Use of the dagger.

I guess this is the strangest part of rapier and dagger- the fact that your off hand can be used to defend and attack. Once you start with it, you realise how bloody obvious it is to have that option.

It brings another dimension to the fight because you have two ways to close the line and allows a lot more defence in general. Anyway...

From True Guard there's two (main) ways to defend with the dagger, turning point up and scooping the blade towards your sword arm or turning point down and pushing towards your dagger side. This should be timed with an attack wherever possible. Getting the combination of defence and attack down into one fluid movement is a bit tricky.

There is also a question about the best way to progress with fighting- Saviolo says rapier first, Swetnam says dagger and rapier first. Fun says bring the dagger in as soon as is sensible.

I started with single rapier (well, I started with botch-job shinai- utterly crap for thrusting and equally bad for blade feel- and didn't get my hands on steel until my first Fightcamp competition. But that's another story). And until I find a cheaper, more sensible way to bring in the dagger- financial matters means that I will have to teach in that order. Newspaper daggers are ok for a little while, but they don't exactly ooze professionalism.

As a teacher I want to bring the dagger in quickly, it highlights the differences between what we do and sport fencing. Putting a dagger in the hand gives another reason for not throwing your arm back as you lunge.

Bringing in the dagger is a discipline in itself and it really helps dispel the girly-car-aerial prejudice that can exist with the more... robust longswordsmen. Breaking it down so it's not too intimidating for the newbie is fairly easy- there is always an ohshitohshitohshitohshit reaction. (If the dagger is in the right place at the beginning and your sword fails to block- wave dagger about while saying ohshitohshit, and you're likely to keep safe)

Changing the beat of "blimey, that worked" into "why am I not dead" into "man, that was cool" to "Oh crap, he's going to hit me again" to that mutual pause and grin before grappling starts and then to beat all of those/go through all of them in the blink of an eye and just see the new opening... that's the challenge.

The dagger is an absolute game changer. If you're looking at longsword against rapier and dagger- The strengths of the longsword are compromised. The speed you can change lines is met with a waiting dagger. A rapier's range is greater, but if your opponent gets close that dagger is coming in.

I'm not confident about being on the receiving end of steel longswords and the nylons (rightfully) don't hold up well against steel. And the whole protection aspect of it all requires different tools. Which is a shame, because I think it would be good playing against the longsword. Especially with the dagger- something that really helps protect one of my weak spots (especially when compared to longsworders who love it). I'm fairly rubbish at grappling, I tend to concentrate on distance control and don't let people get near enough to try it. This is difficult to do with single rapier. Once they're past the point, there's not much you can do apart from run backwards. Bringing the dagger in means that, while they're concentrating on controlling your sword, your dagger hand can do sewing machine impressions.

As I've said before, weapon choices are no longer about what is "better". We're reconstructing an art and the chances of us using swords in anger is remarkably tiny. We can bring some of the skills into a self defence scenario, but the most likely "weapon" is going to be a cane or stick of some sorts.

So on the important aspects of fun, enjoyment and tactics- the dagger brings a lot to the fight. If you enjoy single rapier, I'd highly recommend playing with dagger as well. If you think single rapier is missing something, I'd also recommend playing with the dagger.