Goals and Methodologies of Source-Use in Historical Fencing and Martial Arts
When historical fencers want to follow the guidance in our fencing sources as strictly as possible, we need to understand the meaning of their guidance as best we can. Dictionaries, thesauruses, grammar guides, and similar tools can help with this. However, they are often insufficient on their own because fencing is a specialty topic, and they might not include the specialized use-cases for a word or concept found in fencing sources. As a result, gaining a deep understanding of a technique, concept, or tactical idea sometimes requires consulting examples of it in more than one fencing source. However, doing so also creates certain information integration challenges. When we consult multiple sources to develop our training program and want to follow the instructions of our sources as strictly as possible, which source’s guidance should we follow if their content differs? Additionally, the very act of deciding which sources to consult can steer the outcome of our study of a concept.