[maka]

Well, there are certainly annoyances. For instance: I decided to train swords on an ettin like yesterday. It's at 80,6 real. I hit that ettin for like half hour with a butcher knife and healed him. When i came back it was still 80,6. What the hell?

How about if you sparr against something else, like a player..? Ettins and dragons and what ever you've tried so far does not work that well cause they hit you with damage enough to interrupt you.

I've GMed Anatomy, parrying, swords and fencing in ~ 16h, started with 80 in all of them (I have also gained a fair amount of tactics, though this is not GMed). If I would have trained up my healing to 95-99 before sparring, I could have done it in ~ 13-14. So please, UO is a game where knowledge gives you power, don't blame the skill gain when you sparr with an ettin.