Heartache--Aelfgar's suggestions

[alairia@juno.com (L. Z. Morgan)]

Poster: alairia@juno.com (L. Z. Morgan)

Aelfgar wrote: >
>
>	Second, I wonder if a change of definition might be helpful. 
>	It occurs to me
>	that our tournament fighting, as currently defined, is closer 
>	to the gladitorial games of ancient Rome than to the tourneys of
High 
>	Chivalric
>	period. The bouts are contests to the death, where a _killing 
>	blow_ determines the victor.
>
>	For reasons I only dimly comprehend, the definition of 
>	_killing blow_ has, over time, become heavier and heavier, and
the dynamics of who 
>	wins and who loses do tend to push that trend in a way many have
found 
>	disturbing.

	I was taught by those who instrcuted me in the East 12 years ago
that a killing blow is one that is a) generated from the body and not
just the arm, and b) lands unimpeded by weapon or shield.  I heard "tip"
a lot--I'm short--but I don't think I heard the word "light" twice in a
tourney.  Aelfgar's proposed change of definition has an excellent
chance of success if the Chivalry and marshallate support the change.

>	competitors? In such a contest, with weapons of war, the best 
>of warriors are
>	those who can demonstrate their martial prowess without doing 
>serious harm to
>	their opponents. Death is still possible, but not the intended 
>outcome.
>
>	Such a change would allow us to redefine a _good_ blow at some 
>generally
>	accepted level of force, acknowledged to be less than lethal. 
>It would also
>	open the possibility, if we were of a mind, to define some 
>level of force as
>	too much, by saying that killing your opponent is not as good 
>as successfully 
>	hitting him with adequate but sublethal force. (No, I haven't 
>the faintest
>	notion of the details, but the possibility is there.)

This is exactly how we do it in Alairia.  (Of necessity, since we're
using steel.)  A legal blow must _appear_ to have force, meaning the
body movements must imply generation, but the blow must be pulled at the
last possible second to land with under the acceptable maximum of force. 
The fighter recieving the blow, in tourney at least, must cooperate in
conveying the illusion that the blow was harder than it was, so the
crowd can enjoy it too.  (Give points for Technical and Performance in
our tourneys--and they are NOT choreographed.)

My point is that Aelfgar's suggestion is not only practical, it is very
viable--it has been working for us and another local kingdom for nearly
15 years.

Regards,
Sir Lyon FilsHenri, K.P.R.
Kingdom of Alairia
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