

There are many people in real life who practice fencing for fun. Most of them
(at least most of those around me) also play computer games about fighting.
Sword Art Online clearly fits into the fighting genre of computer games. I
didn't make a survey, but in any game about fencing it is certainly possible
to find someone who likes do the same things in real life.

As I recall, in the world of SAO combos are quick, but very predictable,
especially the strong ones, and their speed is not above human limits.

As I assume, if one real-life swordsman would get his hands (or his mind) on
SAO, he would wreck everyone. One can move his weapon without combos, losing
some speed, but getting a huge advantage of being able to use feints. Plus he
would be able to stop his attacks to block enemy's blow, etc.

Yes, he would probably be weaker at the beginning due to not knowing the
animations yet and most of combos being very short. Plus, he would probably
need to get used to the pace of SAO, which may differ from real-life. But at
higher levels he could both identify a combo by it's first "frames", plus
quickly react. It would also be nearly impossible to hit him unless he doesn't
expect an attack.

One could claim that he would lose muscle memory -- he wouldn't, since this
process is more mental rather then some change applied to muscles.

**Why did this not happen in the novel, why was it dominated by a bunch of
Mary Sue-esque characters? Or did I miss something?**


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Why was the world of SAO not dominated by good real-life fencers?


One would have to figure out how many fencers there are in Japan at that time,
how many of them were VRMMO players. After that, figure out how many of those
bought into a VRMMO that was all swords no sorcery. This would likely leave a
small sliver of fencers as players.

To address the issue as to why a fencer did not rise to the top and dominate
the game: I ass+u+me that you are referring to Kendo (Japanese sword
fighting), as opposed to European foil/rapier fencing. Either way, modern
fencing is a generally one v one, code of honor style of fighting which would
not work well in general melee against multiple opponents, especially when
mixed weapons and fighting styles are involved..

And let's not forget the whole if you die in game you die in real life
variable. An excellent real life competitor, used to the rules of real life
dueling may not react to what amounts to mortal combat, with the same zeal
they have in controlled competition.


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First and foremost, the amount of people actively playing the game was really
low. From 10000 people at the start, 2000 died in first month and 3000-5000
stayed in starting city from fear of being killed. That leaves only some 3000
who actively played the game and of those only 300 were "on the front lines",
with rest lagging behind.

Second, most people who bought the game were hardcore MMO players. Overlap
between experienced kendo/fencing players and MMO players is quite small. So
the probability of experienced swordsman being dragged into it is small, but
not impossible, Kirito being prime example.

But even if such player was found, It wouldn't help him. From the anime
adaptation, it might seem that SAO is almost-perfectly realistic simulation.
That couldn't be far from truth. In novels, it is stressed multiple times that
SAO's physics simulation is actually quite crappy. For example, player cannot
just "put on" a coat or "grab" a weapon and liquids are pretty much an eye-
candy with minimal physics interactions. I would argue same system would apply
to sword fights. SAO sword fights would not be as flashy with people almost
flying around. It would be mostly two guys standing still against each other
and spamming sword skills and letting those do all the movements. And just
hitting someone with sword is not that great if sword skill is not involved.
So player's real-world sword experience would be practically useless in this
scenario.


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Keep in mind a fencing sword versus a big ass great sword a fencing sword will
probably lose. In sao skil l isn't really needed anyways, for one they don't
normally fight other players , and what's being slightly quicker than everyone
else going to do to a boss that could instakill you?


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I think the first thing we should consider is that an athlete in a certain
field cannot be successful in all other fields, even if you are a professional
athlete it only means your body is more in shape and your reflexes are sharper
that the average player in the game, but you don't have your body in the game
and your reflexes are limited by the stats of your character, so basically you
just know some rules and moves that you don't have the appropriate tools (your
own body) to put the to use, and what good are those rules when no one else
cares about them?  
And the second important thing is that SAO uses its own set of skills, you
have to strike a certain pose to trigger the skill and then use it, so even
the skills you have and the moves you know are useless because they are just
not as powerful as the in-game skills. I think the game is nicely balanced so
that every one have to start from beginning and experience the same excitement
and no one would have the advantage from the very beginning of the game.


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I think fencing rules and experience shouldn't directly apply in SAO because
of two main reasons:

First, the game was originally intended for players to fight monsters not
others players with swords. In that case the dynamic needed to win is made to
defeat those monsters, who just are not similar to humans fighting with
swords.

Second, the battles and their outcome are directly influenced by the skills
earned by players and the judgment on when to use them, and also the player's
level, because this grants access to superior skills and weapons, and grants
more hits points. In other words, to win a fight it's important to make sure
your level is adequate and you must manage the fight and resources (hits
points and skills) wisely, while having studied your opponent.

In conclusion, I think having real world fencing skills wouldn't be of
significant importance in SAO fights, technically. But, a real life fencer who
likes fencing or even loves it will certainly love SAO experience because of
the new environment and fantasy-like adventure he's embarking upon while using
a sword like weapon, it's just like someone who loves to drive cars and plays
a racing game, I know because I love to drive and I've always loved playing
racing games and driving simulators. So the real life fencer will be somewhat
more into the game than others, maybe this factor will push him to dive in the
game more than others and in the end he'll be slightly more advanced than
ordinary players.


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Aside from what was already mentioned, experience levels and items are also an
issue. Remember the first time that Kirito confronts a group of PKs? He
regenerated faster than they could damage him.

That's a huge gap in power that can not be bridged through any real life
swordsmanship skill.

When the game started, the former beta testers went for the easiest, most
lucrative quests, snapping up quickly the best items and the most experience
producing quests available. It gave them a huge head start while at the same
time denying those same quests to other players.

A really good swordsman who wasn't part of the beta test would have been left
behind at the start trying to figure out how to do the most basic things like
loading up his strikes, using the menus, finding quests, etc.

While actual sword skills could be an advantage, it would be nowhere near as
significant as having the experience levels and the right items, and catching
up with the players who cleaned out all the easy early quests and who kept
fighting in the front lines would be almost impossible.

And catching up with Kirito would have been simply out of question, given how
much of a head start he managed and the fact that he kept leading the way.

Another issue is that in-game swordsplay is obviously different enough from
real world swordsplay that it requires a significant amount of adaptation.
Take for instance Kirito's infatuation with large, heavy swords.

Completely impractical in the real world. In the real world, you would be very
hard pressed to find a longsword weighting more than 4 lb, and forget about
cutting through one sword with another.

In game however, strength and other physical attributes are not as limited as
they are in the real world, as can be seen by all the in game leaping around
and the way concrete walls and floors tend to break upon impact with player
bodies.

There are so many differences that real life swordplay experience is largely
irrelevant, and might in fact get one killed because the expectation of what
is and isn't possible are massively different.

Finally, Kirito himself had some real life kendo experience. He might very
well have been one of the best real life fencers in the system.

Similarly, there is nothing to indicate that the top players weren't also good
at real life swordplay, so even the premise of your question can not be
verified:

**How do you know that SAO was not in fact dominated by good real life
fencers?**


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