"live steel duelling"

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MadMark

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Jun 14, 2000
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What's this "Live Steel Duelling" that Ken Cook claims to be involved in in the Movie Swords thread?
 
Originally posted by MadMark
What's this "Live Steel Duelling" that Ken Cook claims to be involved in in the Movie Swords thread?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure but it sounds like a form of insanity.:D
 
Ken Cook does not "claim" to be involved in anything. If he says, "I do such-and-such," you can believe that he does. The man has probably forgotten more about knife and sword work than a lot of folks will every learn. He's a decent and very educated guy whom I consider a friend.

I forget what the particulars of that organization are (they're not fighting each other with sharp swords, to my knowledge), but it really exists and Ken really does do what he says he does.
 
Live steel duelling is fighting with steel weapons as opposed to shinai or wasters. Its pretty self explanatary really. Strangly enough the idea seems to drive the safty squad mental...I agree tho...Sure can you imagine it actually using swords for more then looking pretty? madness it tells ya, madness.

Ciaran
 
My apologies, Sharp Phil. Do you know where I could find out more about it on the web? If the swords are blunt and they wear armour then it doesn't sound quite so extreme.
 
is usually done with blunted blades, and with a modicum of control beyond whapping folks in armor. I prefer stickfighting with SSO's and wasters meself. They do enuf damage to armor from impact. Cheeaper, too.

Keith
 
MadMark, you might also try going over to SwordForums.com, where they have at least three fora devoted to this specific interest (please see below). But, if I may, I would suggest that you try to show a bit less, shall we say, attitude in your posts or you will very likely be the recipient of a similar attitude on their parts. This is not intended as a put down of you but as a comment on the very different styles of the two boards. Their address is [url]http://swordforum.com/[/url].

The specific fora are:

1)Historical European Swordsmanship, and

2)SPATHA: Society for Promotion of Authenticity in the Teaching of Historical Arms, which is really two fora; a)SPATHA Articles and b)SPATHA Discussion Forum.

Good Luck and I look forward to seeing you over there as there is a world of very specific knowledge resident in that Board that is very available to the person who is genuinely interested in learning.
 
guys, the term "live steel" is commonly understood amongst re-enactors and historical fencers to mean a sharp blade.Some groups and individuals use live blades for test cutting and drills, but very few would countenance unscipted combat with them.Unsharpened steel weapons are usually called 'blunts',rebated of foiled.
 
then it sounds like a bit of lunacy to me. I'll stick to sticks and full armor (and full contact) fer sure.

Keith
 
I always understood the term "live steel" to mean a sharp blade also, which is why I found the idea a little hard to believe.
Thanks for the links, Fuller, and I'll try not to tick them off.:D
 
Their "live steel" AIN'T. You are correct that "live" means sharp. IMHO: Anyone that spars with sharp swords isn't very sharp themselves.

Rather than swordforum :barf:, I would recommend http://www.thearma.org/

Daniel
 
Tell me, knightsteel, what is your problem with SwordForum? Its style is very different from what you see here, but it has its own value that I have found and it is an excellent place to start learning about swords, especially since they added the Beginners' Forum. I bloody well wish that they had had it when I first started posting nearly 5 years ago.
 
Hugh,

If I had to guess, I'd point to the Angelsword link in his signature. If I remember correctly, the folks at swordforum slammed that site hard for the spirtual pseudoscience and mysticism wrapped up in descriptions of how their blades were made and how they performed. (I am writing this from dim memory of when I used to surf swordforum, so I could be wrong.)
 
Aside from suit that I currently have in federal court against SFI for slander, fraud, and extortion...

Their whole approach is based almost entirely on promoting their advertisers, while presenting the promotions as "educational". Threads beneficial to non-advertisers are locked. Threads detrimental to their advertisers are quickly deleted. Threads detrimental to non-advertisers may be continued indefinately until advertising is paid.

Daniel
 
Hmmm well there's certainly no point in getting in a tussle over it, but I think that a lawsuit against SFI is rather detrimental to the sword community as a whole. Like it or not it is certainly the most popular sword oriented forum that I have discovered and it is a pretty decent community. Suppose the lawsuit goes completely your way? What do you hope to accomplish? Getting money from the owner would be impossible you can't get what isn't there. Shutting down the site would destroy a very informative resource and simply force its inhabitants to go elsewhere with their opinion of your enterprise GREATLY to the negative. Are there politics at play on that forum, well certainly, but there are politics everywhere. If you make a quality product then the truth will out as it were. Just my two cents.
 
Just as a by the by, I had a chance to handle some of Angel Swords wares in Atlanta and I think they do make a decent product. It is a little to fantasy oriented for my taste but there are many people that really like that sort of thing. Honestly I think it would be best for everyone if all parties involved just live and let live.
 
I am not and was not any part of that discussion, Hell, I don't even remember it! But, knightsteel, if your courtsuit was any part of the raging paranoia that is going on over there among the administration of SwordForums to the point where a member cannot even ask why a moderator does something, then I have no more use for you than I do for some of the snarky twits over there who think that they are God's gift to the sword community and have THE answer to any and all questions. I have seen a number of people and their products kicked around very badly over there, and over here, too, but most seem to find ways to deal with it other than in court and wind up with respect as a result. If you want an example of that on this Board, look at Sal Glesser and Spyderco. When I forst came here, somewhere in late 1998, there was a hooraw over Spyderco's policy of not allowing Internet dealers to post prices lower than MSRP in an effort to protect their brick and glass dealers. First Joyce Laituri of Spyderco's PR department, IIRC, got on to defend the policy and got flamed then Sal came on. He was greeted in a most hostile fashion, initially, but kept at it until he and the great majority of his critics worked out their problems and then he was offered or offered to run a Spyderco Forum and I'll bet that his Forum is, far and away, the most popular Forum on the Board now. Both Spyderco and the knife knuts have benefitted greatly from his presence on BladeForums, even if Spyderco knives are not your cup of tea. Similarly, there was a fellow from United Cutlery who came onto SwordForums and was greeted most hostilely at first for his stainless steel wall-hangers. After several go arounds, both sides finally admitted that his market was not the market that was generally the one found among SFI members, but that it was a valid market made up people who wanted copies of movie swords that they could hang on their walls and admire without the need for care that a real sword requires. He also agreed that there is a market, however small, for real live versions of these movie swords, a hunger for usable swords from the Tolkien films or from, God help us, the Highlander movies or TV shows. (I loved the original movie but hated the seqels and the TV shows as they missed the entire point of the movie.)

While not familiar with the specifics of your problem with SFI, I have watched similar situations unfold and I can tell you that suing does not help your image at SFI nor does trashing them in another forum.
 
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