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Ryu my friend, this is just my opinion.
Too much emphasis has been placed on Western fencing.
Even many styles of knife fighting are based on fencing which I believe is not the best way. A fencer leaves his free hand trailing therefore leaving himself open to attack on that side of his body. A true Kenjitsu man believes in economy of motion, he has his own footwork system albeit not as fancy looking as the fencers.
A Kenjitsu man could feign an attack to make the fencer react and then quickly change direction and slice the fencers head off from his unprotected side. In the 1700's there were several matches between Spanish swordsmen (fencers) and Samurai. The Samurai killed all but one of the Spainards.
I personally would not use either style. In my opinion the stick fighting of the Filipinos is readily adapted to sword fighting. In fact the Filipinos used their two sticks effectively to defeat the Spanish invaders that were armed with swords and were expert fencers.
The best way to sword fight is to keep the free hand in the window of combat and not trailing behind you. Block the attackers sword with your sword, step in and grab his unarmed side and then quickly stick your sword through his torso or leg. Or where ever on the body there is an opportunity to stab or slash.
[Edited by Shimora on 12-13-2000 at 01:38 AM]
Too much emphasis has been placed on Western fencing.
Even many styles of knife fighting are based on fencing which I believe is not the best way. A fencer leaves his free hand trailing therefore leaving himself open to attack on that side of his body. A true Kenjitsu man believes in economy of motion, he has his own footwork system albeit not as fancy looking as the fencers.
A Kenjitsu man could feign an attack to make the fencer react and then quickly change direction and slice the fencers head off from his unprotected side. In the 1700's there were several matches between Spanish swordsmen (fencers) and Samurai. The Samurai killed all but one of the Spainards.
I personally would not use either style. In my opinion the stick fighting of the Filipinos is readily adapted to sword fighting. In fact the Filipinos used their two sticks effectively to defeat the Spanish invaders that were armed with swords and were expert fencers.
The best way to sword fight is to keep the free hand in the window of combat and not trailing behind you. Block the attackers sword with your sword, step in and grab his unarmed side and then quickly stick your sword through his torso or leg. Or where ever on the body there is an opportunity to stab or slash.
[Edited by Shimora on 12-13-2000 at 01:38 AM]
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