[Groop] Wow!

[RABuswell@dstsystems.com]

Do we have any references of Groo being trained with a sword.  I don't
remember any.  Frequently, when he is asked to train others, he simply hits
the trainees over the head and tells them to block the hit.  Since we can
probably assume that we train others the way we are ourselves trained, that
Groo learned to fight with swords by blocking incoming swords and cutting
at open targets.

He simply has a knack for using a sword, but there is still no technique
behind it.  There is no fear.  There is simply mindlessness, and an uncanny
knack for not cutting himself.

Another reason I would think he hits by accident is the fact that he
frequently decimates his own side in a battle.  He isn't looking at what he
is hitting, he is just hitting it.

He is very good with his swords, I agree.  I just can't call it skill.

Richard Buswell
http://www.kcstage.com
http://www.naughtynobles.com
http://www.geocities.com/rabuswell





Iain Bryan <mrbisco@pacbell.net> on 05/25/2000 05:07:50 PM

To:   Richard A. Buswell/MF Support/DST/US@DST
cc:
Subject:  Re: [Groop] Wow!



if you've read all of the issues, and think back..there are many many many
times where groo is displayed as knowing what he is doing w/ the swords.
and
it's not always when he is fighting.  remember life of groo?  as a child he
was
superb w/ the blade.

he was born, grabs a knife and slices w/ it.

iain

RABuswell@dstsystems.com wrote:

> Ah, but he is also described by his opponents as mindless in his attacks.
> His methods would be attributed to innate natural talent, and not to
> training or technique.  He uses no strategy, doesn't know what strategy
is,
> and couldn't care less.
>
> Like many of the Berserkers of old, the real edge he has is that he shows
> no fear in battle.  What sane, rational, thinking person is going to
engage
> in combat with someone who has absolutely no regard for his own personal
> safety?  That person is going to win.
>
> Groo does what Groo does best, which is the mindless destruction of
> everything around him.  Those windmilling blades make a formidable
barrier
> to all his opponents.  Many times he is lost without his swords, and is
> usually easily defeated.  This is not a man of fighting skill.  This is a
> man who waves his swords around to lethal effect.
>
> There is an old Japanese tale of a peasant who offended a Samurai.  The
> Samurai told the peasant that he would return in a month's time, and
fight
> the peasant in a duel.  The peasant went to hermit master and asked the
> master to teach him enough swordplay so as to put forth a decent effort
> before dying.  The master refused, saying there was not enough time.
> However, there was one move he could teach the peasant that, if properly
> executed, would defeat (kill) the Samurai.  The peasant practiced this
> particular move, day after day, and mastered its technique.  Eventually,
> the Samurai returned, and the two took up their stance for the duel.  The
> Samurai looked at his opponent, and saw the stance the peasant took.  He
> knew that if the peasant performed the move he set up for, he would kill
> the Samurai, but the peasant would be killed in the process.  (The old
> master neglected to tell the peasant this.)  The Samurai looked in the
> peasant's eyes and saw no fear of death in them, and called off the
match,
> knowing that the duel would end in the death of both.
>
> The lesson in that story is that those who face death without fear can
> defeat death.  The peasant won his life out of ignorance.  Groo wins for
> much the same reason.  Neither one realizes that what they are doing is
> supposed to kill them, and so their opponents back down.
>
> Plus, there is the added protection of his body odor.  It's hard to fight
> when you are gagging from the smell.
>
> (This is all a moot point if Mark and Sergio say otherwise.)
> Richard Buswell
> http://www.kcstage.com
> http://www.naughtynobles.com
> http://www.geocities.com/rabuswell
>
> Iain Bryan <mrbisco@pacbell.net> on 05/25/2000 03:50:16 PM
>
> Um...Groo is an excellent fighter..that's what he does best.  It's not
all
> an
> accident.
>
> iain
>
> > > Stylistically, Groo should have no form or technique whatsoever,
> > > but should
> > > blindly and stupidly fight, parrying as much by accident as by
design,
> > > killing people on a backswing without even knowing he hit them.  Both
> > > "Blade" and "Gladiator" showed hits that were intentional.  Groo does
> not
> > > plan that far in advance.  Usually the goal of fight choreography is
to
> > > look cool.  For Groo, the goal should be to look stupid.  Fast,
> > > but stupid.
> > > Strong, but stupid.  His skill is only an accident of birth.
> > >
> > > Richard Buswell
> > > http://www.kcstage.com
> > > http://www.naughtynobles.com
> > > http://www.geocities.com/rabuswell
> >