Thanks very much guys. This was absolutely lovely. Loads of striking parallels (pun unintended, but I'm just going to blush and leave it in there) with training in my primary art (Muay Thai) for competition. Bullshit - playfulness - is crucial if you want to develop and expand your skill set. Too many younger fighters are obsessed only with pressure testing the existing skill set, to the point that pressure does what pressure does and compresses it.
Great interview. Competitive HEMA is now nothing more than Olympic fencing with different weapons. As soon as competition for shiny trinkets is introduced, the gamesmanship takes over. I've experienced this in swordsmanship, the asian arts and the shooting sports. Competition and historical study/practicality are anathema to each other, and the former will always win out. It's just the way it is and something you have to accept. From the standpoint of practicality in safety gear: compromises have to be made, because most of us have to go to work in the morning. At nearly sixty, I now have physical issues because I didn’t believe that when I was younger. Don't be me. Not having arthritis when your older, and keeping all of your digits intact, is actually more important in 2024 than learning how to handle a sword.
What actual evidence do we have that larger gloves, typical gloves like Spes Heavies make people hit harder. Personally they make me slower, and I feel I hit less hard then what I could with bare hands?
I think the point is the larger heavier safety equipment creates a situation were its more difficult to sense a good hit on the receiving end and reduces concern for the affects of being hit thus reducing ones concern for defense and focusing one hitting hard and fast with out concern for defense. Correct me if I am wrong Guy.
Guy talking about using sharps at full speed to test moves. That could be in fact irresponsible. But if he made sure beforehand that his children will get the royalties from his books, then everything is fine, keep testing! 😏 As someone that considers himself a beginner, a noob, inexperienced, green [insert more synonyms] in the field of HEMA... and as someone that has used sharps for solo drills before buying trainers, I have to say that I fully agree about the impact of gloves on holding a sword. It doesn't feel right! Same conclusion, from two different sides of the skill spectrum. I collected swords before learning to use them, that explains it in my case. Guy started before most of the gloves were even an option. But the new kids, well, maybe it's different for them. Larger, multi-location clubs talk about liabilities and insurance from the start, so a structured introduction to HEMA may shape their perspective. Which could very well mean that they don't learn how to hold a sword properly (I don't know!), but also that they are more open to the idea of seeing swordplay as a sport rather than a historical art (and science). The change is inevitable! Ok, that's pessimistic. Here's how I cheer myself up. I collect swords (and I have a file with their value). If I go, either my family will get a nice payout, or, if they just give them away for nothing cuz they can't be bothered to open an excel file, someone else will get a sweet deal. And those people will get the sword collecting/using bug, and the universe will be in balance again. 😄
From what I've seen of longsword sparring I question the value of it ,did the same in asian martial arts ,no one fights like that in the street,thats what I see in longsword sparring,its a sport not a martial art,he is right about impact 😊
Thanks very much guys. This was absolutely lovely. Loads of striking parallels (pun unintended, but I'm just going to blush and leave it in there) with training in my primary art (Muay Thai) for competition. Bullshit - playfulness - is crucial if you want to develop and expand your skill set. Too many younger fighters are obsessed only with pressure testing the existing skill set, to the point that pressure does what pressure does and compresses it.
Thanks for inviting us to this lovely discussion. Much respect to Guy, it was a pleasure to be in your class last weekend. Cheers.
Our pleasure!
Cheers ! Thank you.
Damn that Durer is beautiful!
thanks!
Great interview. Competitive HEMA is now nothing more than Olympic fencing with different weapons. As soon as competition for shiny trinkets is introduced, the gamesmanship takes over. I've experienced this in swordsmanship, the asian arts and the shooting sports. Competition and historical study/practicality are anathema to each other, and the former will always win out. It's just the way it is and something you have to accept.
From the standpoint of practicality in safety gear: compromises have to be made, because most of us have to go to work in the morning. At nearly sixty, I now have physical issues because I didn’t believe that when I was younger. Don't be me. Not having arthritis when your older, and keeping all of your digits intact, is actually more important in 2024 than learning how to handle a sword.
What actual evidence do we have that larger gloves, typical gloves like Spes Heavies make people hit harder. Personally they make me slower, and I feel I hit less hard then what I could with bare hands?
I think the point is the larger heavier safety equipment creates a situation were its more difficult to sense a good hit on the receiving end and reduces concern for the affects of being hit thus reducing ones concern for defense and focusing one hitting hard and fast with out concern for defense. Correct me if I am wrong Guy.
Guy talking about using sharps at full speed to test moves. That could be in fact irresponsible. But if he made sure beforehand that his children will get the royalties from his books, then everything is fine, keep testing! 😏
As someone that considers himself a beginner, a noob, inexperienced, green [insert more synonyms] in the field of HEMA... and as someone that has used sharps for solo drills before buying trainers, I have to say that I fully agree about the impact of gloves on holding a sword. It doesn't feel right! Same conclusion, from two different sides of the skill spectrum. I collected swords before learning to use them, that explains it in my case. Guy started before most of the gloves were even an option. But the new kids, well, maybe it's different for them. Larger, multi-location clubs talk about liabilities and insurance from the start, so a structured introduction to HEMA may shape their perspective. Which could very well mean that they don't learn how to hold a sword properly (I don't know!), but also that they are more open to the idea of seeing swordplay as a sport rather than a historical art (and science). The change is inevitable!
Ok, that's pessimistic. Here's how I cheer myself up. I collect swords (and I have a file with their value). If I go, either my family will get a nice payout, or, if they just give them away for nothing cuz they can't be bothered to open an excel file, someone else will get a sweet deal. And those people will get the sword collecting/using bug, and the universe will be in balance again. 😄
Classic English 🩳,😢
From what I've seen of longsword sparring I question the value of it ,did the same in asian martial arts ,no one fights like that in the street,thats what I see in longsword sparring,its a sport not a martial art,he is right about impact 😊