A Fencer's Responsibility

 Greetings,

There is lots of discussion about individuals' rights and what a person is or is not allowed to do, say, wear, or practice. People forget that along with rights come responsibilities. Responsibilities begin with the simple responsibilities we have to our fellow human beings which allow the rights to exist in the first place, but this post is not to discuss such subjects. If you want my discussion of this subject you can read it HERE. The subject at hand is the responsibilities that each fencer has to each other fencer. These responsibilities are intrinsic with the picking up of a weapon, of any kind, simulated or not.

Every time that you fence, or even pick up your weapon you are representing every other fencer as a member of an unofficial, but present worldwide membership, that goes back into history, and crosses national and cultural boundaries. It does not matter if you are a member of the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronisms), a kendoka, a sport fencer or a member of one of the many Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) groups around the world, you have a connection ALL of them, simply because you participate in the art of the sword. You have a responsibility to all of them to represent the art in its best light. This is the first responsibility that you have. Every time a person takes up a sword and strikes another human being in anger or with the intent to injure or kill, it sheds a negative light on everyone else. 

Safety: It's All in Your Hands

Safety in regard to any weapon, it primarily concerns control over that weapon. For a firearm it involves ensuring that the weapon is unloaded whenever it is away from the range; ensuring that it only points toward the target when it is loaded; your finger only goes anywhere near the trigger when you are ready to fire; and ensuring the weapon is again unloaded before leaving the firing area. All of these points are about controlling the mechanical processes which are involved in the operation of the weapon.

It's Still a Weapon

The firearm is obviously a weapon capable of doing damage, but in all cases the swords which are used in fencing should always be treated as weapons. They may be simulated weapons in most cases, except those used for test-cutting, but they are weapons nonetheless, and should be treated with the respect due a weapon as they still have the potential to do damage. This is something that you must appreciate, and thus observe all of the rules in regard to safety.

Rules and Conventions

Some groups, and most of the officially established groups have formalised rules and conventions for the way they perform their combats. If the situation is a more informal situation then some of the rules and conventions may be unwritten and there may be some negotiation required before the combat starts. In either case, ensure that you always stay within the rules and conventions which have been established for the combat. They are there for your safety and the safety of your opponents. If you are unsure about any of these, ask before you start.

There are many reasons to fight within the established rules and conventions. In many instances if you do not  there will be consequences for not doing so. These can be up to and including removing and banning you from participation. There is a better reason to fight within these standards, it will result in a more pleasant fight, and people will more likely want to fight you again. This will give you a better reputation, and this spreads to other groups with which they will have contact. I have already discussed the subject of notoriety and renown in another article previously.

The Excessive Blow

There will be instances where a combatant will be struck too hard. This is inevitable as fencing is, after all, a contact sport. The purpose is to strike the opponent after all. There is an acceptable standard set in groups as to what blow is hard enough and what is too much, the latter being an "excessive blow." This may waver between groups and even within a group.

You should always attempt to strike with sufficient force to transmit your intent, but never to injure your opponent, if there is no standard set. Discuss the standard in a group where you are visiting to ensure that you do not strike too hard. It is your responsibility to ensure that you do not strike too hard.

Now incidents will happen where such blows are unavoidable, colloquially it could be called the, "sh*t happens" situation, but this is the exception more than the rule. Such an incident could occur where both fencers attack simultaneously, mutually striking one another, or even simply one striking the other. One miscalculates what the other is about to do, expecting them to go back instead of forward, and they are struck, the result is an "excessive blow." 

In each instance the responsibility falls to the person holding the weapon which struck the person who received the "excessive blow" not the person who was struck. The blame should not fall on the person who is struck as the individual should have control of their weapon. Again, there will be instances where the individual has thrown themselves on to the weapon, but it is up to them to accept the blame rather than receive it. This is a fine line, but it must be noted.

Know the Rules

Some will state part of safety and what has been said previously is knowing the rules, and in part they are correct. It is important to know the rules, but the following discussion focuses on the rules of the game that is being played, rather than the game and how it is played. There are often long sets of rules which are presented and many participants read part of them, leaving much of them to marshals or referees, depending on what the appointed safety personnel are called. For convenience, I will be calling them "marshals" and the combatants as "fencers".

Fencer's Rules

Many feel it is sufficient for a fencer only to know those rules which particularly pertain to the fencer. In this they feel it is only necessary that the fencer know: the conventions of combat, armour and weapon standards, and how to fight safely. The result is they focus on only those rules which pertain to them as a fencer which either get them on the field or involve them actually fencing. This, unfortunately, leaves a rather large hole in their knowledge, and can cause issues for them, should certain incidents arise.

Know All the Rules

In actual fact, even for fencers it is better to know all of the rules. This is because they give explanation to things in the fencer's rules which are often described in detail in the later parts. A fencer may be involved in an incident on the field of combat. If they have only read the bare minimum, they do not know how to handle the incident, aside from talking with their opponent, and maybe the marshal on the field.

Knowing all the rules allows the fencer to know procedures for following up on incidents which occur on the field, should they occur. On the more positive side, should a fencer find a weapon combination that is not yet covered in the rules, they will, however give direction how they might be able to experiment with permission, rather than simply turning up and simply being not allowed to use it. Other procedures which are presented in the rules include what to do about another fencer if they break a rule, or if the fencer has concerns about the rules.

If the fencer only knows their part of the rules. How do they know when a marshal is acting within the bounds of the rules? How do they know how to do anything about this? All such information is, no doubt, found somewhere within the rules and procedures, beyond the simple rules for fencers. Likewise the reporting procedures, so any of the incidents mentioned above, can be reported correctly is likely present. This way something can be done about the incidents, the first time, rather than a lot of backward and forward as the fencer talks trying to find the right person to talk to.

Rules and Safety

It would be nice to think that every combatant had the safety of every other combatant in mind every time they took the field. It is simply not the case. Once the adrenaline begins to flow, and the desire for victory is present, often concerns for safety tend to blend into the background and things get missed. It is at these times the individual needs to stand firm and be the representative of safety, even if it is only doing their part to keep them and their opponent safe.

One way of keeping people safe is to know the rules under which you are fighting, and knowing all the procedures so you can follow them, should it be required. If you are involved in an incident, it is your responsibility to report it as you were involved. If you expect something to be done about it, then it is likely that you will have to follow it up using the correct procedures. This is your responsibility.

You have a responsibility as a fencer, one that is linked to every other fencer around the world. The safer you can make what you do the more likely that what you do will last for years to come. The greatest threat that fencing of all kinds faces is not from a lack of participants, but from safety issues and thus legal and insurance issues. It is your responsibility to do your part to keep it safe.

Cheers,

Henry.

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Re-Inventing the Wheel

Greetings,

There are questions which are going to be asked about this particular post, like what is he on about? That is simple. There is the propensity for the Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) community for re-inventing the wheel rather than taking perfectly good examples of things and either just using them or modifying them slightly to suit their purposes. This post will give three examples which seem to keep coming up as issues for the community which have been dealt with elsewhere before.

Why?

Why is it that in HEMA people seem to need to keep re-inventing the wheel? It is almost like that what has come before is just not good enough, or because it comes from another sport, or similar area and they do not want to be like them that they cannot use anything which is anything like them. There are three topics which have histories which are established which could be used as they are, or modified to purpose, yet they are not. This is, of course, causing people issues and in some cases injuries as a result because people are doing the hard work that has been done before all over again.

Armour

Armour has been around for literally thousands of years, yet when it comes to HEMA rather than looking at existing examples of armour and simply copying it or modifying the armour to suit, new armour has to be invented. The great saga of the gauntlet is the greatest example of this one that can be put up as a prime example. There were fully-articulate gauntlets manufactured and used in the medieval and Renaissance period. Why are they not just copied? Or at least the principles of their designs not copied? Its not like they did not work.

What I find really amusing about this one is that people in HEMA have been cobbling together protective gear from other sports or designing it based on other sports, and then realising that it has holes in it, which are not covered. Then these holes are being covered by examples which are found on medieval and Renaissance armours. Knee protection first just covered the front of the knee for HEMA, now it seems that fans are being added to protect the sides and give some protection to the back of the knee, which are, of course, found on medieval and Renaissance knee cops. Why go through the effort of having to find out what does not work when we already know what does?

Armour Standards

When it comes to the question of protective gear, each club or organisation will have their own ideas about what will be required for their own people. Obviously it will be dependent on the weapon that is being used, i.e. more will be required for doing longsword than smallsword. What is a little silly is that for the most part these standards are created on the spot from what the individuals think is reasonable. There is in existence an armour standard, for rapier at least, which has been around since at least the late 1990s which is an international standard, that being used by the Society for Creative Anachronisms (SCA).

Why not start with this and then add on to it? Obviously it is effective, and all of the hard work has already been done. Seems that some would rather not want to be in anyway associated with the group than use a standard which is known and works, which is ridiculous. Instead these people would rather go through the trials and issues of finding out what works and what doesn't, which puts their members at risk.

Refereeing

There has been a lot of discussion about how tournaments should be judged, whether one referee should be used and four linesmen, or one senior referee and one junior and two linesmen, or some other combination. My particular preference is to teach the combatants to call their own blows, I mean they are the ones receiving them so they would know the best if they have been hit or not. Some of this has started to filter into competitions and gradually it is beginning to hold some sway.

Again what we see is the HEMA community trying to re-invent the wheel when there is a system already available for them to use. This system is found in non-electric sport fencing. There is a presiding judge and one for each fencer. The presiding watches both competitors the others only watch their one fencer for a hit and indicate when theirs has been hit. Again, it is a recognised method with a recognised standard. It also results in using only three people and not four or five people to staff it, which has advantages when the staff are primarily volunteers.

Conclusion

Three different areas have been examined where standards or examples are have already been established, and yet in all three cases the HEMA community is trying to invent their own. The question has to be at this point in time, why? Is it an ego thing? Not willing to accept that maybe it has been done before? Or not willing to borrow from another group and thus admit that they may have some good ideas? Both of these are ridiculous reasons not to use ideas or standards used by another group and modify them to suit what is required. In most instances in the HEMA community, there is probably already an answer out there to the question which has been posed, it is a matter of finding the answer, and accepting that it is the answer. For some, it is the last bit that is the most difficult.

Dalai Lama's Rules for the New Millennium

Greetings,

The title is going to be a bit of a bother for some people, but you are just going to have to read on and see the relevance for fencing (talking to HEMA people too) in general. I have these rules posted on my kitchen wall and I decided that it would be useful to do a post about how they can be related to fencing. Being that there are 17 of them here, so this is going to be a long one.

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

When you become a lover of fencing and you want to do well with it you are going to have to throw yourself wholy into it. This means that you will be putting yourself at risk. Physically obviously there is a risk, but for some there will also be an emotional one as well.

2. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.

I have made posts about the learning process before, and losing is not a bad thing when looked at from the right direction. This rule points out why. If you lost there is a reason why, and it is not because the referee was bad, or the rules were bad, it was because you got hit. Figure out the reason why and work on that.

3. Follow the three Rs: Respect for self, respect for others and responsibility for all your actions.

Where to start with this one? Respect for yourself does not mean having a big ego, it means not doing stuff which would reduce the level of respect you have for yourself. Respect for others means examining what they are doing and seeing where they are at before making comment. It also means treating people as you would want to be treated. Responsibility for all your actions is simple, if you did it you own up to it. It also means not blaming others for stuff which put you in the place where you are.

4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.

Sometimes we wish for short-cuts, it is better to work our way to our goals. Sometimes we want a particular piece of gear and we get another, and it turns out it works better, the list goes on.

5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.

Knowing how to use the rules to your advantage is one of the keys to survival. In most cases it is not "breaking" them that is the best, but "bending" them. Just remember to look at the rules properly before you do this to know exactly what rules you are bending and what the result will be.

6. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

So you like a different master, is this a big enough difference to break a friendship? So you prefer different weapons, is this a big enough difference to break a friendship? Most of the time we can negotiate and find common ground between people. Do this and you will find more friends.

7. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

This one goes back to rule 3 about responsibility for actions. Don't wait around to be discovered, admit you have made a mistake and fix it before it gets blown out of proportion. It is better to be up-front about a mistake than be hiding and discovered.

8. Spend some time alone every day.

Solo training is important, and so is training every day. Both of these apply here.

9. Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.

So you have found something new that you like, don't let it change your values. A change of pace with another school should not mean that you change the reason why you fence. A change of method should not change the foundation principles of fencing upon which you fence either.

10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

Sometimes it is better to be silent than to make a comment. These are often the cases where someone is looking for an argument and making a response gives them what they want. Walking away is often the best response in some situations. 

11. Live a good, honourable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time.

When you sit back and remember tournaments which you have fought in, you know whether you were struck or not. If you fought honourably and gave your opponent blows when you were struck and acted with honourable methods you can sit back and enjoy those tournaments again. The same goes for all encounters. Make good memories that you want to keep.

12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.

In this case we talk about your school. "Loving" may not be the most appropriate word, "welcoming" would suit, so would "supportive". Students need to be supported by all members of the school not just trainers but also fellow members, this will keep them coming back.

13. In disagreements ..., deal only with the current situation. Don't bring up the past.

In this case use only the information which is current. Reputations of individuals can stick for a long time, even when they have far out-grown them. Deal only with the current issue at hand with the information present, there is no need to dredge up old situations.

14. Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.

Ah, the reason why I write. Sharing knowledge is important for us all. The more we share the better we all get in our fencing, it is a knock-on effect. Put it on paper even and spread it far and wide so more people can see it.

15. Be gentle with the earth.

The SCA prides itself on leaving a site cleaner than it was when it arrived. All fencing communities should do the same.

16. Once a year, go some place you've never been before.

Travel. It widens your experience. Go some place and fence with people that you haven't fenced before and you will find that you will learn from the interaction with them.

Yes, I can count, 17 and 19 are missing. 17 was more related to personal relationships so I left it out. 19 was not really useful to the current discussion.

18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

It is better when you judge your success to look back at what you have sacrificed to get where you are than to look at your achievements along the way. Tournament prizes are nice but they do not really last in memory, they are pretty and shiny and they sit nicely on the wall as reminders of a good day. They do not remind you of the hard work and training that you put in to get to the tournament, or the training that you did with your students, or the research that you did on a particular manual to get your technique correct. They also do not remind you of the nights out that you didn't go on because you were training, or the extra things that you could have bought that you didn't because you had to pay for training or new gear. These are the things that you should be looking at.

There are points all the way through which will resonate with some and others which will not resonate at all. That is fine. Find a copy of the original, which you can find all over the internet, and post it up on a wall and look at it occasionally. Have a think and see if there is something that you could be doing, or not doing to improve your fencing, or even out-of-fencing, life.

Cheers,

Henry

A "Safe" Sword

Greetings,

The concept of a "safe" sword is one which is presented again and again to us when considering which weapons we should buy and which weapons should be allowed in tournaments and so forth. This is a concept which badly needs to be addressed and some of the basic notions which are attached to this also addressed. These are weapons which are being discussed, regardless if they have dull edges and blunt points, and they are being used as simulated weapons as well.

When a weapon is lying on the ground away from anyone touching it is safe. This is when a weapon is safe, as soon as a person is involved there is an element where safety is reduced. The safety is reduced both for the person who is picking up the weapon and also for anyone who is around the person wielding the weapon. This is regardless of whether it is a sword, an axe, a mace, an assault rifle, a handgun or even a missile launcher, the same applies.

The weapon may be dropped on the wielder's toe, or even on a by-stander's toe. The relative safety of a weapon has more to do with the person holding the weapon than the weapon itself. A person who is trained in the safe use of a weapon is generally safer than one who is not. A person who has had more experience with a weapon is generally safer than one who is not. It is the person who determines how safe a weapon is or is not.

The image which I have posted with this post, is one that I really like a lot, and it is very pertinent with regard to this discussion. A sword is a weapon therefore it is not designed to be safe. Its purpose is to strike another person with the intent to do damage (simulated or not) against them. The aspects of selection which are made for particular weapons due to temper, type of hilt arrangement, edge thickness, and point characteristics cannot change the fact that it is still a weapon, and therefore is still not safe. These points are merely risk mitigating factors.

The same can be said for any rules or regulations imposed by organisations and tournaments with ...

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.

Henry's Rules - The Essentials

Greetings,

Sometime ago I mentioned that I would post something of my own rules of fencing and I have had a long think about this particular subject. Much like the Jethro Gibbs (NCIS) list mine is a work in progress and tends to grow and change somewhat as I find new things to add. In order to reduce this I have decided that I will talk about my most essential rules in this blog.

1. Don't get hit - defence is most important.
2. Hit the opponent - only real way to victory.

All the other rules that I have come up with are supplementary to these two and assist in some way to achieve them. As I have mentioned above I have a much longer list of rules also about 20 in number which I have assembled from various experiences in my fencing career to date. I use them here and there in training my students and obviously during fencing. Rather than listing all the ones that I have to date, there is a more useful purpose that can be gained from this discussion.

My personal piece of advice is that each fencer should develop their own list of rules to follow. In this at least one thing is most important, they will not be set in stone, they will change. You need to be ...

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.