Starfleet Academy Training : Swordfighting ?

[DumbDumb2007]

Would swordfighting be part of weapons training at Starflet Academy ? On Earth in Europe it was and it would have been a part of US Army/Marines Training at some point. ( still is ?) With the Klingons around and their Batleths who would agre Starfleet U. would make Swordfighting a part [/list] [/list] of their weaopns training program ?

 

[sbk1234]

I don't necessarily see swordfighting as a standard form of combat training, but it is quite reasonable to assume that fencing will remain a competitive sport upto the 23rd century and beyond. I have no trouble accepting Sulu, for instance, as being on the academy fencing team.

 

[Outpost4]

Come on, DumbDumb. You're missing the obvious.

Sulu vs. Picard - who would win?

En guard!

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

^Sulu would win because he'd use his oiled bare chest to blind Picard unfairly.

 

[A beaker full of death]

DumbDumb2007 said:
Starfleet U. would make Swordfighting a part [/list] [/list] of their weaopns training program ?

Starfleet U. ???
[/list] [/list] ???

WHAT THE FUCK?

 

[26138]

I don't think it would be unreasonable to assume that fighting with bladed weapons would be a part of Starfleet's training. They've probably got to have some sort of hand-to-hand training as well, judging by the extensive use of the two-handed fist-to-the-back move that everyone seemed to use. Kirk's neck chopping move is another example that I can think of off the top of my head. If Vulcans commonly use the nerve pinch, you think the rest of Starfleet would have some sort of basic hand-to-hand training. If someone's stuck on a planet in the middle of nowhere and has to survive, what do you think they'll construct - a knife or a gun (unless you're Kirk fighting a Gorn).

There's a scene in a Voyager episode where Janeway opens up a weapons locker and a knife can clearly be seen - so there's grounds to assume that at least some members of Starfleet were trained to use a knife in combat - why not teach them basic sword usage as well? The crew of the Enterprise did fairly well against the Klingons in Day of the Dove - and the Klingons are known for their heavy emphasis on bladed weapons.

 

[A beaker full of death]

26138 said:
They've probably got to have some sort of hand-to-hand training as well

They've said so. Tomorrow is Yesterday.
On the other hand, Kirk & CO. were at sea using swords, and admitted as much in Day of the Dove.

 

[Jack Bauer]

Outpost4 said:
Come on, DumbDumb. You're missing the obvious.

Sulu vs. Picard - who would win?

En guard!

Sulu. He has more practice sword fighting.

 

[Red Ranger]

People,

To the O.P.'s point, I think the answer is, "yes." Cadets at Starfleet Academy probably have to learn a variety of fighting techniques, armed and unarmed.

There's plenty of evidence. Just take a look at the fight scenes in DSN's "The Way of the Warrior," and you'll see Sisko and Dax seem to know how to wield a bat'leth and how to use that weapon effectively against Klingon adversaries.

We also see in "Friday's Child" that Kirk and Spock know how to make crude bows and arrows that they use effectively against the Capellans. Survival training!

Plus I can see individual officers learning how to use a variety of weapons like different kinds of knives, swords, even bo staffs. We see that in the case of not just Worf, but Picard, Sulu, Dax, and Riker (ambojitsu (sp?), anyone?). After all, what happens when your phaser is out of power? Got to know how to kick ass, with or without weapons!

Red Ranger

 

[Timo]

Our TNG era heroes would have more of a reason to be prepared for a swordfight, to be sure. Before TOS, nobody might have imagined that an advanced spacegoing adversary culture would decide to remain skilled in the art of swashbuckling...

Also, swordfighting would probably be the least important of the combat skills taught in the Academy. If you lose your phaser (which, BTW, is an excellent close combat weapon), it is no more likely that you would find a sword than that you would find a machine gun. And an improvised bladed weapon such as an axe or a piece of scrap metal could not be wielded using swordfighting skills, which are extremely specialized for the type of blade.

Timo Saloniemi