On 21 August 2015 at 10:25, Richard Aiken <xxxxxx@gmail.com> wrote:
On Thu, Aug 20, 2015 at 6:15 PM, Greg Chalik <mrg3105@gmail.com> wrote:

Essentially the length of combat says not how good opponents are, but how equally bad they are.


Melee combat by knights in heavy armor - on those occasions NOT involving a successfully-delivered charge of heavy horse - were essentially contests of endurance rather than of skill.
​My reading is that medieval armoured knights didn't really do much 'melee'. Mostly they charged from a couple of hindred yeards away, fervently hoping to knock the opponent over with first blow. And, they just kept doing this until their horses were blown.
Fighting on foot in full armour was not an endurance-based expereince. I remember seeing a story some years ago of a guy into body-building who was out to prove something; got dressed in a full suit of armour from one of those re-enactor societies...and lasted about 10 minutes swinging a sword.​
 

It would be very rare for a true master swordsman to face a peer outside of a pre-planned contest, because there are so few in societies, and they rarely meet, or have

​ ​
a desire to do so.


I would dispute the "desire to do so." One can hardly build a reputation as a master swordsman unless one routinely goes up against opponents of comparable skill.
​No, a master builds a reputation through the students.​
 

Also, I can imagine that there would be a more or less steady supply of "young guns" (convinced of their own high skills and/or immortality) wishing to try themselves against highly-reputed swordsmen.

[Someone Who Was Probably NOT Greg Chalik Wrote}:>> The best way to engage a high value target is by using a sniper, not a TU 'ninja'. Historical ninjas only vary rarely performed assassinations, usually NOT using blades. When they were forced to use weapons, the ninja blade was designed for a quicker draw, not superior steel. THIS is the formative idea behind the SW lightsabre. The prolonged samurai-like duel is atypical of samurai combats that were unlikely to be lengthy in reality

​Why would you write [Someone Who Was Probably NOT Greg Chalik Wrote}?!
The point of using a TU ninja wouldn't be merely killing the person, but killing them in a particular manner, for public consumption. Having a "samurai-like duel" would be part of the point, particularly in the case of Aslan.
​"killing them in a particular manner, for public consumption." that is your opinion Richard.
Killing for public consumption is called 'public execution'.

Samurai-like duels in the context of SW lightsaber ​use! I hadn't done the research, but would be highly surprised if the average historical duel between samurai lasted long enough to have a SW-like dialogue :-)

Even so, watch any kendo demonstration, or any JAPANESE film with samurai combat. Duration of two minutes, with one minute for posturing and 30 seconds for being ready for combat.
European use of swords was also designed to kill quickly. All the swashbuckling stuff is Hollywood. Sabre duels were later confined to epee (reducing fatal damage), and made illegal entirely not for any moral considerations, but because of the sheer death toll of people who were bad at it, but felt compelled to defend their honour, but not being able to find or afford a competent substitute. I think in France it got so bad that at one time casualties of duels were outnumbering annual graduation of lieutenants! It became organisationally, socially and economically unsustainable.
Japanese were doing it also, but I think they were more constrained by their culture.

Aslans are a very different culture, but I wouldn't assume theim to be stupid.
I doubt very much they would continue to fight duels to the death while being a spacefaring civilisation, but even if they had, it is safe to assume that their culture developed over the thousands of years and influences from other races towards a less bloody way of inter-personal conflicts. After all, male lions don't fight to the death all that often, and domestic dogs developed an entire conflict resolution behaviour procedure in pre-sentience!

​Greg C​