Zen and the art of the eight point parry sequence

Well, I'm bloody knackered.

Starting at ten this morning I've been studying the art of fencing with an 15th century Italian rapier for just under eight hours. Starting with the basic fighting stance, four defensive wards, movement, measure, lunges, beats, cuts and finishing with the mind boggling eight point parry sequence that defends and repostes against any possible line of attack with a blade, I think we covered just about everything. Whether or not I'll remember it tomorrow, or even be able to move, is another matter entirely.

Of course, this was really just a brief taster of the techniques, with each point requiring at least a couple of hours of study and practice to grasp the basic theory. When you have it all down pat with the right hand, you go back and learn how to do it left handed and then learn to fight with a buckler, a main gauche dagger, a cloak and finally with two rapiers at the same time.

The instructor, Mark Donnelly, was an absolute fount of knowledge and taught us with boundless enthusiasm and the patience of a saint for the entire day. I couldn't help thinking, though, that he bore an uncanny resemblance to the classic 2000AD character Nikolai Dante ...