And I am *very* outspoken in my opinion that martial arts can and totally should be considered "arts".

Then why should prowess with the rapier (for instance) be included in the Laurel, where prowess with rattan not be?

I mean, I've seen plenty of fencers who are great folks, stone killers, courteous, (dare I say) chivalric, are fantastic with that combat form, but don't use a lick of period technique.