strathspey@strathspey.org:52683

Dick&Maureen Daniel

RE: No more sword dances?

June 4, 2008, 9:59 p.m. (Message 52683, in reply to message 52672)

> From: xxxxx@xxxxxxxxxx.xxx> Subject: Re: No more sword dances?> > To
Graham´s response to me. Not sure how the process works in the U.K. >
so I will use a Calfornia model.> > There, a act is passed and signed
into law. The problem comes in the > next step when the administrative
code is written, which determines how > the law is actually applied.
So if this was California, the problem is > not the law but the admin
code, which is fairly simple to change if it > seems as stupid as this
case. If stage is an existing exception, it is > probably an oversight
that this does not include dance. It would not > take the supreme
court to seek remedy, only one judge to hear an > appleal for
exception. If the appeal was well prepared and the judge in > question
intelligent in the wording of his ruling, I doubt if the > state´s
attourney´s would fight it, and this would sort of set a > precident,
so that related cases would easily get the same exception. > > By Dick
Daniel,
Very interesting.  The point is that knives are a real problem in the
UK [mostly accepted as ex-kitchen items] and the UK government rightly
wishes to do something about it.  I think the reason it has such a
relatively high prominence is because guns are generally unavailable
to the public here, so knives/blades become the major weapon of
serious aggression. This does not apply to much of the rest of the
world, so their problems are primarily with guns.
Can you do a Sword Dance without keen edged swords?  Yes, you can do
the steps, but the whole point of the dance was to demonstrate skill
in not cutting your feet, so it becomes like a high wire artiste doing
their act with a harness, so they can't come to any harm if they slip
[Yawn].
I view Sword Dancing like other Highland Dancing.... An extremely
skillful competitive form of dance, not designed for spectator
entertainment.
Of course, it's not the weapon that is really at fault, it's the user,
so the real answer is to crack down hard on abuse of ownership.
Problem is how???