The swordsman who enjoys freeplay and sparring is an enemy of the Art?

Obviously I don't think so.

Freeplay is fun. As far as I'm concerned, that should be enough reason to justify its use- a fun thing to prolong interest in the art. But people do not think like me, and that is ok. So here are more intellectual reasons:

Let's start this by looking at why I'm not a fan of oriental martial arts. Kata, the struggle to fend off an invisible army by a sequence of 'programmed' moves. It has it's uses, helps teach proper form, for one thing. But remove the context of a fight and you are left with a bloke in white pajamas, stepping around a mat and waving his limbs about. I would like to see what happens if the imaginary fight surrounding the kata became a real one. Some things would work, some would not.

Ideally You should train as you would fight. Naturally, with swords that is difficult. You get quite a lot of amplification of force for one thing- so a certain amount of pulling your blows happens, you have a psychological difference when fighting in a mask (for example, your head is the most protected part of your body- a cut to the head hurts much less than a cut to the arm). Pulling blows is not a terrible problem- Once all the safety measures are removed from the sword (flex, bluntness, slappyness) it is more than compensated.

A mask, to my mind, is necessary and will remain so until I show such prowess with the blade that I can cut the corset from a tailors dummy without inflicting damage (then I move to an attractive cooperative goth chick, then an attractive, willing but uncooperative goth chick). The usefulness of fighting unmasked is questionable- your head becomes less of a target simply because you would never do that kind of thing with someone who would cause you great injury. My honourable and respectable maestro would have to curtail his instinct to go for a blow to the head whenever it's uncovered.

Anyway, I digress. I'm supposed to be talking about the uses of sparring and freeplay. As far as I'm concerned- my personal goals- is to fight. I understand there are going to be some compromises between that and using a sword to kill. I can live with this. I don't interpret what I want to do as a sport. I'd use the word swordplay more often if play didn't have such a negative/trivial connotation.

Play is one of the best ways we learn. Look about you, remember the memory games and maths games you played as a child. Look at the rough and tumble of lion cubs that play is part of their training to become killers. So my aim is to play-The simple fact is I have no desire to kill anyone I face. In fact, I want them to have as much fun as me and come back for more.

So, how do I work towards that?

Simple Stationary drill (assuming that you can perform the action without moving)- building up arm movements, getting a feel for the acceleration and where to be aware of your own blade.
Mobile drill- Add in the correct footwork.
Target practice if possible.

This is all to build up muscle memory. Once the muscle memory is developing nicely some people will go for cooperative drilling. I'm not a fan- people don't let you hit them and don't come in for the blows in exactly the same way every time.

Uncooperative drilling- This is pretty close to sparring. You have restrictions to force you to use what you are trying to improve on. Huge variation on what can be done here, but it boils down to A will try to hit B, B does not want to get hit.

Freeplay- I suppose I'd classify this as sparring with minimal intent. The restrictions in place with uncooperative drilling are lessened, maybe removed altogether. But it lacks the 'killer' nature of competition.

Competition- Pressure testing. Regardless of how beautifully you pose with a sword, how elegant and smoothly you move. You're dead if you can't put it between you and someone who wants to kill you. In lieu of homicidal maniacs that the police will turn a blind eye to, competition is the most sensible alternative.

You use all these tools, identify weaknesses and start again, working to strengthen aspects of your fight.

Personally, I can take or leave competitions. I am a gamer by nature- I see no problem with losing if it results in a better game or an improved opponent. Don't mistake this for giving someone an easy ride or making a mockery of the Art. As stated before, I hold games and play in very high regard. In fact, they the keystones of intellectual, social and physical development.

But if I want to beat myself, I need to go up against people I wouldn't usually choose to fight in situations where losing matters. I need to face off against people who do not want to get hit and will try to hit me in return.

Also- certain things will not make sense unless someone is trying to hit you. I have some ideas about flinch reactions that I'm slowly shaping. I've always thought the best techniques embrace and build on hard-wired responses. There's no point reprogramming yourself if you can just add an extra twist into a pre-existing program.

We're interpreting something at the moment and the logic behind some of it did not make sense until uncooperative drilling. In fact, a lot of things like that don't make sense until it's put into the context of someone trying to kill you. One well placed thrust is remarkably good at showing you which direction your interpretation should be heading.