- Joined
- Feb 19, 1999
- Messages
- 2,959
I'm finding that there are a lot of Live Steel Duelists here at BFC and this got me to thinking. (Never a good thing.)
What are some of the lessons you've learned from dueling?
Mistakes you've learned from, either your own or someone elses?
Things that will work, things that won't work, things that should but dont?
I've kinda got it in mind to try and keep this as a long term thread, something that we can all refer back to over time.
I don't know if there is much interest in something like this, but I suspect we could all benefit from sharing some of what we've learned with each other.
To start it off, and give you an idea of the kind of thing I'm talking about...
I fight Rapier and Main Gauche, most often using a Hanwei Pappenheimer rapier and a Del Tin Sword Breaker main gauche.
Many people disparage the Doote Fiska (or dead fish, period slang term for the sword breaker) claiming that it is really not that effective, but I've won MANY duels by using it to disarm my opponent, and have literally snatched the sword right out of my opponent's hand.
Quite often though, if my opponent has a solid grip on his sword, I succeed only in "tying up" his blade. The only way this works, is if my opponent continuously PULLS his blade away from me, keeping his blade tensioned in the teeth of my swordbreaker.
What puzzles me, is that they almost ALWAYS do this. A quick thrust forward would release the tension and allow them to withdraw their blade from my hold, yet somehow, even opponents who have been trapped by me before, continue this instinctive pull and lose this way.
In some of the more dynamic grappling stuff I've gotten into, I find that an opponent will hold onto his blade instead of releasing it so that he may escape the grapple. To my way of thinking, and this has born out in experience, releasing your blade often frees you from the grapple and allows you a "kill" with the gauche. Yet there appears to be an instinctive fear of "being disarmed" within many duelists and this often costs them the win.
Has anyone else had experience with this?
Does it match up with mine?
Has your experience differed?
I'm hoping for some interesting input on this.
------------------
Desenfundeme no sin la razón, envaineme no sin honor
Usual Suspect
MOLON LABE!
What are some of the lessons you've learned from dueling?
Mistakes you've learned from, either your own or someone elses?
Things that will work, things that won't work, things that should but dont?
I've kinda got it in mind to try and keep this as a long term thread, something that we can all refer back to over time.
I don't know if there is much interest in something like this, but I suspect we could all benefit from sharing some of what we've learned with each other.
To start it off, and give you an idea of the kind of thing I'm talking about...
I fight Rapier and Main Gauche, most often using a Hanwei Pappenheimer rapier and a Del Tin Sword Breaker main gauche.
Many people disparage the Doote Fiska (or dead fish, period slang term for the sword breaker) claiming that it is really not that effective, but I've won MANY duels by using it to disarm my opponent, and have literally snatched the sword right out of my opponent's hand.
Quite often though, if my opponent has a solid grip on his sword, I succeed only in "tying up" his blade. The only way this works, is if my opponent continuously PULLS his blade away from me, keeping his blade tensioned in the teeth of my swordbreaker.
What puzzles me, is that they almost ALWAYS do this. A quick thrust forward would release the tension and allow them to withdraw their blade from my hold, yet somehow, even opponents who have been trapped by me before, continue this instinctive pull and lose this way.
In some of the more dynamic grappling stuff I've gotten into, I find that an opponent will hold onto his blade instead of releasing it so that he may escape the grapple. To my way of thinking, and this has born out in experience, releasing your blade often frees you from the grapple and allows you a "kill" with the gauche. Yet there appears to be an instinctive fear of "being disarmed" within many duelists and this often costs them the win.
Has anyone else had experience with this?
Does it match up with mine?
Has your experience differed?
I'm hoping for some interesting input on this.
------------------
Desenfundeme no sin la razón, envaineme no sin honor
Usual Suspect
MOLON LABE!