.
Oh, well, I have been invited to a dinner. I just... it doesn't look like I will make it. Behind, slow, too much to have done to get there, and I'm not moving at a solid pace. I hope that does not offend, it is not the intent. There is no intention, other than that I can't quite get myself, and clothing, in sure order, to be there. Even with several days headstart it simply wasn't possible. Little things, sure, daily. But not enough in a day, or even several. I wanted, as a second, to roast a duck. I just... didn't have enough going for that either.
Do not fret! I am still very thankful. While I may not join in festivities, the offer was there. And if I may not eat a fowl meal, that option, too, technically, was there. I will have something to eat, a bit more simple perhaps. But all good. I will be many places in spirit. And I will enjoy my solitude as well. Yes, it would be good to be out and enjoy company, I have learned that is a treat, a rare one. Enjoyed when it all works. Solitude isn't strictly sought, though has become a norm, and not a hated one, not a cage. It is good.
I had thought to address my kitchen appliances this year, as a Christmas present. I am still having trouble with my financers, and they may be simply going to steal my home. I will give them one last chance. If they refuse, again, to help me get on auto-pay, I will simply begin moving things out in preparation for eviction. They started out good, then, I think, Zero wanted them to push vets and others into some sort of socialist program. I didn't want that, and refuse to do more than just pay off my home as agreed. I'll dump it rather than be forced into taking more money I don't want or need. Yeah, this monkey in a mansuit is really a piece of shit. So... that is off the table. If that gets resolved, I will consider doing this next year. New stove might have to happen, one way or the other. But a new fridge, perhaps a dishwasher if I'm not sure where to put it, definitely a new washer and dryer as well.
Instead, this year, I went with a rapier and off dagger. Oh, yes, fully functional.
That having been said, and all else being equal... Believe or else, with these weapons I would gladly and easily contest a katana wielding opponent. Though, with many swords and arming daggers that is possible, these are truly superior to almost any unarmed to lightly armed combat. I wouldn't attempt to take on a fully armored man with these, mostly. If pushed, I would use the dagger, my mass and the weight of his armor, momentum, and dexterity to get behind, knock him down, and force a surrender or cause death. That's why mixed groups were best, each covering for the weakness of the other. But war, back then, was truly hell... if, usually, only for the combatants... mostly. Today it is hell all the way around. I do yearn for the wretched good old days.
Oh... right... Later.
That rapier is fantastic. As someone who pulled a B+ in fencing I felt a rapier would suit me best if I decided to have a sword of my own.
ReplyDeleteI wish the schools I had attended had fencing! Though that might have been college? If a highschool, though, would it have been a huge one? I hated the bigger schools, preferring to know, pretty much everyone. Although that did make me even more of an outsider, it was actually safer.
ReplyDeleteNow, with fencing, you don't have off-hand items, such as shields or daggers, do you? I'm just going on what little I know. One interesting things about all such weapons, is that they are based on point control in opposition to an opponent, or really the point of his sword. Some can use slashing much more successfully, and armor makes a difference, but... What is the martial art that is purely about opposition? That will train you, actually, more fundamentally and safely about sword play. The specifics can get a bit more detailed. Or... so I say. Who knows. :p
If you lived closer, I'd buy you a set, minor armors, and practice. My height makes it unfair, but there are means of handicapping for most things. Ah well.
My school didn't teach fencing. It did teach archery but, much to my annoyance, it only offered it to girls. I had to go to college to take in both fencing and archery. My fencing instructor used to be an archery instructor until he got shot in the chest. He switched to fencing figuring he'd be in a better position to defend himself.
ReplyDeleteFencing doesn't offer shields or daggers. Pity. More than point control, though, you can try and use the blade to deflect a thrust (the "parry").
The martial art which is purely about opposition? Aikido comes to mind. It stresses moves which not only deflect an attacker's strikes but prevents your attacker from possibly injuring himself (read: immobilizing him). In regards to sword skill I've rather been taken by iaido: the art of quickly drawing the sword, making it immediately ready to meet an attack.
I feel flattered by the offer of sparring, but should point out that it's been years since I've handled a sword. I was hardly what I would call skillful back when I was actively involved in fencing, and I suspect the years (plus arthritis) have dulled me even further. I still have my wooden practice sword, and my father supplied me (many many years ago) with a shield that he swore was made of elephant hide. Knowing my father it'd be difficult to say, but it's quite thick and, I suspect, would stop a bullet.
Even with my infirmities, though, there's no denying the sensation that comes with the feel of a well-crafted sword in one's hand. Regardless of age or condition, you begin to easily believe you can meet anything that comes at you.
About your instructor? Hahahaha! Duck! HAD to do that, no choice.
ReplyDeleteAikido, or such, sounds about right. Oh, well, and yes, point control is precisely what is needed, especially when it meets resistance and deflection. That is precisely... urhm... the point. It is figuring out the 'firing solution'. Not all firings have a satisfactory solution. However, in time, they can either wear the opponent down or transform into a solution, even if the window of opportunity is small. I tell people, often, that I can walk through walls. They scoff. I just ask... "How, precisely, did you get in here?". Anyway...
As to shields, I like a small buckler, which allows me to use a secondary weapon as well. More worn on the wrist to wrist and forearm than carried, but all is good. It would be fun to see which systems work the best against which opposition weapons. War isn't always so fun, but the tools of war? Oh yeah.