Sword Fighting, RP

I am no expert, but do know a little about this. You can use some of the following terms to search for more information.

A sword is a long pice of metal which consists of the blade and the tang. In a well-balanced sword, the tang is nearly as wide as the blade. The tang is about 8 to 12 inches in length, and the hilt, the portion of the sword which one holds, is attached to the tang. The blade of a standard military long sword is about 36 to 42" long. It is sharpened on one side only, and the blunt side is used for defense (the wrist is turned to present the blunt, "back" edge to defend against the opponent's blow, and turned back to present the sharpened edge in order to attack).

There are three basic strokes, and three basic defenses against those strokes. A thrust involves pushing the blade directly at the opponent in the attempt to stab them. The defense against a thrust is the parry, which involves turning the blunt side of your sword toward your opponent's sword and sweeping outward to push it to the right or the left.

The lash or slash is a stroke which begins high and moves diagonally downward across the front of one's opponent, hoping to injure one of the opponent's arms, preferably the sword arm. The defense against the lash or slash is to turn the blunt edge upward and raise the sword to just below eye level, and is called a block.

The strike involves raising the sword above one's head, and bringing it down rapidly with the most force possible, hoping to strike the opponent on the shoulder, neck or head. Properly executed, this blow is the heaviest, and can injure an opponent even if they successfully execute a block, so the defense of a strike is to dodge--get the hell out of the way.

Footwork is also, therefore, terribly important. It one can step quickly enough, and see's the opponent raising their sword for a strike, one can "get under the guard" (get between the opponent's sword arm and their chest) and stab them with the thrust attack. So, one can decide to defend against the opponent's attacks and wear them down, or to try to move faster, and use the best attack when they make their move, in the hope of landing an attack before they can execute their own attack.

Try an online search for fencing, keeping in mind that there are several types of swords, and several types are used in the formal athletic event of fencing. A few types of swords other than the military long sword (the most commonly used sword on land in the days when these weapons were relied upon) are the épée, often also called a rapier, which is largely intended for thrusting and parrying; the sabre, which is a very heavy (relatively) type of long sword which has a curved blade, and is primarly used to slash or strike--preferrably to strike to take advantage of the weight; a foil is the long thin blade which is derived from the rapier, and is used in athletic fencing. Other types of commonly used sword are the short sword (mainly a lengthened knife) used to stab or thrust; the hanger or cutlass, a very broad bladed version of the sabre; the scimitar, a version of the long sword with a very curved blade, commonly used by Arabs and Turks; the Katana is the Japanese sword, which combines the weight of a sabre with the slightly curved blade of a sabre, and an exceedingly sharp blade, intended to slash or lash--it can cut off people's limbs or decapitate them if handled properly and swiftly struck.

Good luck.

I would also suggest that you google "tactical wheel" along with fencing.

What type of weapon will be used?

Lots of nifty terms to go with fencing: attack, thrust, lunge, redouble (lunge and then lunge again), fleche (running attack), feint, cut-over, pris-de-fer (press the blade), parry, riposte.

Makes me nostalgic....

Also, the types of attacks described by Set will also depend on the blade used. Slashing attacks will not be made with an epee.

Distance is of critical concern in a fencing match. The retreat is your friend....

If fencing is indeed the way you will go, you should also Google "di Grasse" and "The Arte of Defense". Very useful stuff.

She's (guessing gender by the user name) asking about role playing games, he's prolly not talking about fencing.

The best way to learn RP fighting online is to jump in with both feet (and a sword, of course). You learn through your mistakes.

True, but he also said he want to be able to describe what he is doing. These searches will turn up all sorts of information and pictures so he knows how to describe what his character is doing. I've just recently used what I learned about fencing from these sites in a role playing game I was in.

Ah, good point. Somehow I didn't pick up on that part

I am a girl...I'd just like to make that clear. Thanks...

Thank you gus, I have been in various RPing fights, but they seem to get a bit repetitive coz I don't know what else to do.

Thanks for the tips and info!

Sorry. That's what happens when you don't take the time to reread what you've written before you hit "Submit". I meant to type "she".

Oh it's OK. :wink:

What RPG do/have you do/done?

Mostly tabletops, and almost exclusively World Of Darkness. Vampire, Werewolf, a little Mage. I just recently stopped playing in a Werewolf game, in fact. That was the game my character knew how to fence, so I just researched all that not too long ago. (The game didn't last very long). I have LAPR'd, though, but only briefly.
And, of course, I played D&D as a kid. Druids rule! :wink:
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I'm such a geek.

Cool, I started on a harry potter site, but I prefer the ones for older people, the content is more interesting!

I'm on AEW and FF, s9.invisionfree.com/force_forge which is Star Wars!!

Yes....I'm a geek too.

Which game are you looking to descibe your sword fighting techniques better for?

It cannot be emphasized enough that balance is important; over-extending oneself in a swordfight is a good way to die quickly.

From a descriptive point of view, you may want to not only consider the sword, but a combination of weapons; sword&shield, sword and shortsword, two shortswords, sword and sword-breaker, sword and whip, sword and dagger. There are a lot of interesting attacks and defenses which revolve around two weapons, misdirection, trickery.

Alternatively, the Kendo and Kenjitsu tradition of swordfighting (Japanese style) revolves around single, clean strokes and mental acuity. It makes for shorter fights, but the point isn't to fight for a long time, now is it?

Tabletop games? I used to play Heroes Unlimited, Rifts, Shadowrun. A little D&D, GURPS, lots of Battletech.

Cycloptichorn

You just became the greatest person I have met here. I am in love with that game, but haven't played it in years. I stopped before WizKids got their hands on it after FASA lost it, so I stopped at Level 3 tech. God, I miss that game.

Yeah, it was the best. I still have pretty much every sourcebook ever made for the game, and a lot of the novels; if you like reading novels on the subject, you must read Michael Stackpole, his works are some of the best sci-fi I've read and certainly the best Battletech.

You also may enjoy the Mechwarrior games for the Xbox; they are in the battletech universe and are pretty fun, if a little light.

Cycloptichorn

I've played a couple of Mechwarrior games on the computer, but not for any of the console systems. I only got around to reading a couple of the novels; I'll have to pick those up again sometime and read them all.
I still have all my stuff from the game, too. I didn't have many of the books, only the Maximum Tech, BattleTech Compendium, and a couple of the tech readouts. But I have a massive collection of 'Mechs that I designed for the game. A ton of new weapons and equipment, too, that we never used but I wrote down none the less. I still have my character that I used, a guy that was all but useless with a gun or in a 'Mech, since he was a 'Mech designer. I even came up with an MOS for him under the MechWarrior rules to give him his skillset.
Man, was I obsessed with that game. Still am, in many ways, as you can no doubt see from this post.

You won't find any derision from me. I still read the sourcebooks of various RPG's on a regular basis. They provide ample material for my imagination and creativity.

My older brother used to play Warhammer 40k. We still have about 6000 little models of trolls and guys with guns and the like. Spent a whole summer learning how to paint with a three-bristle brush when I was ten.

Cheers to you sir, for your excellent taste. Nowadays, I don't have anyone to play with anymore; for some reason, most adults look at me kind of funny when I make a joke about muzzle-loading a gauss rifle or how I wish I had Clan heat sinks on a hot day.

Cycloptichorn