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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ledded" data-source="post: 1678386" data-attributes="member: 12744">Well said.  I do agree with you on one point too:  there are a lot more variation in moves/technique in most swordsmanship than most people expect, and even those experienced in them can lose sight of some of it.  Blame the movies, bad research by practitioners/writers/enthusiasts, or just plain laziness/forgetfullness for either rampant or occasional misconceptions.  Most people believe rapier fencing to be like modern sport fencing, and we are even taught by our Epee instructors that the fine sport of Epee fencing is a direct descendent of Rapier fencing, when in fact it is a good bit more removed than that.  Lunges and variations on committed thrusts are larger parts of a modern sport fencers set of attacks because they pretty much only attack in line;  like you said, if you've ever fenced in a round, or sans-fencing strip with modern fencing weapons, then you realize it's a much different game at that point.  I have heard your comment about what lunges are good for from several rapier enthusiasts before; one of the first things I was taught in the little rapier work I did was to quit trying to lunge so much.  Usually with the flat of the practice sword <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />. Of course, most real kenjutsu is like that also.  Quite a few of the ryu that I've studied or read about have different variations of footwork for doing things like circling, taking yourself out-of-line very quickly, etc.  One of the basic contact katas that were taught to students in my Shinkendo classes involved using quick, efficient footwork combined with an overhead block to deliver a 'riposte' to an enemy swordsman from a direction 45 degrees or more away from the initial line of attack.  Some of the advanced contact drills we did (the most fun ones) included rapidly attacking and blocking in such a manner with slashing and thrusting attacks, with the whole thing taking the two combatants around in circles through the area of a room, just the clack-clack-clack of bokken as each vie for position on the other.  Our sensei always stressed the importance of footwork to swordsmanship; the best cuts and blocks in the world wont save you if you can't deliver them from the direction an enemy is attacking.  Some of the most advanced senior drills involved being attacked from multiple directions at once, and involved doing footwork and blocks that appeared pretty silly when you did them in kata, but led to obvious practical application when there were actually people with sticks actually closing in on you <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />.  We also learned how to feignt, one thing that very few people ever discuss when talking about japanese swordsmanship, but IMO is an incredibly useful technique when performed correctly with a katana. I guess my point is that most forms of swordsmanship are much more complicated than they may appear on the surface, and in a question of who would win in a contest of swordsman of X style vs. swordsman of Y style, I stand by the statement that 'the better swordsman would' .  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> I wish I could remember the name now, but I read a book years ago that dealt with the Commodore Perry visit that had several anecdotes about Westerner/Eastener duels during that period, and had a nicely detailed account of a minor naval officer's duel with a low-level samurai who he'd inadvertantly insulted;  if I remember correctly the officer was killed during the duel ("struck at the point between collarbone and neck"), but the samurai died the next day from wounds taken, so I pretty much got the idea that they called the whole thing a wash.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> If I remember the book I'll try to post up the reference.</blockquote>

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