All the smart HEMA practitioners know its a sport at the end of the day. However, the goal of HEMA is to figure out how to use a sword. There are many pretentious arguments about what kinds of cuts would end a fight, and what cuts wouldn't. There is also a ton of experimentation with rulesets in tournaments (mainly in how points are awarded) with the goal of finding a system that encourages fencers to fight realistically. It's actually considered best practice to have a new ruleset for each event, so that the sport is about fencing well, not gaming the ruleset.

Sport Fencing and Kendo are no different, except that the rules are always the same. Where the rules were originally written to encourage good habbits, I know in sport fencing the rules have been gamed for decades, leading to some suicidal techniques being favorable.

I came to HEMA from sport fencing (saber and epee), and while there were several habits I needed to break, my sport fencing experience ultimately gave me a leg up. From what I've watched of Kendo, I think the same could be said about Kendo practicioners coming to HEMA.

The guys who actually fence on a regular basis know the value of sportified sword martial arts like sport fencing and Kendo, and won't dismiss it. The ones who do are pretentious cunts, and I bet you I can beat any one of them.

All the smart HEMA practitioners know its a sport at the end of the day. However, the goal of HEMA is to figure out how to use a sword. There are many pretentious arguments about what kinds of cuts would end a fight, and what cuts wouldn't. There is also a ton of experimentation with rulesets in tournaments (mainly in how points are awarded) with the goal of finding a system that encourages fencers to fight realistically. It's actually considered best practice to have a new ruleset for each event, so that the sport is about fencing well, not gaming the ruleset.

Sport Fencing and Kendo are no different, except that the rules are always the same. Where the rules were originally written to encourage good habbits, I know in sport fencing the rules have been gamed for decades, leading to some suicidal techniques being favorable.

I came to HEMA from sport fencing (saber and epee), and while there were several habits I needed to break, my sport fencing experience ultimately gave me a leg up. From what I've watched of Kendo, I think the same could be said about Kendo practicioners coming to HEMA.

The guys who actually fence on a regular basis know the value of sportified sword martial arts like sport fencing and Kendo, and won't dismiss it. The ones who do are pretentious cunts, and I bet you I can beat them any one of them.