IMAGE DESCRIPTION:
Though my blood swells with the proud fire of Cimmerian lineage and the fierce ways of the barbarian, a spark of curiosity ignites within me about the knightly art of swordplay, so refined and steeped in the etiquette of civilization. FROM THE LEGENDARY ARTS OF THE BROADSWORDS OF THE WEST TO THE DEADLY FINESSE OF THE EASTERN BLADES, I AM CAPTIVATED BY THE PRIMAL ALLURE OF THEM ALL! SCHOOLS OF SWORDSMANSHIP RISE LIKE TITANS, SHAPING WARRIORS IN THE DEADLY DANCE OF COMBAT, EACH TECHNIQUE A TESTAMENT OF STRENGTH, EACH POSTURE A BATTLE CRY TO THE GODS OF WAR. PHILOSOPHIES CLASH IN FIERCE DUELS, WHERE THE METTLE OF STUDENTS IS TESTED, SEEKING TO UNVEIL WHICH STYLE REIGNS SUPREME, AND WHICH VALIANT HEART POSSESSES THE SHARPEST WIT, BODY, AND BLADE IN THE RAW ARENA OF LIFE AND DEATH. CAST THINE EYES UPON THE RAPIERS, ONCE EMBLEMATIC OF NOBLE WARRIORS! YET NOW, THEY LIE TARNISHED, TARNISHED BY THE FILTH OF THE EFFETE AND THE POMPOUS, THE HAUGHTY MERCHANTS OF CIVILIZATION, CLOAKED IN THEIR SMIRKING ARROGANCE AND GILDED WEALTH. O, HOW THE LEGACY OF THESE BLADES HAS BEEN SULLIED BY THE DESCENDANTS OF THE OVERWEENING FRANKS, WHO HAVE DESPOILED THAT WHICH ONCE EMBODIED VALOR AND SAVAGE GRACE! YET, THE HISPANIC SCHOOL, UNLIKE THE FRIVOLOUS FRENCH ENDEAVOR, DEMANDED MUCH OF ITS SCHOLARS, GUIDING THEM ALONG A RUGGED PATH OF RIGOROUS STUDY. WHILE THE FRENCH LAD MIGHT GRASP THE HILT OF A SWORD WITHIN THE FLEETING SPAN OF A MOON, A DISCIPLE OF THE HISPANIC TRADITION WOULD TOIL FOR A YEAR, DELVING INTO THE TOMES OF THE ANCIENTS—PYTHAGORAS, ARISTOTLE, THE ARCANE WISDOM OF HERMITISM, AND THE LOFTY MUSINGS OF NEO-PLATONISM. AYE, IT WAS A CRUCIBLE OF KNOWLEDGE THAT SHAPED WARRIORS OF BOTH MIND AND MIGHT! ERE THE BOLD WARRIOR GRASPED HIS BLADE, HE MUST FIRST DON THE MANTLE OF A PHILOSOPHER, FOR IN THE CRUCIBLE OF THOUGHT, THE HEART OF A COMBATANT IS FORGED. GIRARD THIBAUT, THAT MASTER OF SWORDPLAY, ROSE TO EXALTED HEIGHTS IN THE REALM OF THE RAPIER, THOUGH A DUTCHMAN BY BIRTH, HIS QUILL DANCED IN THE SPANISH TONGUE, CRAFTING A STYLE THAT THRUMMED WITH THE FIERY SPIRIT OF IBERIA—A TRUE DEXTERITY THAT ECHOED THROUGH SUN-BAKED STREETS. BEHOLD THE FIERCE GRACE OF FRENCH FENCING, WHERE THE FIGHTER LEANS FORWARD, LIKE A COILED SERPENT WAITING TO STRIKE, YET IN THE HEART OF SPAIN, THE WARRIORS STOOD TALL AND RESOLUTE, THEIR SWORDS POISED WITH UNYIELDING PURPOSE, EACH MEASURED STEP A DECLARATION OF PROWESS AND CONTROL UPON THE BLOOD-SOAKED EARTH. “BEHOLD THE VISION! NONE HATH EYES CLEARER THAN MINE OWN, A CUNNING LYNX, EVER ALERT TO THE ANGLES OF FATE AND THE YAWNING DISTANCES THAT LIE BEFORE ME. HEARKEN TO MY VELOCITY! I AM THE TIGER, A FLASH OF FURY SO SWIFT THAT NOT EVEN THE FIERCE BOLTS OF HEAVEN CAN STRIKE MY SWIFT FORM. IN BOLDNESS, I STAND ALONE, A LION WITH HEART FIERCE AND FEARLESS, CALLING FORTH ALL TO THE CLASH OF STEEL AND THE ROAR OF BATTLE. AND AS FOR FORTITUDE, I AM THE MIGHTIEST ELEPHANT, BEARING A FORTRESS UPON MY BACK, STEADFAST AND UNYIELDING, NEVER TO KNEEL NOR STUMBLE UPON THE TREACHEROUS PATH OF LIFE.”; (MAN, I WISH I KNEW SWORDSMANSHIP)
