Fencing is a school of humility and develops speed, perfect control of the body, balance, beauty, and strong grace. It should be recommended to all those wanting to master their feelings and actions during their lifetime. Through this art they will always think clearly and act with style in their decisions.
- Marcel Marceau
Swordfighting is a game of short-term tactics and long-term strategies, of weighing scenarios, controlling and directing
the opponent's actions --- a mutual effort of snaring and entrapping.
At the core of the fighter's state of mind is the willingness to take risks. Taking risks is the privilege of the free spirit.
It is not so much a measure of guts as it is one of intellect; it requires the capability to assess a situation from all angles, to calculate different outcomes based on independent interpretation and evaluation of past experience, present situation, and reasonable expectation of future results -- and to put both into s perspective that is immediately relevant to the present.
It is about developing scenarios and arriving at risk/reward assessment by virtue of your own, responsible spirit -- about weighing rewards and freely accepting all consequences of the outcome, no matter if they are positive or negative.
-- J. Christopher Amberger
