One of my early fencing masters was a maverick who only studied the early texts. It was his ph.d. stuff. He'd enter open events and use techniques from the 16th Century. Taught me some skills in his backyard in Brighton and later moved to a castle in Spain where I've lost contact with him.

I used his techniques while I fenced too and incorporated them into other martial arts.

In martial arts all roads lead to the mountain top, whether they are Scottish or Edo. (phew, didn't think I was going to get a Scottish link.)