Swordsman Archive

• Unarmed combat (TKA) - thisa basic a style of melee combat where the practioner relies on body posturing, relfexes, and natural strength to deal damage to an opponent.


• One-handed (Fencer) - this style of combat employs the use of weapons that are wielded with one hand. All of the power comes from a one hand/arm technique. The other hand/arm is generally not a part of the fighting style. For example, in foilfencing the other arm is either extended back or tucked away. Some one handed slashing techniques (i.e. knife fighting or some iaido kata) do not use the other arm for powereither.


• Two-handed (Swordsman) - styles of combat that use two hands close together on the "hilt" of the weapon fall under this catagory. The power of the weapon is derived from weight/momentum or from "snapping" the blade at the point of impact. Two hands are required for these techniques due to the size/length of the weapon (i.e. axes, hammers, and cleavers)or the way the weapon is swung (i.e. the katana).


• Polearms (Pikeman) - polearms are generally wielded using two hands that are farther apart on the shaft of the weapon. This allows a person to have greater stability while wielding such a large object. Most of the fighting styles that I know of for a polearm revolve around using the weapon momentum to create a "zone" around you that an opponent must enter if they are to stirke at you (this is more difficult than it sounds).

It seems to me that the only profession that should get dual-wielding as a skill are fencers. They are the only ones that have an idle hand that doesn't do anything. Of course, it goes without saying that dual-wielding shoud givesomeone a horrid drop in accuracy and speed, but the damage output should be doubled.