[sgt101]

Knights in different places at different times saw combat at different rates. If you lived on the Scotish borders or the Welsh marches you would be very likely to see combat on a regular basis. Raiding was a way of life for both sides... England was probably relatively unusual in having a relatively stable core for a relatively long time, but even then civil strife was not uncommon, and wars were fought as soon as either side could afford them. I think that a medieval knight that didn't take martial training really seriously risked being killed pretty promptly. On the other hand I guess that there was a large random element and there may have been a bit of "it makes no real difference so sod it" in their attitude, I don't suppose we will ever know because it seems that there was no real attempt to codify and share the knowledge - it was an oral tradition.