In looking into the subject of a fencers ethics, it might appear quite simple at first glance. When watching a bout, the observer sees two people in a fast paced sword fight. With formal salutes at the beginning and a friendly hand shake at the end. There are numerous rules defining what fencers can and can not do, and out side of those - pretty much anything goes. Deception is the name of the game in a match, often the most devious comes out on top. And yet most fencers are the sort of serious upstanding folk that we imagine them to be, so we must ask ourselves why this is and what guiding principles dictate what behavior is and is not OK.

If fencers were all ethical, there would be no need of books filled with rules dictating what contestants can do, because we would all be living and fencing according to an ethical code, and this would prevent us from trying to win at the other's expense. However, despite what you may have heard, people are evil. Every one of us would lie, steal, and cheat if we could get away with it. Other people's lives don't mean squat compared to our own, and that's the truth. This is why people fight with each other: we want what we want when we want it, and are quite cross when we don't get it. Usually this lies under the mask of civility and does not come out unless under extenuating circumstances, however combat sports (fencing, karate, etc) have a way of drawing out this ugly underside of humanity. This is why all combat sports have traditional rituals involving honor and respect, it serves as a conscious or subconscious reminder to behave.

Society and the culture combat sports or martial arts are derived from define the moral codes that are reflected in a sport or art and its rituals. Eastern arts typically have rituals for driving evil spirits out of the ring, and western arts typically involve a show of respect and friendship between contestants (deriving from the biblical admonishment "Love thy neighbor..."). Interestingly there are schools that teach Christian martial arts, that are no more than baptized eastern arts... figure that. The rules of fencing have historically and even today closely align themselves with biblical morality, especially in the early days before the enlightenment and the Renaissance swept through Europe. The ethical code of the Bible (10 commandments) are necessary to the development of an accurate and comprehensive moral compass that not only governs a person's public behavior, but also their private behavior. The most important parts of ethical codes are their source (are they fixed, i.e. from God, or variable i.e. societal norms), are they comprehensive? (do they cover all of life), and how do they treat those who cannot do anything, good or bad - to (or for) you?

Because man is so totally depraved and evil, he cannot follow any moral guide alone. In order to be moral he needs Devinne intervention. Good teachers who tell us to "be good and here's how," are a dime a dozen, but without Divine intercession we cannot hope to live up to even the most basic moral code (sorry, atheists). Without Jesus, we can not be moral or ethical, much less for honorable reasons, for any length of time. That's the gospel truth. Literally.

Erik Schlagel, December 8, 2009
  

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