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> > > IMO, of the 3 weapons, saber is the most unrealistic. As mentioned in 'The History of the Sword', what about excluding the lower body? What about not crossing the feet, what about cuts that are no more than flicking the wrist instead of down-right blows intended to dismember an arm or shear muscle from the bone, what about double touches, what about excluding the unarmed hand, what about a pista? These are all medieval mainstays. Add them *ALL* up and you really have a very distorted 'sport' with nothing in common to its ancestors. 19th and 20th century sabre' dueling techniques seem to be little closer, and maybe thats what you are trying to do, but thats out of my experience.<<< I think you need to differentiate between the system and the rules. Rules are the result of the competitive encounter and have a tendency to change with the times. (Vd. my attempts to clarify some aspects of saber target definition/rules in The Secret History.) But rules in turn create their own competive environment. The system itself may be abbreviated, simplified, focused on specific objectives to meet this environment. (See Beck's approach in Tauberbischofsheim, Germany, or the work Kevey did with the Poles. ...elimination of most foil parries... focus on fleche in saber etc. But the system itself remains intact. It's the fencer who's the weak link. IMHO, its somewhat of a moral issue. The individual fencer is either an opportunist (some willing, some by imprinting) who fences according to the requirement of the moment. (That's the "no controlling legal authority". "depends on what the meaning of 'is' is" mindset.) And then there's the fencer who uses the weapon as the weapon demands it. BTW, in regard to the flicks and flat cuts that are so often the incendiary point of debate between opportunist and classicist: I do belive they have combative value beyond the scoring of a point, albeit mostly in the psychological department. Take Schläger, for example: It certainly isn't classic form or taught to hit your cuts over the back of your hand over your opponent's guard. It doesn't cause a bleeding cut which could end the Mensur. But wrap a number of blade taps across the other guy's ward, and he'll snap: It is very diosconcerting to receive flat hists (that you don't know are flat) on the sensitive back of your head. It breaks your spirit, causes the final sharp hit to bleed horribly... and most importantly, it causes you to fiddle with your ward, creating an opening somewhere else. Chris
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