Oh, another thing that turns me off is when during a sword fight, a character hits their opponent with their hand or foot instead of using their sword.
Ah, the classic noob writers and their lack of understanding of sword kink. If I want to read about naughty hand or foot stuff I'll go to those stories. I came here to get my sword fetish fix. Sheesh! And no, they don't all have to be big hard claymores despite what online sword porn tells you. Sometimes a good katana, dagger, or even an axe can be just as sexy if used in the right way.
This actually irritates me... Like... If you're two handing a sword or going shield and sword sure, but if you're one handing a sword and just have nothing in your other hand. Not using your other hand or your feet is just wasting most of your body. Fucking get a sword lock with your opponent and kick them in the crotch, fight dirty, get the upper hand anyway you can! Poke out their eyes! If your argument is that it's unrealistic to use your feet or hands in a sword fight... You have clearly never seen an actual sword fight... Unless of course we're talking like sword sport fighting like fencing or something in which case, yeah either party using their other hand or their feet and not getting like immediately disqualified is definitely stupid.
I will excuse this turn off depending on circumstances like if you are out of position for a weapon strike, like as a blade lock like what you described, but a competent combatant should never be out of position for a weapon strike. If your opponent has half a brain, they will see a crotch attack coming and will have the same idea as you. A blade lock should only be done defensively. Poking their eyes out with your hand is harder if you'd got a sword in one hand. It's also pointless because your opponent would need to be open for you to pull it off, so you should just use your sword instead unless you're in a bind that stops you using your weapon or are trying to not kill him.
Use of the hands or feet, can often be used to create an opening for a sword strike where there wouldn't be one otherwise though... Like... It's literally something taught in classes. Take full advantage of everything you have at your disposal. Also they might see it coming, but that just means you need to have a plan for their response if they do see it coming.
That's only if you are out of position for a weapon strike. If you are in position, you should just use your weapon strike unless you're trying to avoid killing your opponent. The problem with planning for their response is it that often requires thinking time. A real fight can be very chaotic giving little time for thinking. If you think in there, you are dead. No, I am a human.
Both Qui-Gon and Darth Maul did this during their final fight. And if you're about to tell me there are flaws in The Phantom Menace then I don't know where this conversation can go.
I was going to avoid talking about this but there are lots of sword fighting styles that utilize the legs and arms. For instance, Knights and medieval swordsmen practiced grappling. Kung Fu uses strikes and kicks along with weapon attacks. Filipino Martial Arts utilizes strikes and jabs alongside a knife or sword. Fighters aren't always going to be perfect either. Some are going to be reckless, inexperienced. One of them will likely be faster or have longer reach. Maybe one of them didn't sleep or they're fighting on dangerous or unfamiliar terrain.
How do you grapple with a sword in one hand? I've never tried that before. Do they use swords in kung fu? I've never encounter any filipino martial artists. Are they different from regular martial artists. I can understand an inexperienced fighter making those mistakes. Not sure why they'd not use their sword just because they're faster or have longer reach.
If you want a realistic and close-to-historic sword combat... kicks will be very rare. Punches even more so. Free hand will be used for grappling or, if you have a gauntlet, for grabbing an enemy blade long before you opt for a punch. Legs will be used for pushing the enemy away to throw him off balance and\or to get him back to the distance that favors your weapon. But if a high fantasy story has no kicks and punches in a swordfight, it is written not according to the genre.
https://www.thearma.org/essays/G&WinRF.htm#.Yqy7Do7MLPY They use many types of weapons in Kung Fu. Before Kung Fu was codified in the 20th century, it was basically many different schools used to train Chinese militia for war. These (the image) are Gansu Braves in 1898. Chinese muslim militia forces. It involves a lot of knife fighting.
Another thing that turns me off is if the author is being too vague. I can't masturbate to something if I don't know what it is.
