The First Defence: Control

Greetings,

Safety is the concern of all combatants regardless of the nature of their art. This applies to those pursuing both Eastern and Western arts, and regardless of the weapons chosen by the combatants. A lack of consideration for safety aspects will result in injury and the possibility of serious injury or even death. This entry discusses concepts of safety and investigates them to find a foundation from which they are based and one which they should be based.

Safety

Standards of safety in fencing, regardless of what form, are based upon what is an acceptable level of injury for the activity which is taken part in. For some this will be to the limit of bones being broken in extreme instances and for others the idea of severe bruising is abhorrent. It is upon this basis that their ideas of safety are built. Obviously there must be some safety standards set for the activity to be encouraged and continued.

This level of injury acceptance goes directly toward the three primary aspects of the safety standard, armour, weapons and performance. With regard to these aspects one will always be emphasised over the others. For some it is performance, this will restrict what actions are acceptable and legal within the system. For others the focus will be on weapons and as such weapons are stipulated with particular characteristics, and thus restricted, to be used within that system. Others it is the armour which determines the primary aspect of safety and for these the armour will be stipulated depending on the recognised limit of injury.

However in truly intelligent systems it is always an even balance of all of the aspects. Weapons are stipulated but only in comparison to the armour. The performance is then regulated to an acceptable level for the system which will allow the weapons and armour to do their respective jobs. What is important here is that it is the performance, and thus control of the combatants which must be most important. Regardless of the armour or weapon standards, a person who is uncontrolled and who does not understand the performance requirements will still be a danger. Thus it must be control which needs to be emphasised in training and also codes of performance which need to be enforced.

Armour and Weapons

With regard to armour and weapons there is always the question of how much of each. Should the focus be upon the weapons or the armour? This has a lot to do with the perceptions of danger on the parts of the combatants.

Should the weapons be light and reasonably forgiving then the armour can be much lighter. Should the weapons be heavier and less forgiving then the armour as a result needs to be upgraded. This is a sliding scale and the direction to which the pointer slides will determine what sort of armour and weapons are chosen as suitable for the activity. The result will also demonstrate which is the focus of safety, the person doing the striking or the person being struck.

Even with armour which is the safest and weapons which are the safest, relying upon the armour and weapons as primary is an issue. This is a fallible system. First, the material in the construction of the armour or the weapon may fail, this is something which we only have a certain amount of control over. Freak accidents will happen. Secondly, the appropriate weapons have to be used in the appropriate manner and the same with the armour should either not suit the purpose for which it is being used, this will cause issues. Finally there is the simple element that a person may forget to don a particular piece of armour, or inspect their own weapon. This can also lead to issues. Once again to comes down to the individual being in control of the situation.

Finally there is the question of armour versus calibration. If the system is designed that the person being ...

The rest of this article can be found in Un-Blogged: A Fencer's Ramblings by Henry Walker, which is available in paperback from:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Blogged-Ramblings-Henry-Leigh-Walker/dp/098764470X
Booktopia: https://www.booktopia.com.au/un-blogged-henry-leigh-walker/book/9780987644701.html
Among other places...

It is also available in electronic format (pdf) from: https://buy.stripe.com/fZecP419c7CB9VKeUV

... or direct from the author.