A Question of Ethics

Greetings,

This entire posting is based upon a post made by Guy Windsor which can be found here: http://guywindsor.net/blog/2015/06/ethics/. In this blog he asks some seven questions about the ethics of swordsmanship which I feel are significant and that each and every individual who picks up a sword or any other weapon should consider, regardless of purpose. Had I been a little more prompt, the answers to these questions and this post would have appeared earlier.

The Questions:

1) When is it ok to stab someone in the face with a sword?

I have found two answers to this question, firstly in self-defence. This would, of course, be a rare situation where I would find myself defending my life or the lives of those whom I care about. The second would be in the practice of martial arts where the stab to the face is an essential part of the practice presented in many of the period manuals, and I would make sure that my partner is suitably armoured to ensure the safe practice of such an attack.

2) What is the one thing you find most useful about swordsmanship training outside the salle?

It is difficult to nail down a single thing which is most useful, as there are multiple; tactics, awareness, or the simple health benefits such as muscle strength and cardio-vascular fitness. For myself the essential comes from the ability to problem-solve by looking at things from different angles attributed to reading my opponents.

3) How important is history to you in your practice of swordsmanship

The study of history is essential to the practice of swordsmanship as the texts must be placed in the background in which they are placed if they are to be completely understood. From the simplest point ...

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.