This is the best idea I have seen to date. Lately I have been experiencing a lot of turtlers (as I call them), people who just wait for you to make a mistake, only attacking when they know they have blocked you. They remind of the how the game was when it just came out; everyone running around with axe/sword and shield, only attacking when they had heard the noice of a sword hitting thier shield. This leeds to very boring duels, and as I am one of the most impatient duellers around, I end up during wierd things just to make the duel more interesting or actual come to an end.
One of the worst cases I have experience is when I was fighting a guy, who did nothing besides backpedle and waiting for me to have hit his block before attack. I enden up having chamber blocked him fifteen times, but they are too easy to block because they are so slow.
The slow speed of the game have really made the many duels boring. Because it is now more about how long you want to wait before they duel should end, or how much you backpedle. I like the idea that footwork has some importance to the outcome of the duel, but nowadays it means too much. All you need is a long weapon and 7+ ath, then you can kill everyone who has a shorter weapon than you.
Please keep in mind that there are still many interesting duels out there.
Sorry for all the whining, but I feel it has to be said.