When I read this excerpt from the mid 1450’s Poem of the Pel I can’t help but imagine a master of arms yelling at his charges to stop using so many cuts.

And to thrust is better than to strike;

The striker is deluded many ways,

The sword may not through steel and bones bite,

The entrails are covered in steel and bones,

But with a thrust, anon your foe is forlorn;

Two inches pierced harm more

Than cut of edge, though it wounds sore.

In the cut, the right arm is open,

As well as the side; in the thrust, covered

Is side and arm, and though you be supposed

Ready to fight, the thrust is at his heart

Or elsewhere, a thrust is ever smart;

Thus it is better to thrust than to carve;

Though in time and space, either is to be observed.