Rapier:Marshaling on the field - Witness
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Witness
- You are expected to be an impartial witness to exactly what happens during a fight. Ideally, you should be able to describe the last 3-4 blows on your side of the fight: where they started, their angle of approach, how they were blocked or where they landed. Do not be afraid to say, "I don't know" if you were looking at one part of the fight when something (allegedly) happened in another part.
- Do not try to impose your view unless you see what appears to be major and repeated problems. Leave the blow counting to the participants unless you see clear reason to intervene; usually, they have a much clearer perspective than the marshals do.
- If the fighters do ask you what happened (or you feel compelled to volunteer), try to do so tactfully. Prefacing your statements with "It looked to me like...", "It appeared...", or "to the crowd it looked like..." is preferable to a dogmatic assertion of what happened. Similarly, it is preferable to ask "Did that blade land on edge, or was it flat?" rather than saying, "You missed a good draw cut."