Quote:
Originally Posted by notalent  I dont agree Peet, The rule doesnt say intentionaly, if you use your non weapon arm to deflect your opp. blade you get a red card. So in answer to JJ's question i would have red carded him for that action at DitD had the rule been as it is worded now. |
I actually was careful not to use the word "intentionally" because, as you say, the rule does not mention intent. However, the rule does say "use", which I interpret to mean that if the arm happens to accidentally deflect the blade while it's really doing something else legit (e.g. balancing the fencer during a lunge, raising up to avoid covering, etc.), then we shouldn't card.
Is that an easy distinction for a ref to make while paying attention to lots of other important things? Nope. I think that's why you see so few of these offenses called.
Actually, the proposal to make "using the non-weapon arm" a group 2 reinforces my interpretation that the rule is meant to penalize actual dirty deeds, not just mistakes. Note that most of the group 2 offenses can't be committed by mistake.
Now, that being said, if you're referring to a specific instance at a specific tournament, I'll of course defer to your judgement, not having been there...
-p
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