Memories of the 28th Century

Next Step in Gilding the Lily

I was noting some piercings recently, when I remembered fencing scars. There I a nice description of the application of them in Royal Flash by George McDonald Fraser, in which the main character is given two scars in a practice duel with a master. The scars were as part of a disguise, and the novel is similar to The Prisoner of Zenda. The fencing scars were especially popular in the later 19th and early 20th centuries in Germany, but they were not rare in other European countries.

The scars came to mind, because they were admired. Apparently, there were particular types of scars that were preferred, but any dueling scars were better than none. But tattoos are scars of a sort, so I was wondering if people who are into “body art” might take up dueling to gain a different sort of art. The scars can also be produced by surgical actions, so the non-violent wouldn’t have to be left out.

There have been cultures that gave particular sorts of scars of people, as specialized tattoos. Some scars would have sand or ashes rubbed into them to give a certain texture. These are, or were, more like modern tattoos than dueling scars, but the effect was similar. The question is whether people want to show their particular subculture on their faces, and in many cases the answer is yes.

Dueling and fencing in all forms have become less popular in the last few decades, but I think that there is enough interest that it might come back. When I took a course in fencing to fill a physical education requirement there were women as well as men in the class, so there shouldn’t be complaints about sexism. I would think that some women could become very good and even compete with the men. George McDonald Fraser had a woman do an excellent job fencing with a man whom she eliminated in one of the Flashman novels; it was very convenient for Harry that she happened along. And that could be encouragement to other women, but I would prefer for women to avoid such behavior.

It seems to me that brute strength has come to be admired more than it should be, and a restoration of fencing might turn that around. Fencing requires strength and agility, but it requires intelligence, a quick mind, and quick reflexes. There are fencing teams in most colleges and universities, but they keep their fencing in the formal situation, rather than having the sorts of rooms that Mark Twain described in A Tramp Abroad http://www.gutenberg.org/files/119/119-h/119-h.htm#ch5. A few minor changes in laws could allow the fighting clubs to be reestablished. And scars from dueling make more sense than some of the tattoos that I have seen.

article
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_fencing
graphics
http://www.missedinhistory.com/blog/...dueling-scars/
article
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntr...#post_13957680
blog
http://popthem.blogspot.com/2012/06/...ing-scars.html

Students’ Dueling Ground from Tramp Abroad
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/119/119-h/119-h.htm#ch5