MajGenl.Meade wrote: ↑Wed Aug 11, 2021 1:30 pm
And fencing - Lord what's the point (aha!) of that rubbish? Two geezeres or geezettes rushing toward each other shouting and banging into each other - with some pretending a bit of a stick poked someone in any significant way. Now take off the protective gear and give them sharp/pointed blades and it might produce some real epic sword fighting.
I bet you'd want to bring back
pistol dueling as well ... with real bullets rather than wax bullets or paintballs.
And for the record, there are THREE different disciplines in Olympic fencing. The one you ridiculed is either 'foil' or 'epee', in which the weapon is a stabbing weapon (no cutting edge on the blade). The difference lies in the scoring zones and weight of the weapons
(the epee is heavier, up to a maximum of 775 grams as opposed to a 500 gram maximum for the foil) — hits/touches (touchés) for foil must be on the torso only, above the waist, with the tip of the weapon. And there is an order of attack, if you will. An attack, if parried, is over, and the attacker must be prepared for a riposte — a counterattack — from the opponent rather than just press on blindly. It's a true martial art, not just two guys stabbing wildly at one another like Brutus
et al. trying to perforate Caesar on the floor of the Roman Senate.
Epee opens up the entire body above the waist, including head, arms, and legs. Again, points are scored only with the tip of the weapon, but there is no 'right of way' system for scoring in effect.
The third one is saber. This again calls for 'right of way' for an attack to score points, and the target zone is only the upper body above the waist, including arms. But since the saber is an edged weapon (although blunted for safety), the entire blade may be used to score points, not just the tip.
Sounds to me like what you want is the hack-and-slash of the saber with the target zone and free-wheeling, no right of way attitude of the epee — and, of course, real blood and other assorted mayhem. Maybe something like a pirate wielding a cutlass in one of those old swashbuckler movies, eh, matey?
-"BB"-
Yes, I suppose I could agree with you ... but then we'd both be wrong, wouldn't we?