The Weekly Warfare   Musings martial from across the SCA

How come rapier don’t get no respect?

Let’s be honest: you don’t need to be an experienced SCAdian to realize that rapier fighters are definitely considered second-class compared to those who do armored combat. Why on earth is this? Rapier fighting is a demanding sport that utilizes a broad array of both physical and mental abilities. The level of finess a fencer may attain is awesome. I am currently imaging the unspeakably beautiful disengage Dame Rosalind performed the last time she skewered me – it’s almost as if she didn’t move at all, and yet I was dead. Is that it? Does respect require drama? Or is it just because rapier fighters can’t win crown? Or is it because rapier wasn’t really a developed form of combat for as long as armored fighting has been? And what’s up with not having a peerage for rapier? I don’t know a dang thing about how that works, but man I get cheesed off when the general attitude seems to be: Heavy fighting! Heavy fighting! Heavy heavy heavy yaddayaddayaddayadda oh, yeah, and some rapier stuff, too.