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<blockquote data-quote="Driddle" data-source="post: 1683444" data-attributes="member: 3447">Your pointed rejoinders bound me in rapt attention, but I snapped free at your last comment.&quot;THAT FLOPPY?&quot; ... No more than a surface wound?!Contrary to the picture painted here, your standard competition epee doesn't dangle off the hilt like Catwoman's pretty li'l whip. It's more than sturdy enough for a powerful straight thrust *through* material/flesh, and actually doesn't bend until the blunt scoring tip stops against puncture-resistant gear.In fact, seven fatalities in the sport have been recorded since 1937, and most of these have occurred in highly skilled competitors in elite competition. All fatalities have been male fencers; five of seven deaths involved epée, with foil and sabre one each. Although broken blades were responsible for the fatal wound in six of the seven cases, we can reasonably extropolate that a sharpened tip for intentional injury would work just as well.((I have not been able to independently confirm this particular recounting: <a href="http://www.webspawner.com/users/fencerfear/index.html" target="_blank">http://www.webspawner.com/users/fencerfear/index.html</a> ))Having taken more than a few shots myself in bouts, resulting from some very deep blunt trauma bruising, I can say with certainty that a SHARPENED epee/foil/saber tip, employed by a skilled fencer intent on hurting someone, could do more than surface wound damage.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Driddle, post: 1683444, member: 3447"] Your pointed rejoinders bound me in rapt attention, but I snapped free at your last comment. "THAT FLOPPY?" ... No more than a surface wound?! Contrary to the picture painted here, your standard competition epee doesn't dangle off the hilt like Catwoman's pretty li'l whip. It's more than sturdy enough for a powerful straight thrust *through* material/flesh, and actually doesn't bend until the blunt scoring tip stops against puncture-resistant gear. In fact, seven fatalities in the sport have been recorded since 1937, and most of these have occurred in highly skilled competitors in elite competition. All fatalities have been male fencers; five of seven deaths involved epée, with foil and sabre one each. Although broken blades were responsible for the fatal wound in six of the seven cases, we can reasonably extropolate that a sharpened tip for intentional injury would work just as well. ((I have not been able to independently confirm this particular recounting: [url]http://www.webspawner.com/users/fencerfear/index.html[/url] )) Having taken more than a few shots myself in bouts, resulting from some very deep blunt trauma bruising, I can say with certainty that a SHARPENED epee/foil/saber tip, employed by a skilled fencer intent on hurting someone, could do more than surface wound damage. [/QUOTE]

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