Lessons on Swordsmanship

[Marileangorifurnimaluim]

LOL.... Omigawd, I have this vision of your mother's horrified expression watching you bang away at eachother. Uh. Hm. Read my thread that describes the professional soldier's conduct of never pointing a weapon he doesn't intend to use, note Aragorn and Boromir lowering their swords after and when going into battle - very professional. That Arwen pointing a sword at Aragorn's neck: total BS. I have a major beef with that, it's totally unprofessional, to my mind it ruined her credibility in the movie. Eowyn should come across better. I'm not giving you guys a time, this is just one of my things, I've been trained in some martial arts, archery, small arms and rifles, and the rules of weapons are always the same: try not to kill your friends, and only point weapons at disposable relatives, second cousins twice-removed, the sort you won't miss. <P>A friend of mine had a replica samurai sword and was trained to use it in martial arts (he chopped blocks of wood with his bare hands, that sort of show-off trick). Anyways, he and his older brother were goofing around, and it just slipped, sliced a piece of Ben's finger right off, easy as could be, chopped it in half. I mean it was like cutting through butter. Fortunately we retrieved the piece from the dirt and the doctors were able to re-attach it - and Chris really learned his lesson. But Ben didn't speak to him for god knows how long. It was months. Boy he was ****ed. It hurt like hell, blood everywhere. Mostly though, he was freaked out, because it sliced so easily, it was obvious he could have lost a lot more than just his finger. True story.<P>-Maril