Dragonwriter
First Post
Okay, I’m just going to ditch the elves vs. humans angle, as that is going absolutely nowhere…
However, I have been a member of a historical group and taking part in their combat practices and tournaments and wars for nearly 3 years. And I fight with people who have been doing the same stuff for 15+ years, and know I can definitely rely on their expertise.
I have seen plenty of people try spinning, jumping, etc. in both tournament and mass combat… It is almost a clean sweep of bad endings. Imagine, if you will, facing a single foe and each of you is armed with a longsword. Your opponent swings, you parry, and he tries to get more force into his strike by spinning around and throwing another attack. There’s a problem with his idea… He just turned his back on you and left it wide open. Dead.
Now that’s with a slash-oriented longsword. It’s even worse with the stab-oriented rapier. There are times when I nearly cringe at some of the moves I see in rapier combats in the movies. The Three Musketeers (in nearly all its movie incarnations) is a particular offender. They focus more on tumbling around the room and each other than actually stabbing the other guy. Sure, it looks cool, but you’re not doing anything constructive while you look cool.
Let’s move on to a battlefield. You are standing shoulder-to-shoulder (or very nearly) with rank upon rank of soldiers. For argument’s sake, let’s say everyone is armed with a sword (unlikely, as spears were far more common, but this is just hypothetical). You meet the enemy force, you try a spinning attack. You knock your allies’ strikes off, their weapon out of their hands, their helm, etc… All before actually getting to your original target.
Now, it is possible to attempt these, more likely in a tournament setting where you wouldn’t be actually killed (most likely), but they’re much more likely to result in your own failure or demise.
And don't get me wrong, I like entertaining combats, but when people start thinking of some of the movie stuff as accurate, I have to speak up about just how wrong it is.
However, I have been a member of a historical group and taking part in their combat practices and tournaments and wars for nearly 3 years. And I fight with people who have been doing the same stuff for 15+ years, and know I can definitely rely on their expertise.
I have seen plenty of people try spinning, jumping, etc. in both tournament and mass combat… It is almost a clean sweep of bad endings. Imagine, if you will, facing a single foe and each of you is armed with a longsword. Your opponent swings, you parry, and he tries to get more force into his strike by spinning around and throwing another attack. There’s a problem with his idea… He just turned his back on you and left it wide open. Dead.
Now that’s with a slash-oriented longsword. It’s even worse with the stab-oriented rapier. There are times when I nearly cringe at some of the moves I see in rapier combats in the movies. The Three Musketeers (in nearly all its movie incarnations) is a particular offender. They focus more on tumbling around the room and each other than actually stabbing the other guy. Sure, it looks cool, but you’re not doing anything constructive while you look cool.
Let’s move on to a battlefield. You are standing shoulder-to-shoulder (or very nearly) with rank upon rank of soldiers. For argument’s sake, let’s say everyone is armed with a sword (unlikely, as spears were far more common, but this is just hypothetical). You meet the enemy force, you try a spinning attack. You knock your allies’ strikes off, their weapon out of their hands, their helm, etc… All before actually getting to your original target.
Now, it is possible to attempt these, more likely in a tournament setting where you wouldn’t be actually killed (most likely), but they’re much more likely to result in your own failure or demise.
And don't get me wrong, I like entertaining combats, but when people start thinking of some of the movie stuff as accurate, I have to speak up about just how wrong it is.
