hand by accident". Don't know if we have that one yet, though.
See you in the discussion pages.
Removing the example of a Franciscan ax... since an ax is not a sword and indeed is sometimes designed for throwing!
Linking to a past Trope Repair Shop thread that dealt with this page: Why are subversions listed separately from examples?
, started by Servbot on Nov 6th 2010 at 3:04:00 PM
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman