More magic and swords.

didn't intend this to become a blog with lessons on the principles of magic. Unfortunately I see quite a few links between magic and fighting and by explaining things in the language of one, I understand it in the context of the other.

There is something known as contact mindreading. During a mindreading show a member of the audience was asked to hide an item in the theatre. The magician would then take the audence member by the wrist and lead them to the hiding place. No stooges were involved and the magician honestly had no idea where the item was. I think the most skilled practicioner of this type of magic could find a ring hidden no higher than the first floor of a building in the City of London (or to be more accurate an urban area of one square mile)

My memory for dates is poor at best, but I believe this kind of thing was fairly popular in the early '20s. At one point, people did this with their only contact being copper wire. (had to be copper, otherwise the electricity from the brain couldn't reach the magician.. or some reason like that).

I do a much lower scale version of this, and it is one trick that I'm happy to 'expose' (or even teach) in the pub because I believe it adds to the wonder of magic in general rather than destroys it.

How does it work, I hear you ask?

It works, more or less, in exactly the same way as the bind. The bind, for those who are uninitiated in the ways of the sword, is the position where you trade witty insults in movies. Naturally, it barely lasts long enough for you to swear but artificially you can manage things like "Join me, my son and together we shall rule the Empire" and so-on.

This connection is a novel realisation for me (although, I think I've been doing it naturally)- Using magical techniques, you can read the mind of your opponent through sword contact. The resistance he places on your sword not only gives you extra momentum on a move, but also tells you if he is about to disengage and a host of information. This is certainly something I want to learn to exploit.