Art of the Sword

"...other sources and fencing masters, particularly later ones, do mention quite a few other secondary guards for longsword. There are some variations and discrepancies between authors of course, as well as different interpretations among contemporary researchers. Many, if not most of these are considered only transitional guards, so just particular positions while in motion from one to another primary guard or end point of a strike, cut or thrust." Enjoyed reading this article:  http://mindhost.tumblr.com/post/151381536147/secondary-german-longsword-guards I would disagree with the article in that I think the idea that "secondary" guards are transitional, i.e. point of movement, as this strikes me as received wisdom that has not seriously been thought about by most people. When you think about it Day, Fool, Plough and Oxs are all highly transitional . Why is this? Think about it: they are absolutely rubbish positions to hold. If you stand in these positions ...

The more I study and learn of historical fighting, and the more I teach, the more I become careful in throwing around "absolutes" in terms of technique. I find that to say that something is "wrong" is a sub-optimal way of thinking about fencing that hinders development. Rather I like to highlight that everything is situational, i.e. with a proper understanding of the principles of fencing that there is often a time and a place where a particular technique is optimal and that you should not completely discount anything. For example: (and I'd like to make it clear that I'm not being negative on these examples, I liked and remembered both these videos I'm just using them to illustrate a pedagogical mindset.) In this interesting video, the view is put forward that you should cut and step at the same pace to ensure that your hand and body land together. This is so that you cut with maximum strength and for reasons of balance.  The idea of not stepping a...

My only criticism in my review of the Blackfencer sythetics was that the unprotected steel easily rusts and that this is a level of care I really would rather not be bothered with in a synthetic weapon. I investigated several options for steel care and decided upon gun bluing as the best option. Frankly it's been a breeze to put this onto mild-steel like the Blackfencer guards. I went and bought some inexpensive "gun blue" liquid from a hunting shop (Outers Gun Blue). Be careful in your purchase as their is blue for Steel and blue for Aluminium, putting the wrong thing on could be awkward. While it's called "blue" you can select from blue to black and I went with the blackest option. I picked the smallest volume bottle (60ml) and so far I've gone through half a bottle to do four weapons. It's pretty simple to apply. Firstly you fully de-grease your steel. I used a simple degreasing spray and gave the metal and good once over with some sandpaper...

"As touching the weight or heft, which is borne in the hand, be it sword or other weapon, I commend not their opinion anyway, who will for the strengthening of a man's arm that he handle first a heavy weapon, because being first used to them, afterwards, ordinary weapons will seem the lighter unto him, but I think rather the contrary, to wit, that first to the end, he does not over burden and choke his strength, he handle a very light sword, and such a one, that he may most nimbly move. For the end of this art is not to lift up or bear great burdens, but to move swiftly. And there is no doubt but he vanquishes which is most nimble, and this nimbleness is not obtained by handling of great hefts or weights, but by often moving. " - Giacomo di Grassi, His True Art of Defence 1594

Back of head protection, it's one of those things (like a box) that you don't need until you really need it. Simply as protection from hooking shots or from instinctively turning your the head. I should make plain first what purpose this is intended for. This is intended to cover the back of my head during full intention sparring but where back of head blows are rare. From watching international tournaments, where there seems to be a large number of back of heads blows following wild and uncontrolled explosive actions (particularly in Longsword) I would have to say this isn't intended for that environment. In that situation wrapping your head in a full encompassing protector makes sense. So, I bought a SPES Vectir a while ago but it isn't compatible with Leon Paul masks and when I adapted it still wasn't satisfied with the large gaps left at the top and sides when you are moving around. Unlike "normal" fencing masks Leon Paul masks don't have a ...

Initial thoughts on tournament: It definitely appears to work better to have judges call all hits, not because they are good at it but because at least it's a level playing field of incompetence that affects all participants equally. Therefore we had a lot of grumbling about the judges but it didn't progress into outright whining because, well people whos hits weren't called also had hits against them not called. This also, as we thought, tended to favour fighters who gave clean, decisive blows over scrappers and snipers. Having said that, all the training had paid off and the standard of judging was much higher than in previous years. As per usual, a lot of the outcome was determined by the luck of the draw. Many of the better fighters were paired up and went out early, whereas many of the newer fighters were paired up and went into the later rounds. I think that is part of the charm of a tournament but I think that some kind of experimentation with a seeding pro...

"I wish I could say something classy and inspirational, but that just wouldn't be our style. Pain heals. Chicks dig scars. Glory lasts forever." Shane Falco, The Replacements. So, for my sins, I volunteered to organise our Clubs annual tournament. For the first time, in my experience, we actually have spent the better part of three months preparing for this tournament. Which is why it has been a little quiet on here lately. It's been an interesting learning experience and I'll try and summarise some thoughts here: 1. Format After experimenting with various formats we decided that we liked a customised ruleset based on the Fechtshule New York rules. This is with: The bout halts after a single exchange Hits to the core score more than a hit to the extremities Each fighter has three lives Line judges call hits I wasn't initially a big fan of this ruleset but I've come around and will admit that the results are pretty good. The single exchange enc...