The blade bouts were all best of five, which means each bout ends with a 3-2, 3-1, or 3-0 score. Only clean kills or maims count. Other points are redone. The 7th bout, stick and daga, is a blade bout, called by either a clean blade kill or disabling stick strokes.

Stick fights are pure submission until someone has had enough. If we are hurt by a head shot with the fencing mask on, but still able to continue, then we will usually call ourselves out on that note, but not always. This is really up to how cleanly the fighters want to win.

Charles won rounds 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7 according to our record though he told me afterward that he thinks I took 6 and possibly 4.

The 6 stick fights were clearly split with Charles taking 10, 12, 13. He went down from a groin shot in 11. However, he had disabled my right hand. The vibrations that hummed through my hand from the stroke I dropped him with caused the fingertip smash that he scored just seconds before to blow up the right ring finger so that I could not fight right-handed for rounds 12-13. 12 was supposed to be double-stick but Charles opted to fight me single left-handed instead of eating me alive with two sticks. I ended up dropping to protect my right hand after it was hit again and felt like a clean break. When the sticks are flying or you are eating a terrible stab when you are entering often the safest and simplest way to call yourself out is to just drop, which is what I did in this case.

Gabriel wanted to see us fight as smoothly with the sticks as with the knives. But with my gas tank near empty I just went in their trying to make it as ugly and short as possible. Gabe was asking for ‘flow’ and I was nodding yes between rounds but thinking ‘flow no!’

We will be basing our testing format on this two-man meet.

Charles over James: 9-4, and owner of a legacy black belt originally given to Arturo Gabriel by Billy Bryant.

Enjoy the video.