Art of the Sword

Great article on HROARR at the moment, specifically I enjoyed this concise summary : "for me being advanced means to understand the logic between the individual devices and techniques and being able to interconnect the bigger picture." and "They are able to perform an absetzen in practice and in ideal condition, but fail to do so in a freefight. One of the reasons behind it is using extremely simple, improper and incoherent stimulus – reaction methods, mixing illogical actions and often limited by what is written in the surviving fighting manuals" This really nails it for me, I'm uninterested in hearing about the latest interpretation of blah technique but very interested in hearing about drills, games and other training methods.

I've spoken about this before  but I feel that one of the key pillars of successful swordsmanship is developing a good mental attitude. Being relaxed and adopting a playful mindset allows you apply your knowledge gained from study and drilling to successful sparring. Like with strength or technique there is training you can do to develop this. Training for a good mental attitude is partly about training to reduce stress and reducing the likelihood that you will freeze under pressure. It is also partly about encouraging you to understand the linkages between techniques, how to apply the technique in different situations and how a technique fits into the bigger strategic picture. So, what's a solution? Games. Here's a list of some that I like to use with descriptions (I'll keep updating this list as I come up with new games): Without swords Slappy facey / tag -  based on a childhood game from my upbringing in Scotland, slappy facey in it's natural form is...

Wow, people are on fire this month. This is one of the clearest and most concise explanations of Aristotelian physics from a German tradition HEMA perspective. It would certainly get my vote for the best post on historical fencing I've seen this year. Likewise, this post summaries well how it could be seen as a fallacy to get too "purist" in defining HEMA practice: "If the end result can be presented as a credible format using every relevant source at its disposal to practice the art : it is HEMA" I wrote a while ago lamenting the lack of open and intelligent information sharing in HEMA "community" at that time. Beyond politicking and people generally throwing their weight around on the established forums there was little activity. It's great to see new blogs springing up with people finding channels to get their ideas and information out there.

Updated for 2018. So the below post is very old now and was written in 2014. This post still gets a lot of hits so I just thought I'd clarify that the below idea was put together before many (if not all) of the heavy gloves currently on the market really hit. Now in 2018 the below should be considered a curiosity that illustrates the time before dedicated HEMA suppliers came along rather than something to guide your thoughts. Personally, for the last few years or so I've been using SPES Heavies pretty much exclusively. Though I still think the idea of a protective unit of hands, forearm and elbow all joined up would be a quite good idea. --- This is a follow on to heavy sparring gloves  and SPES arm protectors . Finally: a pretty good HEMA glove. Essentially I've created this final stage by removing the cuff from the gauntlet and attaching Velcro so the SPES arm & elbow protection attaches to the gauntlet. The Velcro attaches under the lip of the arm protec...

To teach the master strikes it is important to keep in mind one truth: the strike itself isn't masterful it is how it is done that is masterful. Therefore to teach them you cannot remove them from the context but must use the context of the fight to show how awesome they are.  I created this loose play to provide context within which to train the strikes: 1.     Participants separate completely out of measure 2.     Patient adopts a position with their sword 3.     Agent steps through a guard to strike the strongest opening (they may make only one action to strike but they can vary the line in mid strike depending on the Patients reaction) 4.     Patient can parry the strike (they may make one action to parry) but must do so at the correct moment or the Agent will redirect and land the strike 5.     When the Agent touches the Patient the Patient can make one offensive action with one ste...

"They utterly ignore the rules and customs of gentlemanly fencing, and betake themselves to mere fighting of a nature scarcely creditable to a Whitechapel rough" -  Alfred Hutton, Cold Steel pg 43 The rules and customs of "Gentlemanly" fencing as outlined in Hutton and presumably  ubiquitous in later fencing  treatises has been hugely influential for setting HEMA custom. The format of entering measure, touching blades/saluting, then taking one step back and adopting a guard before starting an exercise or bout is deeply ingrained in many fencers practice and is clearly  visible  in historical fencing culture, particularly at tournaments.  "To ENGAGE. Having performed the salute, cross the blades, and tap them smartly together twice; then draw back the left foot so as to be out of distance, and come to guard." -  Alfred Hutton, Cold Steel pg 42 However I wonder if many people consciously consider the impact this is having on their pra...

Attack & Defend Drill – Partner up, find measure so that you require one step to strike your partner. Taking a short step forwards (i.e. a lunge) strike at your opponent who will defend with the appropriate parry. Defender can either remain still or withdraw the front foot when they parry. For this drill follow this cutting pattern using flicks to start with: Cut 1: crown strike (starting from your right but ending straight down) Cut 2: diagonal strike from your top right Cut 3: horizontal strike from your right Cut 4: under strike from your right Cut 5: under strike from your left Cut 6: horizontal strike from your left Cut 7: crown strike (starting from your left but ending straight down) In this drill you take turns and you both follow this pattern so it ends up looking like this: 1.     Person1 lunges and performs crown strike, person2 parries through high guard 2.     Person2 then lunges and performs crown strike, person...