Weapon Swings

[A.mungo]

"A weapon swing should progress between
45 to 90 degrees. If you are merely moving your
wrist back and forth to cause your damage, then
you are not fighting correctly and may be subject
to disciplinary action" Page 94 ARB 1.3

Recently this question came up about how to rule on weapon swings. Some parties questioned if they could bring their weapons back between 45-90 degrees by pulling their wrist all the way back while leaving their arm extended, while others implied that to do so was improper. (Think shoulder to shoulder, or the classic windshield wiper, but with the weapon coming back first)

Is the intent of the weapon swing clarification in the ARB there to judge arm rotation (bringing your arm back to a 45-90 degree angle) before changing locations for your next hit, or is the clarification about wrist flicks there to imply you should not rotate your wrist to hit an arm then a leg (for example) without the weapon moving back at least 45-90 degrees.

How is this ruled in your chapters?

 

[Dan Nickname Beshers]

Each weapon swing should include a movement toward the target compromising an arc of at least 45°. A rotation of the wrist would likely not generate such an arc. The important arc is directly away from the target; the intention is to limit the swing to a size that provides a reasonable chance for blocking or escape. Alliance is predicated on fair play, and this is an extension of that.

 

[A.mungo]

So in NH is it ruled that you require a 45 degree retreat of weapon away from target or 45 degree retreat of arm? I know that you are saying that you cannot do that with a flick of a wrist, but i can easily pull 90 degrees away, is the intention in your mind that it is meant to be a 135 degree retreat? A reset plus 45 degrees per swing?

 

[A.mungo]

https://goo.gl/images/mmy75H

 

[Alavatar]

It sounds like the question is: What is the pivot point from which the 45 degrees is measured? Wrist? Elbow? Shoulder? Hips?

And what direction? Vertical (theta)? Horizontal (phi)?

 

[A.mungo]

I think my question comes from the idea that I can pull a weapon back 90 degrees pretty easily without any shoulder or elbow movement, and then rotate my wrist to place a second shot in an alternate location.

I personally rarely fight without whole arm movement, but it was a specific question in regards to how the rule is interpreted. That being said, the goal of my question is to remove subjectivety.

Like Alavatar said, where is the pivot point in your chapters?

 

[Dan Nickname Beshers]

I will admit that this is interpretation, but since the wrist is specifically disallowed I judge the elbow to be the appropriate pivot point. The intention would be that the tip of the weapon most move a distance greater than or equal to the arc length of a 45 degree angle with its vertex at the elbow. If the pivot comes from the wrist a greater angle is necessary to compensate for the shorter length to traverse the same distance.

Which is to say, enough distance that human reaction time is not a major factor in the success of the block compared to reading of shot placement.