Quote:
Originally posted by Drone
I met a lot of people who just could not let go of what they had learned from chinese broadsword (etc) and thought that they might reinvent the wheel, by adding a little asain sword tactics to a complete european form.
Yep, that's something that my Taiji teacher always stresses: "Empty your cup" when you're learning something new. I'm going into fencing with the attitude that I don't know anything about swordfighting. I do note the similarities or differences between Chinese and European swordsmanship as I understand them, but I agree that the European style is complete, and I always do things the way the fencing instructor says. I'm not necessarily saying I wouldn't mix some apsects eventually, but I'd want a pretty solid knowledge of both before I did that.