"Academic fencing
Academic fencing or Mensur fencing is the traditional kind of fencing practiced by some student corporations (Studentenverbindungen) in Germany, Austria, Flanders and Switzerland.
Technique
Academic fencing differs considerably from non-academic fencing. The participants, or Paukanten, use heavy sharp sabres, the so-called Mensurschläger (or simply Schläger; the plural form is identical to the singular form) and are protected by a chainmail shirt and gauntlets, padding on the throat and right arm, and steel goggles with a nose guard. They fence at arm's length and stand more or less immobile, attempting to hit the unprotected areas of their opponent's face and head. Flinching or dodging is not allowed, the goal being less to avoid injury than to endure it stoically. A doctor is generally present to attend to injuries and abort the fight if necessary.
The scar resulting from a hit is called a Schmiss (German for a "smite"), or Renommierschmiss (bragging scar), and was regarded as a badge of honor: a form of ritual scarification up to the first half of the 20th century. Wounds were typically sewn up rather crudely then, in order to provoke scarring. Today the fencers prefer the work of thoracic surgeons and other physicians, successfully avoiding unnecessary scars.
Academic fencing in Germany was temporarily abolished, along with the Studentenverbindungen, during the Third Reich, but today it is still practised by hundreds of traditional Studentenverbindung fraternities."
