Hi Tim,
After reading your post I felt a little embarassed at choice of words ("tierce") to describe the downward stroke, which did sound a 'bit too fancy' . Also, it may have not been the correct term in the first place, but I just remembered it from discussions describing a high held position of a sword. What little fencing I ever did was back in the Errol Flynn days!!!
I agree with what you have said on the savage nature intended in combat, which is naturally quite true. It is also true that tribal warfare in Africa, from what I understand, did rely a great deal on the individual combat of select warriors to hopefully resolve certain issues.
Thanks for keeping the perspective!
All very best regards,
Jim