The job of an executioner was demanding. The size and weight of the sword made it difficult to handle and an executioner required not only considerable strength, but a skill borne of long practice. The best results were achieved by striking the neck between the 3rd and 4th cervical vertebrae, thereby severing the head with a single blow. After practicing on animals, executioners were required to pass a final test by performing a clean beheading of a criminal with either sword or axe.

Even though it involved a central social function requiring considerable skill, the profession of executioner was considered dishonourable, and those exercising it experienced considerable social isolation. As a result, the children of executioners were often forced to marry within their own class and sons often had no choice but to follow in their father’s footsteps.

The wages of the executioner were paid by the family of the condemned person. As there were not sufficient death sentences to provide a liveable income, executioners were forced to take on other judicial and penal tasks including torture and corporal punishments, such as the cutting off of a hand. Further income was generated by menial work such as cleaning cesspools and disposing of animal carcasses.