Curse the Vulgar

"I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you." - Luke 10:19

[mindhost]

Longsword sparring exercise with minimal gear and restricted targets

This is based on a minimal gear fencing variation that the excellent Hans Jörnlind told me about recently, and goes as follows:

Only the head is a valid target

Each fencer needs to divide the mask of the opponent into four segments and then create a sequence of those four targets (see pic example)

Each fencer needs to strike/cut (no thrusts allowed) each target on the opponent in the order of their choice. Pommeling works as well if you want

When one of the fencers manages to hit all four targets in the correct sequence the exercise is complete

That is basically it. This is designed as a simple sparring bout with only mask, throat guard and light or no gloves. Each valid target hit is one point, if you hit anything else than the head it is one point deduction, if you hit the wrong head segment you must continue until you hit the correct one, and after a strike lands you just get out of distance and indicate where you were hit. Doubles are not penalised (if you both hit the correct target you both get the point) and there is no afterblow. The points don’t really matter, it’s just a way to keep track of your objectives.

It’s relatively straightforward but I think it’s a good way to emphasise working from the bind/staying within krieg distance, creating openings/seeking deeper targets in a more (ahem) controlled fashion etc. Getting those lower targets can be tricky, so you can end up seeing maybe a bit more duplieren and mutieren etc than in regular all-out freeplay.

It is also one of the few sparring exercises where being the shorter fencer has a moderate advantage, at least as far as hitting the lower targets on the fencing mask is concerned.

[junck-ritter]

A classic, with some good gifs. let’s bring it back

[mindhost]

An interesting experiment organised by Thomas Nyzell; strikes that take place naturally during freeplay are recreated with a sharp longsword to verify the effectiveness of the cut. 

[whowouldbringabooktoaswordfight]

I got a steel rotella from The Orion Arms.

[cursethevulgar]

Difficult to talk about:

Timing makes a perfect attack. The correct moment to make an ation. good timing takes no technique. The best time to attack is when your opponent doesn't expect it. This moment can be created and engineered in a bout. You can then get to the point -preperation- that the action is completed.

Distance is obvious. Only long attacks are invulnerable. The best distance from which to launch an attack is a close distance. Less options of defence.

Tempo is the rhythm or the heartbeat of the bout. This is the set of real-time environments and elements.

Preparations is involved in all three, timing, distance, and tempos.

Tempo:

Fencers have a tempo (Epee). A Faster tempo in response to a slow tempo, a slow tempo in response to a fast tempo. Always play the opposite, destroy their tempo, so that they are not in-time with the pace.

To Break the Tempo Is the best time to attempt a score.

Most people cannot change their tempos - The fencer who changes, is adaptable.

Note: All fencers do this naturally. But once you become CONSCIOUS about breaking tempo with real skill, you don't need a lot of technique.

Always try a simple attack with a good tempo approach. If you can control tempo, you have a better weapon than any parry, or any beat.

-Maestro Selberg

[makoivis]

Plate 46 from Guillaume Danet’s treatise of 1766 is the first known depiction of a flunge.

[iamafencer]

AIMA Roma 2017

[ordinaryvisionary-blog]

Clean as a whistle! The highlight of my week: this Absetzen while sparring Alexander Makarov. Ain’t everyday you thrust the king of thrusts!

[cursethevulgar]

An introduction to the Weapon Dynamics Computer, a tool designed to document the dynamic properties of swords and other hand-held weapons.

[cursethevulgar]

Basic Cutting and Displacing Instruction

This video gives a brief refresher on the basics of the Zornhau, then goes into detailed instruction on how to displace, and how to avoid the most common err...

[longswordsinlondon]

@junck-ritter, being the Troll HEMA deserves, recently said:

KDF terminology revised for modern minds: Zornhau : the down-boy Krumphau : the windscreen wiper Twerhau : the helicopter Schiler : the backwards man the backwards man I can walk backwards fast as you can Schaitler : boop

…

Congratulation u now know as much about longsword as the average longsworder.

…

You know it’s true. And there’s always another season of game of thrones around the corner to maintain a healthy base of skallagrims

I went on a wild roller coaster from disdain to amusement to fury to disgusted acceptance of the truth with each layer.

Here’s my version, intended to be slightly helpful:

Zornhau: Take the line Krumphau: Plane propellor Twerhau: Helicopter Schiel: Railroad tracks Schaitlet: Arches

[junck-ritter]

Hey! I was only partially trolling. Railroad tracks is nice. I am curious how someone would interpret this with zero other tutelage though.

Damn, usin’ tutelage in a sentence. The fuck is up with me

[derkeethass]

@we-are-knight stop calling us out on our handiness immediately

[we-are-knight]

You’ll never take me alive.

[rannulfr]

Disney song lyrics version…

Zornhau: Look at this sword. Isn’t it neat? Wouldn’t you think that my thrust is complete?

Krumphau: It’s the ciiiiircle of deeeeaaaaath…! And it wounds us aaaaalllll.

Twerhau: Everybody, everybody, everybody wants to kill my hat!

Schielhau: Let’s get down to business. To defeat. Buffels.

Scheitelhau: Nooo ooone beats scheitelhau, or unseats scheitelhau, no one vertically less than 6 feet scheitelhaus.

[cursethevulgar]

Carl Ryrberg and Jesper Christiansen of Örebro HEMA on parrying with the longsword.

[longswordsinlondon]

Golden Rules of Fencing?

Hauter’s Golden Rules of Grappling

Rule 1: Be the person on top.

Rule 2: When on top, stay on top.

Rule 3: When on bottom, have an impassable guard.

Rule 4: Never forget Rule 1 (avoid the seduction of the bottom guard)

Source: http://philosophycommons.typepad.com/the_grumpy_grappler/2015/09/haueters-golden-rules.html I’m wondering what the longsword version would be…

[pteappic]

Surely:

1. Be in the vor

2. Stay in the vor.

3. When in the nach, have an impenetrable defence.

3. Never forget rule 1.

;-)

[junck-ritter]

1. Be no closer than one step away before presenting a credible threat 2. If you are at your measure you should be moving either further inwards or back out 3. Prefer to place your sword inside 4. Prefer to place your sword above 5. Parry no more broadly than you need to 6. Step no further than you need to 7. Do not attack the sword unless there is no option 8. If the point is not facing the target, turn it that way 9. As soon as you are able to reach, grapple the arms 10. The first intention should be a setup 11. Do not allow your opponent to rest 12. Budget your motion and they will tire before you 13. Keep the mind in a positive space: be enthusiastic, fearless, and cheerful

[yteicosanievilew]

youtube Swordman standing up to gender roles

[verygayandverytired]

while you were living under gender roles, i studied the blade

[theparadoxicalfreeslave]

Men are on average more muscular than women and can wield heavier weapons more easily, so it’s a practical advantage for the woman to prefer the rapier and the man to prefer the longsword. Gender roles? I’d rather win than try to “rebel for rebellion’s sake” and lose.

[yiffmaster]

surprise both swords were used in totally different time periods for totally different purposes and this is a joke post no one cares

[unnecessary-bore-deactivated202]

Not to mention long sword vs. rapier. The rapier has more speed and precision then the long sword. The long sword is crazy heavy for a hand held weapon and would quickly die.

[necromatador]

Several Of The Above Points Are Shit-Wrong And I’m Going To Tell You Why: A Point By Point Dissection By Me

Point 1: “Both swords were used in totally different time periods for totally different purposes.”

Partially right.  A rapier is indeed suited to a different fighting style than a longsword.  The slender, blade with a highly developed tip makes the rapier an amazing thrusting weapon, designed to pierce through the holes in chainmail or the seams between plates.  They can be used to cut, but their primary focus is to thrust.  A longsword, however, has a much thicker and heavier blade as well as a longer hilt that gives it the ability to be wielded in one OR two hands (it’s often referred to as a ‘hand-and-a-half’ sword because of this) enabling it the leverage and strength to cut (or bash, but that’s far less ideal as it could damage the blade) far more easily.

Rapier:

Longsword: 

HOWEVER, there was at the very least a large period of overlap in the uses of longswords and rapiers.  The difference in their utility (besides cutting vs thrusting, the longsword was largely a military weapon and the rapier was largely a civilian weapon and for dueling) saw to it that they could coexist.  The longsword as we know it has been found to date back at least to the 14th century, if not earlier and was used in sporting duels and tournaments up until the 16th if not the 17th century (though its military use ended long before its sport use did).  The rapier was first created (or at least first recognized by scholars as being created) around 1500 in Spain.  Even if we take only the centuries during which they saw the most use (longsword = 14th-16th cent. and rapier = 16th-17th cent.) there was still a whole century of overlap.

Sources: 

https://www.albion-swords.com/articles/oakeshott-typology.htm

http://www.e-reading.club/bookreader.php/135704/The_Sword_in_the_Age_of_Chivalry.pdf

http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/paradoxes.html

http://www.salvatorfabris.org/SectionRapier.shtml

Point 2: Rapiers are lighter than Longswords (and also the point that longswords are “crazy heavy for a hand-held weapon”).

This is wrong.  Rapiers are, on average, around 2-ish lbs (1kg).  Longswords are also, on average, around 2-ish lbs (1kg).  This is for your STANDARD LONGSWORD, a hand-and-a-half sword that can comfortably be wielded in either one or two hands.  Of course, both can reach higher or lower weights, but the top of the weight range for them tends to be around 4 lbs.  The heavy fuckers you’re probably referring to are true 2-handed swords, such as the montante or the zweihander.  Even then, they don’t get too much above 7 or 8 lbs.  You know what weighs around 7 or 8 lbs usually?  Most newborn babies.

(in order top to bottom: a 1-handed sword, a longsword, a montante)

For reference, other hand-held weapons?  Shotguns run between 5 and 8 or more lbs.  An M60 machine gun?  Around 23 lbs.  Handguns are between 2-4 lbs.

So yes, a longsword is heavy…when you’re comparing it to, like, a knife or to not wielding anything.

Sources: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wDjjLnKRcI&t=1s

http://www.thearma.org/essays/weights.htm#.WMsiVfkrKUk

http://www.ejmas.com/jwma/articles/2005/jwmaart_dawson_0205.htm

http://modernfirearms.net/machine/usa/m60-e.html

http://www.militaryfactory.com/smallarms/detail.asp?smallarms_id=38

http://www.chuckhawks.com/shotgun_weight.htm

https://www.sigsauer.com/products/firearms/pistols/

Point 3: Larger weapons are slower.

No

they

REALLY

aren’t.  

That’s a video-game-ism so that 1) you don’t feel like shit when you get wrecked by an opponent wielding a fuck-off huge sword and 2) they don’t have to program in proper form, technique, and handling of said sword.

Point 4: “Women can’t wield longswords.”

Really now?

(Have some more videos because tumblr won’t let me embed any more.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3o5sFI56V8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nzpvVuSwc0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bE4v6e6iss

[naamahdarling]

Thank you. Longswords just aren’t that heavy. They really are not. A good one balances in the hand and feels almost effortless to hold. They are a real pleasure to handle and I think everyone should get the chance to do so at least once just to understand what I mean. Shitty wallhangers are fuckoff heavy, but that’s because they are made from crappy materials, are not properly shaped/tapered, are too thick, are poorly balanced so they feel even heavier than they are, and were never actually intended to be *used*.

[star-anise]

Now, within the modern field of western martial arts women are often pushed towards rapier and subtly discouraged from longsword. The weight and strength issue is raised, and there is concern from their male opponents about women getting hurt–rapier thrusts tend to land softer because the blade flexes, while longsword cuts tend to leave more bruising and risk more damage, especially in organizations that have very different rules for rapier and longsword.

But as a woman who was pushed into rapier and smallsword for a decade before discovering that longsword was her true passion, I am glad to see people disputing this gender divide.

[swords4all]

A whole slew of excellent points here 🏳️‍🌈😊⚔💋

[we-are-knight]

Lo, though I have spent many hours honing my craft

Though I carry with me a sword most fine, and having much time spent using it ‘gains’t others

Though the study of the Masters I have observed

Still a questions remains to this humble knight…

“The fuck is a schiler and a schaitler, and how do I do them?”

[junck-ritter]

I take it this has been answered by now.

Schiler is a cross-eyed person, but can also mean someone shady who looks sideways at you. Attack from right shoulder to the line of the left shoulder. Use the short edge. Imagine you are pushing the parry down and to your left with both hands. Use against pflug or ruffians. Sidenote, this may have originated as a messer cut called schildhau (shield cut) as a few early treatises name it this.

Schaitler is the very top of the skull where the hair parts. It’s also a word for splitting logs. Do the maths. Cut high and keep hands above your head. Boop them. If they are gonna parry it, invert your hands so you can dive over their guard with the point. If they push EVEN higher, go in with the strong of your blade over their forearms.

[we-are-knight]

This is one of the funnier explanations, thank you. :)

[longswordsinlondon]

Nah yeah, this is better than my explanations.

[elsegno]

Continuing my desire to mess around with sharps.

[longswordsinlondon]

Lignitzer Dagger for the Ides of March

Here’s a pdf version of Lignitzer’s dagger. It’s the Ides of March, so we did dagger. All of it. Well, seven plays of it. By breaking down the principles behind them you get a quite well rounded system for so few plays.

https://drive.google.com/…/0B6YmufhkuWBsOWQ1c3hYY3A2c…/view…

7 Plays:

There’s a left hand cover to control against thrusts above

and below

for icepick

and “fencer” grips

plus the “scissors” lock off a right arm cover

and two armlocks/throws for unarmed defence

one for each of your arms

[junck-ritter]

Liegniczer Sword and Buckler

A really cool little treaties everyone loves. It’s 6 plays long but don’t be decieved: there is a lot going on here. Liegniczer was a genius.

I translated from the 1452 copy. The differences are very minor and don’t change the function.

There is already a translation on wiktenauer, but I have some difference of opinion with how it was done there. I have included ample notes to explain my decisions there. The treatise causes quite some disagreement with those few who are interested in it so I am interested to hear other opinions and am happy to defend mine against any questioning.

No illustrations again, so the inexperienced will not gain much from it. But I’ve tried to include explanatory information to get people on the right track (or, at least the same track as me) and translated it into sentences which read as naturally as possible.

Get the PDF