Originally posted by Oso
[B]
too late to be a pirate [/B]
Go to Indonesia. 
R5A
The ARMA is one dam ned good & serious organization. If you want, try to get on the western martial arts e group on yahoo- its very good, serious stuff. They also cover portuguese stick-fighting on occasion.
If you take the time to look at george silverās book [its elizabethan- online at arma] youāll see loads of wing chun-ish stuff. also, take a look at the articles on wrestling, leg use within fencing, at the same site. Destreza, if you can find it, teaches a lot on footwork.. it approachs ba gua, in its way. Fencing improves your touch reflexes, infighting game, stepping, etc.
SCA is geek squad, very true! They just role-play, the chinese silk outfit crowd.
Yeah ā¦ āthe cannons donāt thunder, thereās nothinā to plunderā
Just for grins, I have always wanted to square off against a sport fencer and as we salute give them the line āMy name is Diego Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die!ā
or ā¦
Go to one of those SCA matches and yell āThere can be ONLY ONE!ā
Dave.
Iām glad Iām not the only oneā¦
If you do WC, my recommendation is to look for chinese swordmanship first. The reason is that there are number of aspect of weapon works which relate to your kung fu.
For example, practicing Dao (Chinese Broad Sword) will teach you how to rotate your hip. Practicing spear will teach you fajing and Jian (long sword) will teach you how to use footwork.
As of footworks, i think fencing is closer to jian bit too linear compared to say kendo.
But as of anything, if you enjoy it, go for it. 
Vapour, which teachers instructs in these weapons? Forms doesnt count..
Zhang Hongchoa in Chicago teaches weapons sparring, and his sword word, both broad sword and straight is very cool. I learn from his senior student out here. None of this helps Red5.
If you decide to go the fencing route, Aldo Nadiās book On Fencing is superb, and includes an account of his one duel before duels were outlawed.
BTW, Nadi was an olympic fencer and a prodigy. Pictures of him in competition look like form, his postures are so perfect and he was so good at moving into them in the pressure of the moment.
Originally posted by Dave Fulton
[B]Yeah ā¦ āthe cannons donāt thunder, thereās nothinā to plunderā
Just for grins, I have always wanted to square off against a sport fencer and as we salute give them the line āMy name is Diego Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die!ā
Dave. [/B]
I have done this.
Thanks, Kinjit, thatās the article. The whole book is very good. Thereās a fencer working in the same building as me, and I got him talking fencing one day, and I told him about Nadi. Heās been really thanking me ever since, so I guess the technical stuff in there must be pretty good.
Iām mostly versed in the chinese methods, not so knowledgeable on the western ones, especially the more revived old stuff youāre seeing around, as opposed to more sportive stuff. The guy I learn from practices with a guy who uses sword and shield a la romans or some such thing, I havenāt gone at it with him yet.
All I know is I love that moment when youāre going at it with another decent swordsman, and youāve both decided to go for the otherās sword. It always seems like such a skill game at that point. Of course, itās all a skill game, but that close, skill or lack of it has some pretty immediate consequences.