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I Never Cared Much for Swords. Then I Had to Fight with One

(thewalrus.ca)
44 points pseudolus | 11 comments | 18 Jul 25 13:02 UTC | HN request time: 0.886s | source | bottom
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cjs_ac ◴[18 Jul 25 13:32 UTC] No.44604468[source]▶
The thing about martial arts is that they work: if you do them properly, you're going to kill someone (or be killed). Every group that does stuff with swords, therefore, has to sacrifice something to ensure that everyone can have fun again next week.

In HEMA, it's the aesthetic that's sacrificed: we (I'm one of them) wear gear that makes us look like modern riot police, but the weapons are (at the very least) historically weighted, and the techniques are from historical fencing manuals. There's a lot of arguing over the interpretation of medieval manuscripts in the community.

Re-enactment groups wear historical clothing, so they have to reduce the scope of their combat: they typically disallow strikes to the head, for example.

The Society for Creative Anachronism dispense with everything but the aesthetic of history, and consequently have the most fun.

replies(6): >>44604573 #>>44604974 #>>44605177 #>>44605343 #>>44606403 #>>44606555 #
1. eviks ◴[18 Jul 25 13:43 UTC] No.44604573[source]▶
Maybe in the future you could have no sacrifices by fighting a android that is programmed not to hit strongly enough to inflict harm, and is too tough to be "killed" itself even in regular armor...
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2. echelon ◴[18 Jul 25 13:49 UTC] No.44604624[source]▶
Or by being part of the brain upload simulation and unable to die.
replies(1): >>44604819 #
3. latexr ◴[18 Jul 25 14:07 UTC] No.44604797[source]▶
That would be equivalent to only being able to play chess against a computer, so plenty of people would be left unsatisfied. That said, I like the direction you’re going.

Since we’re going the science fiction route of letting imagination run wild, perhaps the solution could lay in the sword itself. Picture something superficially indistinguishable from the real thing made from an equivalent to nanobots which remain tight and hard against each other but immediately let go and “shatter” when struck against something else. You could bang and clash swords in fierce battle, but as soon as you would deal a severe blow against your opponent your weapon would break and deal no real damage (but still count as a win). That could be intensely satisfying and lead to great moments.

4. eviks ◴[18 Jul 25 14:08 UTC] No.44604819[source]▶
Nah, that's pure fiction...
5. cjs_ac ◴[18 Jul 25 15:15 UTC] No.44605611[source]▶
All of these things are inherently social activities. The fact that you're up against another human being is what makes it fun.
replies(1): >>44605694 #
6. eviks ◴[18 Jul 25 15:21 UTC] No.44605694[source]▶
It will still be a social activity! Nothing here forces lonely 1-1 battles, it's just that you'll only be able to fight full force with a selected android subgroup from the other side if it's some historic battle reenactment
replies(1): >>44607676 #
7. yencabulator ◴[18 Jul 25 15:24 UTC] No.44605737[source]▶
> that is programmed not to hit strongly enough to inflict harm

The difference between an attack that is hard to defend and an attack that will hurt if it succeeds is very slim.

replies(1): >>44605814 #
8. eviks ◴[18 Jul 25 15:30 UTC] No.44605814[source]▶
... for a human

A robot has more strength and reaction to stop / reroute a successful attack

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9. yencabulator ◴[18 Jul 25 15:44 UTC] No.44606030{3}[source]▶
It's a tough sensory problem.

In the world of non-weapons (which I'm more familiar with), say a kick needs to go into the space my body was occupying a moment ago, or avoiding it is not realistic.

10. kbelder ◴[18 Jul 25 15:49 UTC] No.44606109{3}[source]▶
A hypothetical future robot may. Right now, anything with the strength to wave a heavy stick is a threat to be around.
11. cjs_ac ◴[18 Jul 25 17:43 UTC] No.44607676{3}[source]▶
HEMA is about recreating what's described in the historical manuscripts, which is almost always 1v1 stuff. Examples here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91IIARM5lVs