Editing Swashbuckler (section)

==IRL==

European sword fighting in the Renaissance was broadly divided into two camps, those being the German and Italian schools.  The German style was a direct evolution of older medieval sword fighting; it favored the longsword and employed both thrusting and slashing techniques (akin to the lightsaber fighting of [[Star Wars]]).  Whereas the techniques for fencing popularly associated with swashbucklers falls firmly in the Italian school, using rapiers with an emphasis on thrusting attacks.  

As firearms proliferated and early single shot pistols began to appear the Italian school became dominant.  A short, easily carried thrusting rapier or saber was much more useful in a close quarters fight than a full size sword.