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This is a very confusing section of the law and I will tell you how I was trained and how I believe.

Chapter 1, penal code definitions says:

"Deadly weapon" means:
(A) a firearm or anything manifestly designed, made, or adapted for the purpose of inflicting death or serious bodily injury; or
(B) anything that in the manner of its use or intended use is capable of causing death or serious bodily injury.

To understand this you really need to understand the serious bodily injury part. The law (Chapter 1 again) says:

"Serious bodily injury" means bodily injury that creates a substantial risk of death or that causes death, serious permanent disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ.

If you ever see a scar, that is serious bodily injury because it is a permanent disfigurement. A black eye that swells shut might also qualify as protracted loss of the use of an organ. The rule of thumb I was taught is that if EMS had to treat them for the injury, it is probably going to be serious bodily injury.

As an aside, if the person says ouch or indicates he felt pain, it is bodily injury. That upgrades many assaults without people realizing how slight that rule is.

But note that the above is the definition of the weapon and not of the force used. Chapter 9 defines deadly force without defining force. It says:

"Deadly force" means force that is intended or known by the actor to cause, or in the manner of its use or intended use is capable of causing, death or serious bodily injury.

From the combination of the two, a firearm is deadly force if you shoot it, or possibly hit someone with it, but not just pointing it at someone. As mentioned, PC 9.04 says that the threat of deadly force is not deadly force in itself. A knife may be deadly force if used, but it depends on the manner of use and the knife. Pointing it is not deadly force. A club (or pool cue or baseball bat or steel pipe, etc) might be deadly force depending on how it is used. Hitting someone in the head with it would probably be deadly force, but a strike against the thigh or shin probably would not be. The intent and the injury would have to be considered. In the cases where a person has been punched and the victim died from it (more often than you would think), the fist could be considered a deadly weapon.

And now, to really confuse you, remember that the definition of the crime of deadly conduct (PC 22.05) says:

(a) A person commits an offense if he recklessly engages in conduct that places another in imminent danger of serious bodily injury.
(b) A person commits an offense if he knowingly discharges a firearm at or in the direction of:
(1) one or more individuals; or
(2) a habitation, building, or vehicle and is reckless as to whether the habitation, building, or vehicle is occupied.
(c) Recklessness and danger are presumed if the actor knowingly pointed a firearm at or in the direction of another whether or not the actor believed the firearm to be loaded.
(d) For purposes of this section, "building," "habitation," and "vehicle" have the meanings assigned those terms by Section 30.01.

Pointing the gun at someone is a class A misdemeanor unless you are justified under chapter 9. It is easy for an instructor who has not dealt with this on a daily basis to confuse the terms deadly force and deadly conduct, or to confuse a class by referring to both of them without stressing the differences.