- Oct 8, 2019
- 586
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I did Collegiate Fencing for 3 years in the mid 80's (Sabre); you are not wrong.The principle like playing tennis. Hitting faster can catch your opponent off-guard but overdoing it can result in missing your shot or landing your hit off the target as you prioritize speed over aiming precision calculation.
Balanced is balanced. You don't take risks and aim for the target.
Heavy is just putting more force into it. Doesn't mean precision is a lot worse, you just take more time focusing your body into a harder hit, but this allows your opponent to react faster. I think I also read in "kendo" descriptions about it that it allows user to land a harder hit by sacrificing defense. Overhead hit I think takes a tiny bit longer to swing compared to simple thrust for example.
Faster means you open your guard to someone who knows what they're doing and ready to strike exploiting your weakness.
Balanced can be overwhelmed with superior strength.
Heavy opens you to unexpected attacks as you lose reaction time.
But I'm no expert at tennis or sword fighting. I thought this sounds logical and I had to somehow balance things and add a unique touch to different stances.
Overall it just a minuscule bonuses that no one will notice during playtime if they're not aware of this.