In any case, I wouldn't worry about learning bad habits from fencing (via the 'the British driving on the wrong side of the road' argument). However, at the beginner level, you should be seeing action more like rapier- mostly neat and clean attacks, parries, lunges, and generally good bladework. I think these rules actually teach good habits.Īt the Olympic level, you see a bunch of weird crap like fencers whipping their blades to bend around their opponents' parry (like a bull-whip), and scoring points using ludicrously light taps on the back.

This insures that if one is being attacked, he/she will attempt to parry (thus robbing the opponent's right of way) rather than simply sticking out their arm and double-touching (which is boring and silly). In general, the right-of-way goes to the one who initiated the attack, but is lost upon a successful parry. There are priority rules which dictate who gets the hit in a double-touch situation. However, after doing it for years, I kinda see why the rules are there. For those unaccustomed to it, it seems odd. It's true that there are a number of rather 'artificial' rules in fencing (priority, double-touches), and the idea that you only need a small tap or light jab to get a point. The actual technique is obviously different.Ĭ) Is sport fencing 'silly'? It's debatable. After all, the British manage to switch from driving on the left to driving on the right every time they travel abroadī) Is it beneficial? I'd guess that the basic footwork (steps, lunges, recovery), as well as the concept of distance, reach and timing are translatable. However, with experience, I'm sure you'll be able to 'switch' between the two 'modes'. For example, fencers lead with their weapon hand first (because basket hilt ), whereas longsword I believe keeps the hands further back due to the lack of hand/arm protection. It is true that fencing may teach you some odd habits (not wrong, but odd). We have several people in our club who do both fencing and Kendo/Iaido, and they are most excellent at both. I've dabbled a bit in HEMA, but I don't have any formal training, so I'm just going through reasoning rather than experience here.Ī) Are sport fencing and Japanese martial arts mutually exclusive? No. I've been fencing for quite a few years, and I help teach at a local fencing club. Hello plainsman, if I may offer my opinion

Odd looking iaido stance