Awesome video on contemporary long sword fighting! edit: and mobility of knights in armour

Off-topic
#1

I just found this video on my Facebook page. This is awesome! I really would love to do that, too. They’re so fast! I’d never have believed that you can move so quickly with long swords.

In my idea sword fighting has always been more of some sort of clubbing with sharp metal rods than fencing, and while this is not exactly like fencing, it’s much more like that than clubbing.
It’s more like in the book “The Mongoliad” by Greg Bear, where they also describe sword fighting of being too quick and much more full bodied compared to what I usually have seen (in movies and games) or read of.

Even when you watch LARP conventions, I’ve seldom seen people fighting like this there. They always tend to deliver heavier, slow blows.

edit: here’s a new one from the University in Genève, Switzerland:

Astonishing how agile these armours have been! I wouldn’t have expected that.

4 Likes
#2

Posted here recently, it is very interesting…

#3

depending on where you are, there are plenty of clubs all over north america, europe, and i think to some extent australia

edit: http://hemaalliance.com/?page_id=686 links to the north american hema club finder

#4

Loved the video, this could be my fav sport. Unfortunately seems there’s nothing in north italy. Thanks for post it

#5

Very interesting video. Very interesting and challenging sport. For implementation in the game but swabs should be made to obtain the accessibility for “semi-professionals”.
Otherwise, the game degenerates into a fencing simulator. And it is but still have as many other facets

#6

Let us not forget, that fencing book materials and sport/competition techniques can differ pretty hardcore even with the best intent, and at this point we are still talking about de facto unarmoured combat. I mean, even authentic sport techniques and their modern, actual use in tournaments can differ. The jury system and the lack of the nachschlag in the rules can and will distort the results.
Personally, these guys are one of my favourites, although I tend not to fight that agressive. :smiley:

(Edit: Also note that on the videos we mainly see Paratschwerts [or as we call these today, Feders] for reasons of safety, whitch are a little bit faster than actual longswords. Although, one can fight with a longsword fast as hell too, of course, the difference; though it indeed exist - is not horribly huge.)

#7

Personally iv found my blunt is faster than the average feder, but i suppose its a matter of design and opinion. also handles more easily in the close bind, at least for Fiore techniques

#8

As always, Google (and a bit of keyword refining) is your friend:
http://www.communitywalk.com/map/index/896439

A map of many training locations in central europe (Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Austria, The Netherlands, Belgium).

http://www.communitywalk.com/rome/historical_european_martial_arts_italian_peninsula/map/1677014

Here are clubs in Italy.

http://www.communitywalk.com/Southern-Europe

Hera are clubs from Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia down to Greece.

Geez, I’m so into that, I’ll sign up end of that year.

#9

And here is a new one, depicting the mobility of knights in armour.

Man, they do great things at universities in Switzerland!

#10

Oh yes there is. Europe is the biggest hot-spot for Medieval re-enactments, especially HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts), there is atleast a group in every european country, if there isn’t look harder.

EDIT: Adding onto this comment, if any of you have any questions regarding a harness (Suit of armour), weapons or anything just ask and I’ll do my best to answer as I do all of this (Including Historical Re-enactments of 15th & 13th C.)

Regards,
Warrior Rose

#11

Yeah, they didn’t fought in these. They are for tournaments and riders.

#12

Have you watched the video? Seems as if you can fight in these.

I think there are a lot of misconceptions about the middle ages. Like sword fighters always delivering slow but heavy blows (you see it very often in the movies, they’re never fencing - it’s always heavy blows, seldom more than one - the hero always has insta-kill)

#13

Thank you a lot specialsymbol for posting links :slight_smile:
A pair seems pretty close my homebase :blush:

About the new video is amazing how agile they can move wearing them. Very interesting thanks a lot!

#14

@Dekssan

First; What?

Second; isn’t hitting people while riding a horse fighting?

#15

@Dushin
Actually, his statement is correct. Jousting armor was different than standard infantry armor:

“Specialized jousting armour produced in the late 15th to 16th century was heavier, and could weigh as much as 50 kg (100 pounds); as it was not intended for free combat, it did not need to permit free movement, the only limiting factor being the maximum weight that could be carried by a warhorse of the period.”

@specialsymbol
Where’s the “awesome video on contemporary longsword fighting”?
Google search…
Found it:

#16

I find it incredibly depressing that despite all the efforts to reconstruct Western Martial Arts, that this is STILL a stereotype we practitioners have to fight against. It all starts with DnD, and then isn’t helped by video games and movies. The truly absurd things is that students of Japanese sword arts don’t face the same hurdle. EVERYONE automatically and readily accepts that Eastern sword arts aren’t cumbersome and ungainly the way the longsword must be.

I’ve always liked this video, shows just how quick the longsword can be:

#17

A longsword supposedly weighs around 1.1…1.8 kg, a katana around 1.1…1.3 kg.

Shroud your art in mysticism, and neither will yours! :wink:

#18

My steel is right about at 3lbs. Blade is 40" with about a 12" hilt. So that’s not much more than the upper limit to the katana you give.

The “mysticism” around the katana is by and large a modern exaggeration, if not an outright invention, IE the myth that katanas could cut through machine guns, or were folded 1000 times. Legends of swords that could slice through another sword weren’t even unique to Japan: Gram reforged was said to have cut THE ANVIL IT WAS FORGED ON in two. It wasn’t even the main weapon of the Samurai until the early modern era (as in Europe, the main weapons on the Japanese battlefield pre-gunpowder were the bow and some variation of the spear or pike – and this includes the Samurai).

#19

No he isn’t. The armor those guys wear is not tournament armor.

#20

Details, details… :smile:

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