I just went to my first HEMA practice today. We did longsword basics, and some light sparring, and it seems I'll do longswording for the forseeable future. It was insanely fun and quite a workout too. I had the pleasure of facing someone who did well at Swordfish, and it was insane. But it feels like I learned a bit, and can't wait to go back on thursday. And as I said - it's a good allround workout. I was almost drenched after sparring for roughly one hour (with synthetic blades). Was happy to see a lot of girls and women also doing HEMA there, in addition to a bunch of very different but generally nice people. My heart really goes out to those who has this hobby, loves swords and the history behind them, and lives somewhere where there isn't a decent HEMA-club nearby. I think you could (and should if you're in that situation) do the best you can by yourself. It's probably surprising how far you could come in certain areas of (lets say) longsword just by solo practice and research. But my heart goes out to you anyways.
I attend a club that uses SCA rules as well as a new HEMA club in my area, but at this point I really want to start my own eventually anyways. I used to have nothing in my area and was able to actually build up useable skills on my own.
I seriously have not seen any literature from any period where they tell you or even indicate to discard your foot ware. Do you think they trained barefooted back then, or is this your modern day interpretation?
Wow all these videos from Blood and Iron are just getting better and better. Not just that we have counter measure for each move but we have low level force of showcase and the the real one (with gear protection of course) Sorry for my English but thank you so much for putting so much efforts when making all these videos!!!
i like the "Three Knives" advice. i forgot what country it came from, but it goes as follows; "Always carry three knives. one for you, one for lending to friends, and one spare." this translates well into most situations, such as hema, where you choose 3 techniques and drill them over and over and over again, until they become cemented in you. this doesnt mean dont do anything else, rather it means pick 3 techniques that are as wide and covering as possible, and drill those. i find it to be extremely helpful in learning most things. but this is just my 2 cents. Thanks for reading, Chris
In judo, every black belt has learned and perfected 42 throws, 12 immobilisations, 8 choke holds and 6 arm-locks. In "randori" (combats against someone actively trying to resist your attacks and retaliate), your average black belt will use roughly 6 throws, switching between them depending on enemy guard and momentum. Not everyone picks the same 6 though. We all specialize in different things, but we all do specialize, though we train to defend against a variety of opponents. What's more, almost every black belt will use one or two moves that are not part of the standard program in his 6-throws muscle memory slots, or at the very least, rare ones, because his foes have less practice defending against it.
It’s kind of like Muay Thai with different combos you can do such as block jab block elbow and then finish with a step side kick or a front kick it’s simple to learn and can end a fight easily
A quibble about the Krump (or Wecker I guess) with Messers, which you (as I understood it) used as an example of how a technique fails at the incorrect distance. The Krumphau totally works against Ochs/Stier at that distance, you just have to Krump to the blade with a stronger part of your sword, and then throw a second Krumphau to the body/head, similar to the way you might use an overbind in I:33. Your opponent might react with a Schnappen or attempt to pull away or change through, but in all cases you should have Fuhlen and be able to beat their response. Or maybe not, because it's a sword fight and shit happens. Anyway. In actual fact, all four of the Vier Versetzen can be made to work either as attacks to an opponent's body, or as actions from out of distance to control space in the center of the fight. I would contend that the fight can start, and be won using historical techniques, at a great variety of distances depending on how cautious both fencers are and how well they manage their distance.
That's why we said take measure into account when designing the interpretation. :) If you understand these things and are prepared to work off a krumphau/ochs bind then you are all good. If you do it like a lot of people and just hope for a hand snipe and are out of position to follow up, not so good.
love you guys I've been using your vids and what little ( 1 ) training manuals I can get my hands on to train myself because where I live in america there are no hema or any fencing of any kind :,( thank you keep o.o the good work.
Being by yourself sucks, but thanks to Wiktenauer you have access to all the manuals you could ever want. www.wiktenauer.com/ How easy they are to comprehend is another problem entirely. :(
CodeWolf Gaming If you have Google Play store try downloading the App "Pocket Armizare" It has a lot of manuals that cover many different types of weapons. I find that the Getty manuscript is the easiest to interpret effectively.
AFAIK, you lead with the foot on the same side as where your strike originates when striking. So if cutting from the right side to the left, you will either advance your right foot or withdraw your left. The right should be forward. Or if standing at the ready, the forward foot is the one opposite of your guard. So if you are in a right sided ox, the left foot is forward. (which allows you to step forward with the right when you cut). If cutting in a direction where your feet are already correct (left foot is forward, & cutting to the right) you can close distance with a simple step, like in foil fencing, so you continue to lead with the left.
Basically, the back foot is always the one on which side the sword is. Since your sword changes sides with every strike (there are some rare exceptions), you must step.
Honestly, there's so many different kinds of footwork, Advancing/Retreating, passing, triangle stepping, gathering, springing...it all just really ends up being a matter of what technique you want to execute, and which direction you want to strike. For the most part, you don't really want to strike towards your lead leg (There are exceptions of course) so your footwork should reflect that. For example in Dussack, a drill Meyer suggests. All these strikes come from the same side, you cut to the scalp, then an angle, then a horizontal, then an undercut. Since each cut goes to the same side, you'll need to keep the same leg forward, so you'd do gathering or advancing steps. But if I start with my left leg forward but wish to throw a cut from right to left from my high guard, I'll have to do a passing step to facilitate it. We've made a couple videos on how to deliver proper Descending/Ascending cuts, which address this a little bit. Check them out.
Consider the bio-mechanics: When you take a step (assuming good/correct footwork) your hips and torso will rotate in a certain direction. If your strike is going in the same direction, then that rotation adds additional force to your cut without any extra effort. If your cut is going in the opposite direction, then the opposing rotations will cancel each other out (to some extent), making your cut much weaker. So which foot you should have forward really depends on what you want to do. Caleb1117 gives some examples in his comment.
Just like in vocal music, sometimes you have to be your own teacher and strive to always keep in mind that whatever you are attempting has to work on a practical level as well as theoretical. If it only exists in one, it is likely not correct.
I just went to my first HEMA practice today. We did longsword basics, and some light sparring, and it seems I'll do longswording for the forseeable future. It was insanely fun and quite a workout too. I had the pleasure of facing someone who did well at Swordfish, and it was insane. But it feels like I learned a bit, and can't wait to go back on thursday. And as I said - it's a good allround workout. I was almost drenched after sparring for roughly one hour (with synthetic blades). Was happy to see a lot of girls and women also doing HEMA there, in addition to a bunch of very different but generally nice people.
My heart really goes out to those who has this hobby, loves swords and the history behind them, and lives somewhere where there isn't a decent HEMA-club nearby. I think you could (and should if you're in that situation) do the best you can by yourself. It's probably surprising how far you could come in certain areas of (lets say) longsword just by solo practice and research. But my heart goes out to you anyways.
I attend a club that uses SCA rules as well as a new HEMA club in my area, but at this point I really want to start my own eventually anyways. I used to have nothing in my area and was able to actually build up useable skills on my own.
I seriously have not seen any literature from any period where they tell you or even indicate to discard your foot ware. Do you think they trained barefooted back then, or is this your modern day interpretation?
Wow all these videos from Blood and Iron are just getting better and better. Not just that we have counter measure for each move but we have low level force of showcase and the the real one (with gear protection of course)
Sorry for my English but thank you so much for putting so much efforts when making all these videos!!!
i like the "Three Knives" advice. i forgot what country it came from, but it goes as follows;
"Always carry three knives. one for you, one for lending to friends, and one spare."
this translates well into most situations, such as hema, where you choose 3 techniques and drill them over and over and over again, until they become cemented in you. this doesnt mean dont do anything else, rather it means pick 3 techniques that are as wide and covering as possible, and drill those. i find it to be extremely helpful in learning most things.
but this is just my 2 cents. Thanks for reading,
Chris
In judo, every black belt has learned and perfected 42 throws, 12 immobilisations, 8 choke holds and 6 arm-locks.
In "randori" (combats against someone actively trying to resist your attacks and retaliate), your average black belt will use roughly 6 throws, switching between them depending on enemy guard and momentum.
Not everyone picks the same 6 though. We all specialize in different things, but we all do specialize, though we train to defend against a variety of opponents.
What's more, almost every black belt will use one or two moves that are not part of the standard program in his 6-throws muscle memory slots, or at the very least, rare ones, because his foes have less practice defending against it.
It’s kind of like Muay Thai with different combos you can do such as block jab block elbow and then finish with a step side kick or a front kick it’s simple to learn and can end a fight easily
"Experience is the name we give our mistakes"
@@stephenbrewer9750 your parents had experience then named you
A quibble about the Krump (or Wecker I guess) with Messers, which you (as I understood it) used as an example of how a technique fails at the incorrect distance. The Krumphau totally works against Ochs/Stier at that distance, you just have to Krump to the blade with a stronger part of your sword, and then throw a second Krumphau to the body/head, similar to the way you might use an overbind in I:33.
Your opponent might react with a Schnappen or attempt to pull away or change through, but in all cases you should have Fuhlen and be able to beat their response. Or maybe not, because it's a sword fight and shit happens. Anyway.
In actual fact, all four of the Vier Versetzen can be made to work either as attacks to an opponent's body, or as actions from out of distance to control space in the center of the fight. I would contend that the fight can start, and be won using historical techniques, at a great variety of distances depending on how cautious both fencers are and how well they manage their distance.
That's why we said take measure into account when designing the interpretation. :) If you understand these things and are prepared to work off a krumphau/ochs bind then you are all good. If you do it like a lot of people and just hope for a hand snipe and are out of position to follow up, not so good.
Ah, yes, for sure.
love you guys I've been using your vids and what little ( 1 ) training manuals I can get my hands on to train myself because where I live in america there are no hema or any fencing of any kind :,( thank you keep o.o the good work.
Being by yourself sucks, but thanks to Wiktenauer you have access to all the manuals you could ever want.
www.wiktenauer.com/
How easy they are to comprehend is another problem entirely. :(
Sean Franklin thank you
CodeWolf Gaming If you have Google Play store try downloading the App "Pocket Armizare"
It has a lot of manuals that cover many different types of weapons. I find that the Getty manuscript is the easiest to interpret effectively.
Excellent points, thank you!
Okay , where i can get the swords you are using in 2:10 , i was looking for that type of sword in months :D
I usually do my best to include swords used in the video description.
These ones are from Ensifer, and they're messers.
You really deserve more sub keep up the work.
Interesting, thanks!
great video. thanks guys
You guys are amazing, I appreciate how throw you are.
Wow, these two are true martial artists. Very practical in philosophy.
I've been wondering, which foot goes forwards when?
AFAIK, you lead with the foot on the same side as where your strike originates when striking. So if cutting from the right side to the left, you will either advance your right foot or withdraw your left. The right should be forward. Or if standing at the ready, the forward foot is the one opposite of your guard. So if you are in a right sided ox, the left foot is forward. (which allows you to step forward with the right when you cut). If cutting in a direction where your feet are already correct (left foot is forward, & cutting to the right) you can close distance with a simple step, like in foil fencing, so you continue to lead with the left.
Basically, the back foot is always the one on which side the sword is. Since your sword changes sides with every strike (there are some rare exceptions), you must step.
Thank you for the information!
Honestly, there's so many different kinds of footwork, Advancing/Retreating, passing, triangle stepping, gathering, springing...it all just really ends up being a matter of what technique you want to execute, and which direction you want to strike. For the most part, you don't really want to strike towards your lead leg (There are exceptions of course) so your footwork should reflect that. For example in Dussack, a drill Meyer suggests. All these strikes come from the same side, you cut to the scalp, then an angle, then a horizontal, then an undercut. Since each cut goes to the same side, you'll need to keep the same leg forward, so you'd do gathering or advancing steps. But if I start with my left leg forward but wish to throw a cut from right to left from my high guard, I'll have to do a passing step to facilitate it.
We've made a couple videos on how to deliver proper Descending/Ascending cuts, which address this a little bit. Check them out.
Consider the bio-mechanics:
When you take a step (assuming good/correct footwork) your hips and torso will rotate in a certain direction. If your strike is going in the same direction, then that rotation adds additional force to your cut without any extra effort. If your cut is going in the opposite direction, then the opposing rotations will cancel each other out (to some extent), making your cut much weaker.
So which foot you should have forward really depends on what you want to do. Caleb1117 gives some examples in his comment.
1:15 goddamn Nicole were you mad at him that day?
Just like in vocal music, sometimes you have to be your own teacher and strive to always keep in mind that whatever you are attempting has to work on a practical level as well as theoretical. If it only exists in one, it is likely not correct.
Brilliant as usual :)
I love how this mistakes are common to all martial arts😢
Ooof that medal burn *zinger*
Many interpretation errors stem from bad translations of the source material.
4:04 why should I trust anything you say? Can't seem to find any evidence of your capabilities....
Nicole: nice hammer! Hail! (Germanic Heathen here.)
If you don't put in the training you won't get the result!