As I see it (and as many others see it, looking at the "BM culture" post), duels are oftentimes not used because of the over-reliance on the academy for skill. Some other really cool ideas are shot down out of necessity because of this as well, like the Tourney that Luria would have had to determine the Emperor, but which was ultimately defeated because of the impracticality of having boatloads of people burning through gold like nobody's business.
A solution: nerf the crap out of the academy.
Putting a cap of one training session per week would serve both to limit the usage of the academy, as well as change its focus- rather than being something which you use to increase your skills, it would be something you use to keep them sharp and to test your skill level, which seems to be what the flavor text for the academy hints at.
To compensate: double (quadruple? I dunno) the amount of skill gain from actual infantry combat. Giving archers and cavalry some small amount of SF skill gain from watching combat would also be cool, but not necessary.
This would serve to not only change the playstyle of individual characters, make duels and tournaments more legit (so the battle-scarred vet matters), but also encourage warfare, as well as to discourage unfair, boring and stupid methods of play.
Thoughts?