Bringing Literature To Life--Through Violence! [Tuesday, Second Period]
“Honor,” Max began without preamble. “Honor’s a tricky thing. And it can make people do things that seem odd, or stupid, or outright crazy.” Often did, in fact. “Honor isn’t about being rational, really, it’s about holding to a set of beliefs about how people should behave, even when behaving another way might be easier. And the same thing is true in fighting.”
“There are plenty of examples of honorable behavior from the history of warfare, where opponents were allowed to leave the battlefield rather than being slaughtered, for instance. And as there are plenty of examples of things which are considered dishonorable: ambushes, taking hostages, fighting in civilian areas. Different people consider different actions honorable and dishonorable, of course,” which they’d discussed last week, so Max was going to skip that particular philosophical discussion. “But while the details are different, most people have some concept of honor, and those concepts pretty much always end up applied to fighting.”
Max grinned slightly. “And those concepts are very rarely more obvious than they are in the case of dueling. Many cultures have some take on the concept, and the rules of dueling are rigid, artificial, and often very different from the chaos of a battlefield.”
“This is because honor is more important than victory in a duel. It’s better to lose with honor than to win in dishonor, at least in most cultures. So today I’ve set up a little exercise for everyone.” And Max’s smile was far too amused to be reassuring. “You’re all going to be dueling. With each other. Under a specific code of conduct,” that he was about to make up on the spot.
There was a pile of foam weapons that Max waved at. “You may choose one weapon from the pile. You may only duel one opponent at a time, so one against one only. The winner is the first person to knock their opponent down.”
“Oh, and you have to stand on one foot the whole time. If, at any point after a match begins, you have two feet on the ground, you forfeit your honor and the duel.”
Max was going to enjoy the show... Maybe he should have brought popcorn.
“There are plenty of examples of honorable behavior from the history of warfare, where opponents were allowed to leave the battlefield rather than being slaughtered, for instance. And as there are plenty of examples of things which are considered dishonorable: ambushes, taking hostages, fighting in civilian areas. Different people consider different actions honorable and dishonorable, of course,” which they’d discussed last week, so Max was going to skip that particular philosophical discussion. “But while the details are different, most people have some concept of honor, and those concepts pretty much always end up applied to fighting.”
Max grinned slightly. “And those concepts are very rarely more obvious than they are in the case of dueling. Many cultures have some take on the concept, and the rules of dueling are rigid, artificial, and often very different from the chaos of a battlefield.”
“This is because honor is more important than victory in a duel. It’s better to lose with honor than to win in dishonor, at least in most cultures. So today I’ve set up a little exercise for everyone.” And Max’s smile was far too amused to be reassuring. “You’re all going to be dueling. With each other. Under a specific code of conduct,” that he was about to make up on the spot.
There was a pile of foam weapons that Max waved at. “You may choose one weapon from the pile. You may only duel one opponent at a time, so one against one only. The winner is the first person to knock their opponent down.”
“Oh, and you have to stand on one foot the whole time. If, at any point after a match begins, you have two feet on the ground, you forfeit your honor and the duel.”
Max was going to enjoy the show... Maybe he should have brought popcorn.