Cut & Thrust
Commentary
With all of this useful information we have put together, we have found a number of things that make us go hrmmm.... Maybe you might find our commentary interesting.
Armour
One thing that is common across the kingdom rulesets for cut & thrust is "you might get hit too hard". Yes, this is true. It might happen. If you wish to protect yourself from this, there is nothing to prevent yourself from what was done in period. Wear more armour!. One thing that is a constant across fighting in the SCA in all forms, more armour is OK, as long as you can still call good blows. Remember, a minimum is still a minimum. If wearing more armour still doesn't make you feel good enough, well... as a friend is apt to say, you could knit.
Forms
A number of kingdoms require fighters to be practicing an identifiable period style if they want to fight cut & thrust. Sure, studying a period master is great. We would love to see a ton of George Silver look-a-likes at Pennsic. But should it be required?
If you are safe, then have at it. The more people we can stab, slice, kill, and shake hands with at the end of the day the better. Requiring a history project first shouldn't be required.