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ScratchAndSniff posted:Even experts have bad days now and then. For the sake of everyone else reading this: Even blunted weapons can mess up your eyes pretty badly. If someone points a weapon at you and you aren't protected, you are taking a serious risk. 
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Jul 6, 2015 09:43
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| # ¿ Apr 23, 2024 14:34 |
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Crazy Achmed posted:For foil, anyway, the "danger zone" is usually roughly when the tips cross - I'm not sure how much this changes for longsword (what is the typical en garde position for that, anyway?) but maybe there's some rough equivalent for you. (I find the Italian useful, since it reminds me that Fiore is not Liechtenauer is not Suio-ryu. All of these have descending forehand blows, but the context is probably different across the styles.) So yeah, there really isn't a knack to measuring your distance in longsword. You kinda just have to see it, and that's something that comes with pair drills and pellwork. Keldoclock posted:Is there anything like spear fencing? Always seemed like it would be easier to learn and more effective, but google only gives results for like, wooden fences with decorative spears. They're approachable because it's Renaissance and they write like actual people.  Doesn't hurt, of course, that you can find all three books published fairly recently in modern English, too: Manciolino on Freelance Academy Press, Meyer also on Amazon, and di Grassi on Lulu.If you want a more sporting version, you can look up naginata-do (or, occasionally, atarashii naginata). It's kind of like kendo, but with the Japanese glaive. Siivola fucked around with this message at 10:34 on Jul 8, 2015 |
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Jul 8, 2015 10:31
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Crazy Achmed posted:Siivola, so what are you generally doing with your weapon, then, if you're not attacking or being attacked by your opponent - surely you'd be doing some kind of guard or threaten? Or do you mean that there's no particular preference/tendency (whether taught as a "default" or just what people usually gravitate towards) for any particular stance? That said, if you look at tournament footage, people don't really do that a whole lot. There's a lot of waiting with the point in line sport fencer style, with no passing steps or other historical oddities. It wins points, I suppose. Here's what I think proper longsword tournament fencing should about look like. There's a beautiful exchange at 1:40. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiuUBu_k170
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Jul 8, 2015 17:52
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Now that you mention it, that is pretty odd. I don't think it's that they're actively fleeing the bind as such, it looks more the blades just immediately deflect and it goes into a parry-riposte-parry-riposte rally. I haven't had the chance to do freeplay so I'm just guessing based on the drills we've done, but it's probably a mix of blunts, stiff gauntlets and prioritising speed over strength in the strikes that is to blame.
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Jul 8, 2015 23:58
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Not in a tournament, no. But in the original context, it's anything goes. I will strike you so hard in the groin That all of your strength will be taken away.
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Jul 9, 2015 13:14
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Unlike steel blunts, sharp swords actually stick together if they meet edge-to-edge, kinda like you see in Star Wars. You can try this out if you have a pair of sharp knives at home. If the swords bind like this, you can't just pull back and strike again ("'Katapultfechten" is my favourite new word) because you'll get stabbed in the face the moment you give up the pressure, so you have to figure out another solution. Fiore solves it by moving in to grapple, Liechtenauer by winding. Our teacher thinks it's because Italians and Germans used swords of different length: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlLa6VnNRaI
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Jul 12, 2015 12:18
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This is off the top of my head, but I'm pretty sure I.33 is all about using your sword and buckler together to create binds and then sort of wind your way into victory, while German messer sources use the free hand to grapple.
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Jul 12, 2015 19:18
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Yeah well Leküchner's got everything anyway. Two books of 200 plays each on nothing but the messer. All the bindings and windings and grapplings you'll ever need, and a whole bunch you'll never need too. But you're absolutely right. I entirely forgot that even with the messer, winding is 100% a thing.
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Jul 12, 2015 23:02
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Dussack (known in Norway as "tessak") was also a type of backsword popular around Northern and Eastern Europe around Meyer's time. Meyer's book is probably the most approachable source, but it should be noted he uses the dussack as a training tool for proper swords (including the messer), not just for sport fencing. If you want the latter, you should look into British singlestick, where you indeed lost if you received a bleeding wound on the head, or French la canne. Edit: Here's a neat 19th century article on the singlestick. It's so endearinly British.  quote:If any one tells me that my views of amusement are barbaric or brutal, that no reasonable man ever wants to hurt any one else or to risk his own precious carcass, I accept the charge of brutality, merely remarking that it was the national love of hard knocks which made this little island famous, and I for one do not wish to be thought any better than the old folk of England's fighting days. Siivola fucked around with this message at 21:40 on Jul 20, 2015 |
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Jul 20, 2015 20:59
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Isn't that just epee without toe hits?
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Jul 21, 2015 10:53
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Try push-ups or planks. Healthy and motivating! If you want to reward survival, start with a high number of reps and take a few off for every 10 seconds the loser managed to stay in the game.
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Jul 21, 2015 13:53
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Jukendo is sort of sportified bayonet practice.  Edit: Oh hey, turns out Longpoint happened over the weekend. Here's the recorded stream of the finals. Stuff begins at 15:40. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SB8HoiDK0Bw Siivola fucked around with this message at 12:28 on Jul 27, 2015 |
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Jul 27, 2015 11:15
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Have you tried the HEMA club finder?
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Jul 30, 2015 12:41
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It's a feder. It's originally a post-15th century training weapon that got revived fairly recently. That particular one is one of Peter Regenyei's Trnava models.
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Jul 31, 2015 16:13
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A rule of thumb I once heard was that twice weekly is enough to stay at a decent level, but if you want to improve, three times a week is the minimum.
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Jul 31, 2015 18:04
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Just so you know, medieval dagger is the funnest, most unfair weapon known to man and if your club's not doing any dagger, you're missing out bad.
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Aug 4, 2015 20:01
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But bruising is the best thing! You don't have anything to show off otherwise!Hazzard posted:I have also managed to hurt my wrist doing fencing. I wish I was less bad at protecting my wrist and forearm. I can't even do press-ups after some intensive sparring the other day.
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Aug 8, 2015 01:03
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Got to model for Guy Windsor's upcoming advanced longsword guide. I'm famous now.  Edit: Spoke too soon, turns out we're going to have to re-take all the 300+ photos we took today. 
Siivola fucked around with this message at 19:05 on Aug 8, 2015 |
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Aug 8, 2015 14:41
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I'm very fond of the Regenyei steel longswords we have at our club, but finding them in the States might be tricky. Purpleheart Armory imports really pretty Ensifer feders, and I can't remember hearing a bad word about them. Purpleheart also deals in all sorts of wasters, in case you'd like something less metal.
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Aug 10, 2015 13:15
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Rabhadh posted:Ditch the long sword and choose the one true HEMA weapon: Mair Daggers  ". . .thus you stab him in his genitals." Hmm. Yes. I approve.
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Aug 12, 2015 12:21
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Yeah, you should really try to find a buddy. Fighting with swords is fundamentally a multiplayer experience and you can't really learn to parry a blow without someone swinging a sword at you. However, if you can find yourself a training partner, it's all good. There's a number of "HEMA for Dummies" -books available, and the existing HEMA community is proof that you can, in fact, learn to fight from a book. (If you've got someone willing to swing a sword at you.) You just need a pair of swords or sword-like objects and preferably also a pair of fencing masks, and you're good to go.
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Aug 12, 2015 22:36
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Hiking's good, keep doing that if the island allows. If you want to be stronger, (and hey, who doesn't?) doing lots of pushups and lifting heavy barbells is good stuff. Goons over in YLLS are probably better at that side of fitness. In any case, you don't really need to worry about training specifically for swordfighting, since the sword is basically a labour-saving device designed to make up for a lack in strength. Speed comes more from practice than exercise. On the other hand, strong shoulders make the sword lighter and a strong core gives you a better posture, so there are of course benefits to working out.
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Aug 12, 2015 23:10
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Here's a good blog post about training for speed: http://guywindsor.net/blog/2012/10/i-am-slow/ Tl;dr: Don't worry about it quite yet, it comes with practice. (Longsword fencers are also super lazy so we don't lunge a lot anyway.) (And also because very few sources show lunging motions.) Upper body strength is good for fencing, because the stronger you are the lighter the sword feels, and the easier it is to manipulate precisely. Working out also opens up new nerve channels, which makes it easier to activate the correct muscles. Thanks for reminding me I really should hit the gym again.
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Aug 13, 2015 12:58
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A fencing mask is pretty big, but these are some thin dudes.
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Aug 14, 2015 21:41
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Today I learned a thing: To fix my strike, I need to fix the guard it begins from. To fix my guard, I need to fix the blow that ends in it. Making progress.
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Aug 17, 2015 20:42
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Guy Windsor's giving out free ebooks of his Swordman's Companion for the next 24 hours. It's kind of super outdated. (He's been kind enough to footnote most bits where he does things differently nowadays, tho.)
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Aug 21, 2015 10:15
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This is a very good drill and we do it too, but, y'know, you could just use a stick.
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Aug 26, 2015 14:50
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curious lump posted:The more I re-watch it, the more problems I find. Finally get the last steps of our school's "syllabus form" down yesterday. It's a solo form (kata, if you prefer) that includes the majority of our longsword drills and acts as a sort of a, well, table of contents. It's kind of a weird feeling to look at the thing, it makes me simultaneously go "I'm so bad at all these things" and "wait, that's all of it?" Do you guys use solo drills in your practise?
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Sep 30, 2015 07:35
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Got the go-ahead to join the advanced class on Mondays. Since it'll be the first Monday of the month, my first advanced class will be a freeplay night. Yikes.
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Oct 1, 2015 18:42
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Hey, I've been thinking I should maybe eventually stop mooching equipment off my club, so I guess I'm in the market for a fencing mask. I do historical stuff so it doesn't have to be electrical, but the mesh should withstand the odd friendly knock with a blunt instrument. I'm sort of looking at the Leon Paul X-Change line because the padding looks comfy and, uh, it comes in pink to match my trainers. Do you guys have any experiences with that one, or other recommendations?
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Nov 1, 2015 00:29
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Our teacher and some of the seniors have those masks, they're apparently the bee's knees. Leon Paul's apparently developing a stronger HEMA-specific mask, but it's not available yet. Also probably doesn't come in pink. There are also a couple of manufacturers that produce proper steel helmets with mesh visors for historical fencers. Aside from those, I don't know any sellers that make reinforced gear, most of the masks seem to be just black coaching masks. I can't find any mention of AF or PBT using stronger mesh, for instance.We've got a number of LP contour fit loaners at our salle, they really are pretty rad. We apparently train less hard than Verisimilidude's club (who, granted, seem to do a lot more freeplay than "once a month" like us) since I haven't seen any cave-ins. Except for the cautionary example, that has been purposefully beaten shapeless to remind people the masks are not helmets. One issue I'm having with the loaners is that my head seems to be in the large end of size small, which means that all our loaners wobble a bit. Are mask sizes at all consistent across brands?
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Nov 2, 2015 09:27
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Haha. Ha. Heh. Screw masks, I just ordered my first sword. It cost way too much, yet I somehow can't think of any convincing reason why this was a terrible idea.  (I
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Nov 6, 2015 12:17
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Well, now you have a terrific opportunity! Edit: Goodness, the Marozzo's a gorgeous sword.
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Nov 9, 2015 09:50
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Nov 10, 2015 20:14
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Today we fight with messers – may God remember us. Got a long-rear end messer seminar today. Pretty excited. Edit: Trip report: Parried with my pointer finger. Survived. Really want a messer now.
Siivola fucked around with this message at 01:00 on Nov 15, 2015 |
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Nov 14, 2015 08:11
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I did the exact same thing today, only with a longsword (thankfully, with much less speed). I think what I need is more like a basket hilt. Anyhow, messer is super neat. Joeli Takala was our guest instructor for the day, and he's done a bunch of work on Johannes Lecküchner's messer treatises. The weapon's tiny and lightning fast, which makes everything terribly weird when you come from a longsword background. The messer is quick enough that you can easily redirect an attack around a traditional parry, so it's safer to keep your own blade close to your body with the point in line, and simply take cover behind it with proper footwork. In an ideal world you can bind against the opponent and just wind your point in their face, but it all happens literally within arm's reach (and sometimes you just can't stab a dude, because of laws or some poo poo) so wrestling with the messer is a big part of Lecküchner's book. Incidentally, turns out a heavy-ish sidesword is a terrible messer simulator. There's a sword and buckler seminar in two weeks, I'm hoping my new dearie handles that a bit better. (We'll be studying the Walpurgis manuscript, it won't.) Siivola fucked around with this message at 00:04 on Nov 17, 2015 |
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Nov 17, 2015 00:02
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Hey chaps, are you interested in the Italian longsword? Guy Windsor's crowdfunding his new book and my goony face is in it! The book's a follow-up on his previous Medieval Longsword, and he's giving out ebook copies of that to all backers. On a booky note, Christian Tobler also published a revised edition of his Fighting with the German Longsword if you're more into that sort of stuff. You deviants.
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Nov 23, 2015 10:33
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Rodrigo Diaz posted:what does this even mean 
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Dec 15, 2015 10:20
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The socks and the red hakama don't look like aikido gear, and the aikido sword syllabus I know is done entirely with bokken, without draws. I mean I guess they could be local aikido people who just cross-train an actual sword style, but  In other news, instructed my first (half a) class tonight and I didn't make any massive goofs!
Siivola fucked around with this message at 21:34 on Dec 15, 2015 |
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Dec 15, 2015 20:13
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| # ¿ Apr 23, 2024 14:34 |
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Nice. So, do you know how to use it yet?
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Dec 17, 2015 07:13
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