| From: | "Karl C. Hunting-Tuazon" <lopus@********.COM.PH> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | 2 Weapon Combat (very long with story) |
| Date: | Tue, 24 Nov 1998 00:07:05 GMT |
I've just been able to read the entire 2 weapon thread to date and I've got
a few thoughts I'd like to share. I've studied a bit of Escrima and Arnis
(Philippine Stick Fighting) which are distantly related EXCEPT for two
little details.
1.) Arnis has rules, Escrima doesn't.
2.) Arnis only uses paired identical weapons (sticks) whereas Escrima uses
anything you can lay your hands on. (My old teacher once got into a fight
in a red-light district bar in Ermita and was using a beer bottle and the
metal (aluminum?) leg of a chair. He used the longer weapon (chair leg
about one and a half feet long) to block blows and to trip people and the
smaller one (a beer bottle built like the Corona bottle) to hit people on
the head with. After the bottle broke nobody wanted to get near him.) You
see Escrima is NOT a form of martial arts, because it isn't art. Like I was
taught, it is a way to get rid of your opponent as fast as possible, any way
possible.
Now as I see it, people are debating whether you parry with the edge or the
flat of the blade. In Kendo (2 years worth of study ... threw it out the
window after taking Escrima) you divert (parry) his blade by using the flat
of your blade against the flat of the opponent's blade. In Escrima you use
one weapon (it doesn't matter which one, whichever you are more comfortable
with) to *smack* his weapon (any kind from baseball bats (very hard) to
knives (much easier)) aside while hitting him with the other.
Of course taking this to the extreme would be the example that happened to
myself and a few other friends two years ago.
We (five guys including our instructor) were getting good and plastered in a
cheap bar in the area when a bunch of goons (nine guys w/ baseball bats)
came up to whack one of the group. (Seems he was caught with another guy's
girl) now as much as my friend was the ASSHOLE, he was OUR ASSHOLE so we had
to help him. We got into them with beer bottles flying (trick #7: Hurl
something into their faces and rush them while they flinch!) and started
grabbing baseball bats while kicking them in the family jewels (trick #2:
The enemy will not be thinking while he holds his crushed crotch with both
hands!). Our instructor actually got 2 baseball bats (nice wooden ones) and
started whacking around with it which quickly led to all the other 4 of us
backing out before we got nailed. You should have seen him, left baseball
bat blocks one blow, right baseball bat blocks another blow, right foot goes
between the legs of another opponent and then whips around with both bats to
the arms of a fourth. He was really going to town with those guys ... 35
seconds tops. Of course afterwards he had a long "conversation" with his
erring student ... but that is a different story.)
So you see it doesn't matter if it's the longer or shorter weapon that
blocks (albiet it is easier to block with the shorter one ... it faster to
react with it.) It's just a matter of making sure that nothing hits you
while you are dealing the maximum damage possible.
Hmmmm ... you know what I just finished re-reading the FOF rules for two
weapon combat and it sucks, but so does the rules of most game systems I
know (check out the AD&D and L5R versions). Maybe the reason it's very hard
for most game systems to accomodate 2 weapon combat is because melee combat
of today (barring street fights) are so ritualized that it isn't actually
the same as the "real" thing. Fencing has "hit zones" and
"no-hit zones"
which give the fencers a trained reflex to only hit the legal targets.
Kendo and Kenjutsu sort of gives you the trained reflex to "pull" your blows
because the REALLY can break bones EVEN with the padding. I haven't tried
using broadswords and short swords yet, but I can't help thinking that any
10th or 11th century warrior would cut up most fencers today because they
are trained to kill rather than score points. They don't have many fancy
moves, but they are direct to the point. Escrima was fun for the six-odd
years I've practiced it, but I had to stop since my doctor doesn't think
that breaking one or more bones every four or five months is healthy for me
*BIG GRIN* Yes, we don't wear padding and we use full force, and no there
are no illegal moves. This is not martial arts, it is a way to kill!
Lopus
LOPUS:
!!!A DOG WITH AN ATTITUDE!!!
