{"id":5084277,"date":"2020-02-03T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-03T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ctlatinonews.com\/the-art-of-dueling-in-wallingford\/"},"modified":"2020-02-03T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-02-03T05:00:00","slug":"the-art-of-dueling-in-wallingford","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/ctln\/2020\/02\/03\/the-art-of-dueling-in-wallingford\/","title":{"rendered":"The Art Of Dueling In Wallingford"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Brian Woodman Jr.<\/a>, CTLatinoNews.com<\/a><\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n

Ramon Martinez, the Maestro de Armas at the Martinez Academy of Arms<\/a>, has taught traditional European swordsmanship for more than 30 years. His students include Guilford resident Andy Baiman<\/a>, who teaches classical swordsmanship at the YMCA in Wallingford. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I began my study, the school was a small mere handful of students,\u201d said Baiman, who started studying at the school in 1985. \u201cOver the years, our numbers grew, and by the \u201990s, there were, as best as I can remember, between a dozen and two dozen students enrolled at any one time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

Martinez recalled how he studied for 10 years under another fencing master, the late Frederick Rohdes before he opened the academy in 1983. He described Rohdes as one of the last instructors to teach swordsmanship as a martial art rather than as a sport. He described his lineage as part of a living tradition.<\/p>\n\n\n

The academy teaches\nswordsmanship in the Spanish, English and Italian traditions. He clarified this\nis not the competitive style of fencing that people watch during the Olympics \u2013\nhis students are taught to approach their training as though preparing for an\nactual fight. <\/p>\n\n\n

\u201cI would say that fencing appeals to those who appreciate a Mano a Mano confrontation…” <\/p>Andy Baiman, classical swordsmanship instructor, Wallingford <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n

\u201cI would say that fencing appeals to those who appreciate a Mano a Mano confrontation, along with all its attendant reliance on intelligent strategy, well-trained technique and tactics, timing, proportion, judgment, balance, and, last of all, speed,\u201d said Baiman, a retired teacher who used to run a hardware store in Manhattan.<\/p>\n\n\n

 \u201cI say this regarding speed, because, in classical swordsmanship (and I must interject here unlike<\/em> sport fencing, which includes both Olympic and Intramural fencing,) if you have a healthy dollop of all of the other <\/em>attributes, <\/em>speed becomes much less important. And that goes double for strength. Thus, even more than that famous invention by Mr. Colt, the sword (at least the 19th Century sword) is truly the great equalizer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

He added that the\nprotective gear and the nature of the weapons made injuries rare and made it\nunnecessary to \u201cpull punches.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\u201cThus, there is no\ndifference between your behavior in a bout, and a hypothetical duel,\u201d he\nadded. \u201cExcept, of course, the possibility of injury and the fear factor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

He said classical\nfencing allowed for the experience of an actual duel as much as safety would\npermit.<\/p>\n\n\n

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