developed that "crude and simplistic" cutting had been replaced by "superior" thrusting. With the emergence of modern militaries in the new age of advanced firearms and cannon, the environment and conditions under which men now fought in earnest with swords and other hand weapons was much less frequent, far less demanding and not nearly as diverse as it had been in the pre-Baroque era. Fencing by the 19century became far more specialized and narrowly focused on formal duels of gentlemanly single-combat with secondary considerations for light cavalry. Even among the limited military use of sabers, broadswords, and cutlasses, gone now were any concerns for fighting under varied circumstances against multiple opponents, dissimilar weaponry, pole-arms, shields, or armors. Virtually totally absent now were concerns about closing-in techniques for seizingverifiable evidence that any genuine surviving teachings or methods from these old methods persisted unbroken down through the centuries as either a local custom or cultural tradition. Time has severed the links. There was a cultural and pedagogical disconnect. While there are core similarities and fundamental principles universal to the concept of armed combat that have remained unchanged, our modern fencing is based largely upon Baroque-era styles and not upon the weaponry and skills of earlier European martial arts. Modern styles of fencing retain very little of Medieval and Renaissance era teachings and techniques. Instead they have for several centuries focused on substantially different kinds of tools used under considerably different conditions of practice. Starting in the late 19th century a handful of historians of arms and fencing