Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2014 September 26

= September 26 =

Enlisted personnel on Star Trek
Are there any enlisted people in star fleet? The promotion structure seems odd, and I recognize that all of the main characters are officers, but don't they have any Corporals or Seaman? Who does all the work? I'm thinking in particular of the Next Generation, but it seems true of the entire franchise. Llamabr (talk) 14:40, 26 September 2014 (UTC)


 * List of Star Trek characters lists a few people who have the rank crewman, which appears to be a (perhaps the) non-commissioned rank. -- Finlay McWalterᚠTalk 15:50, 26 September 2014 (UTC)


 * See also Chief Petty Officer Miles O'Brien - EronTalk 19:57, 26 September 2014 (UTC)


 * This Trek Wiki has an article on Ranks, and also links to all the people who are enlisted across the various incarnations. In addition to "crewman", there seem to be several types of non-commissioned officers. SemanticMantis (talk) 16:30, 26 September 2014 (UTC)


 * Mentions are made throughout the different series of people who are in Starfleet who have not attended Starfleet Academy. They suggest at least that the Academy is only necessary if you intend on being an officer.  Dismas |(talk) 04:44, 27 September 2014 (UTC)


 * See also, redshirt. Largely lacking arcs, Star Trek basically had guest stars and cannon fodder.  There does not seem to have been any promotion in the original series. μηδείς (talk) 16:47, 2 October 2014 (UTC)

Western Stick Fighting
Dear all.

I am interested in all forms of fencing. I have seen that there are quite a few stick based martial arts in europe, that were used for self defense (Canne de Combat, Jogo do pau etc.). Since I am a layperson, I am unable to judge the efficiency of one of these arts. I am curious which of these arts was not turned into a sport, which can still be used in reality?

Thank you for your answers. All the very best.--178.195.94.230 (talk) 20:43, 26 September 2014 (UTC)


 * We know you are interested in fencing since you ask a question about it every few weeks. While some might be able to answer your questions I would suggest that you search for various chat rooms on the internet like this one. You will find more people who are well versed in the subject there than you will here. MarnetteD&#124;Talk 22:26, 26 September 2014 (UTC)

Thank you for your response. I have indeed a very big interest in the art of fencing. My problem is however, that many websites are populated with people who never actually practiced any form of fencing and who get their knowledge from either internet myths or poorly done tv shows. My guess is, that more competent people would be around here, given the quality and empirical information of Wikipedia.--178.195.94.230 (talk) 10:45, 27 September 2014 (UTC)


 * Well, some of us do have some expertise in some areas, but the lack of expert answers to your previous posts indicates to me that you'd do better at a forum like the one suggested above. I thank you for your vote of confidence in our services, but people do make up stuff here, and there are experts on other fora. Some of them even have ratings for users, so that you can tell with a few clicks if a user is at least respected by their community. Also keep in mind that the 'efficiency' of a martial art is a fairly subjective notion, and we don't do that well at subjective questions here. SemanticMantis (talk) 16:10, 30 September 2014 (UTC)