Posted By Tora on 08-13-2007 8:30 AM I can't say that I'm sorry to see it go, really.
Amen, for reasons I've beaten to death before. Call me Cassandra.
To me, allowing for blade grasping but not allowing the obvious counters to it was a lot like telling someone they are allowed to attack but they can't parry.
Very true. The problem, of course, is that the obvious counters include:
(a) cut the hand as your opponent attempts the grasp
(b) once grasped, let go of your sword and close to grapple
(c) invite the grasp and then sincture in time
Of these, (a) and (b) are difficult to do safely unless you have far more training than the newly-frocked fencer can reasonably be expected to have. While (c) is not really dangerous, it also lives relatively far along the learning curve and thus would not be available to beginners. So even if these were allowed, they would only frustrate or actively endanger a large number of folks.
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