Nestled in the scenic rolling hills of Southern Germany lies the town of Tübingen. What separates Tübingen from other scenic towns in Southern German is its university founded during the 16th century. Fortunately, many old university buildings remain to this day since Tübengin's small size enabled it to avoid the general destruction of World War II.
Tübengin's oldness goes beyond the age of its buildings. Unknown to most tourist, Tübengin still perpetuates the ancient art of sword dueling. Unlike many places in the world, where mock combats cater for tourists and movie crews, Tübingen's sword duels are painfully real.
In spite of the current emphasis of German youth on nonviolence, students are still lured to sword dueling for both the challenge and for the feeling of being connected to a 400 year old tradition. Sword dueling is currently practiced only in a few university fraternity houses across Germany, but the fraternity house in Tübengin felt confident that dueling was unlikely to die out soon.
Four hundred years ago sword dueling was considered an essential part of a young gentleman's education. The life of a gentlemen was full of violence. Numerous German principalities were constantly fighting each other. Even periods of peace were by no means a guarantee of safety since the roads were often controlled by gangs of robbers and kidnappers. And most importantly, disputes between gentlemen were frequently settled by dueling.
Although Tübengin's dueling is not secret, actual combats between fraternities are restricted to fraternity members. Just to visit the sword room requires special permission.
From the outside the fraternity appears to be nothing more than a large, late 19th century mansion. Inside, the house seems laid-out so as to gradually reveal its true identity to the visitor. The foyer, bedecked with colorful banners and flags, first identifies the house as a fraternity house. The stairwell lined with photographs of fraternity president going back to 1900 silently attests to a tradition strong enough to weather two world wars, a disastrous economic depression, four distinct governmental systems, and the renunciation of military pursuits and tradition by a large percentage of German youth.
It is upon entering the oak paneled dining hall that the visitor realizes that the stairwell of photographs was only the tip of the iceberg. Hanging from exposed heavy wood rafters are banners with dates going back to the 1500's. The fraternity claims that its history is unbroken since its founding in the 1500's.
The dueling room is the last place on the tour - and the most surprising. The room is so unremarkable in its appearance that it confounds all of the visitor's exciting or gruesome preconceptions. Ceiling mounted fluorescent light fixtures replace conveniently located chandeliers: considered a prerequisite by Hollywood swashbucklers. Tall white walls, unrelieved by windows, replace the floor to ceiling mirrors often associated with fencing. Most noticeable is how clinical the room is when compared to the rest of the house.
The sword is heavy with a three inch wide single edged blade of approximately 30 inches. It's point is dull, the blade is straight, and the handle is utilitarian. Overall, the sword resembles a South American machete. The sword's unwieldiness is not a problem, explained the captain of the dueling team, since there are only three simple strokes!
The fraternity's style of dueling is far different from any form of sword fighting found in either sport or the movies. The duel requires the two combatants to stand facing each other about three feet apart; they are not allowed to move either forward or backwards. The combatants remain almost stationary during the duel. Even the sword arm is rigidly held with a 90 degrees bend (with the upper arm parallel to the floor). In fact, all three sword strokes are accomplished by the gyration of the wrist and a slight back-and-forth movement of the forearm. The limited range of motion for the arm is not a problem since all three strokes are intended to strike the top of the opponent's head.
Combatants are only allowed to wear protective padding on the shoulders, just in case a glancing blow accidentally lands there, and steel-framed glasses (optional). The duel continues until one combatant is struck or both are too tired to continue the duel. The captain pointed out that the possibility of a big cut on the head really isn't much when compared to other sports like boxing, auto-racing, or even downhill skiing.
What makes this form of dueling so different is that it de-emphasizes physical agility and skill with the sword. It is very surprising for the visitor to hear that testing the skill of swordmanship is not the main purpose of dueling. After a few confused moments, the captain volunteers that the most important aspect of the duel is in fact psychological. The purpose is to test the combatant's bravery, ability to act under pressure, mental endurance, and ability to make light of pain. In fact, winning a contest is not as good as unflinchingly accepting a blow and then stoically enduring the sewing-up of the wound without the benefit of any pain-killer.
In essence, the fraternity has identified the psychological characteristics
they want to test without the interference of physical ability
or talent with the sword.
The above was originally written for translation into Chinese for a Chinese newspaper in Macao.
© Thane B. Terrill 1996