Quest: Rattled (possible spoilers)

I am trying to beat the knight in the bludgeon duel. First of all, i am not skilled enough in maces so i start the duel with an handicap (which is pretty unrealistic: does it really require that much skill, to fight with a WOODEN bludgeon?). Second of all, maybe because of this, everytime i hit my opponent i remove maybe 5% of his life, and when he hits me, it can go from 10 to 50% of my life because of the stamina. If i loose, i don’t see how i can save the situation, since the blacksmith who knows about copper is mad about me. Any ideas how to overcome the situation?
I think this game has so many beautiful aspects, and yet, i am on the edge of asking a refund.