“I saw this documentary about this sensory body armor that permit sword and stick fighting and keeps track of the points and protects you at the same time. What do you think of that?”

Gene

This is another example of how fantasy and delusion will continue to erode masculinity and the combat arts.

1. The worst thing about this is that, with no possibility of pain and injury, stress-adaptive skills will not be learned, and those possessed by the combatants will erode. Behavior changes to clutch levels whenever pain and the possibility of injury are introduced into a non contact situation, to such a degree that the combatant is now dealing with a situation that is more than different, but fundamentally opposed to what he trained for.

2. Te armor will become the target, meaning that a fighter trained in this armor will not have the correct range for shearing cuts, severing cleaves, or bone breaking smashes, and will only learn relatively ineffective tapping techniques.

3. The most effective strikes with stick and blade will be discouraged, as the fighter tapping and rapping at the armor to score his points, will be quicker than a fighter with the same level of talent who takes the trouble to place himself in a leverage position.

4. The most effective defenses—the ones that have the opponent missing by less than an inch—will be abandoned, as glancing dings on the armor, which would have only tugged a shirt or ripped out a body hair, will be abandoned in favor of counter strokes.

The overall point is that nuance will be lost, with that very range where the rubber hits the road in real combat waded through or avoided, not effectively negotiated. It’s just a bad, sissy, idea, taking us away from, rather than into, combat.