Belegarth

my personal preference is single blue weapons. my style of fighting (or more like what i am trying to learn) is dodging blows in place of parrying. like someone swings and i duck under the blade and deliver a body shot. could the more experienced tell me what they think of it. oh and a quick question are trip attacks legal?

trips are NOT legal, because they can potentially seriously injure someone that doesnt know how to fall properly.

dodging is much harder because our weapons are so light people can swing inhumanly fast comparatively to a real weight sword.... its doable, but much easier to simply learn to parry/counter.

If you try to duck under a blade, you're more than likely going to get cracked upside the head with only yourself to blame. It's bad form and pretty frustrating for your opponent.

I think it's possible, but like dane said, you're very likely to get hit in the head quite a bit, and it would be more at fault than the person swinging. Try it out, but if you are going too, #1 never complain about a headshot due to that kind of move, and #2 remember that people will think you are intentionally ducking into the headshots, so they will call you a cheater, which at that point you arn't attempting to be, but are kind of....

oh, and NO TRIPPING

BoW wrote:3.6.3. No throws, unarmed strikes, or joint/nerve holds.

Unassisted, intentional tripping is bad (i.e. don't do it), but apparently not strictly illegal...
But - don't do it.

A trip is an uncontrolled throw made with the foot/leg and is therefore an illegal move. Don't trip people, please.

As far as a dodging style, my suggestion is that you combine a ducking dodge with a hanging guard, so that any undodged headshot will be deflected by your hanging guard. Preventing the cheater calls, but still allowing for your agile style to work for you.

Dodging is best done by way of range manipulation.

If you ever get near Kato of Dur-D, just watch and learn. He's probably the most masterful single blue combatant I've ever met. He regularly whoops shieldmen at his experience and skill level with just a bluesword. He does it, near as I can tell, by being unpredictable, fast, and in control of range.

Someone had posted a great article on the ranges of combat and how to use them to your advantage around here someplace. Go digging for it, it should be in this forum.

Ducking is bad; tripping is bad.

If you just want to stay agile and maneuverable, make a 14x14" or 16x16" square punch shield out of either a small piece of plywood (mine's 1/2", which is way too thick, really) or a small cut of a boogie board. your shield stays sickeningly maneuverable and fast. You can basically use it like you'd black a shot with your offhand, only you can do it more than once per fight.

Sir Kenneth did a great article on range.