Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 21, 2007 1:59:03 GMT
Nice axes. The first one seems more like a halberd. The second one priced very nicely at $70. Definelty don't buy anything untill you clear it with your group. Here is a picture of some of the other weapons I play with. I am holding the Glaive at 7.5 feet. Behind that is a great sword (6'3"), a longsword (4'4") and a short sword (31"). The sword you see in the vids is 37". Next week I am thinking of using the short sword and trying some different tactics at practice. Today I went to my WMA practice. We did a number of drills going through attacks and counters with steel blunts. One of the guys has a background in Scottish broadsword. So at the end he went through some of the basic guards and attacks in that fighting art. He had these bamboo wasters with coconut basket hits and we sparred. He fought broadsword but I resorted to my rapier fighting which is my strongest fighting style.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 21, 2007 5:06:53 GMT
The first one is a halberd, a large bladed halberd, the cutting edge is 645mm long or something. I've already checked with the group and one of our trusted sources for stuff is manning, the site i linked to. Using a two handed axe is really not that hard, it is basically a sword and staff combined. How much does that glaive weigh and how do you weight your weapons? Also where did you get your chainmail and is it reenactment grade? What gauge? I am looking to try some florentine with twin axes, although later i want sword and seax for florentining.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 22, 2007 7:34:06 GMT
The glaive weighs 3 lb 12 oz. It handles nicely and I am happy with it. The Great Sword weights 5 lb 3 oz. It handles OK because of the leverage, I might still modify it to lessen the wieght. The bastard sword weighs 4 lb 13 oz. I'm not too happy with that one. I am thinking I will change out the steel crossguard and replace that with a rubber one. Then I will be able to also get rid of the washer-pommol which I am using to balance it. That should bring it down to about 3.5 lbs. All my single hand swords weigh 3 lbs. The shorter ones have thicker blades then the longer ones. Many other fighter are envious of my single hand swords. I use a 11 lb food scale to weigh my swords. My mail is NOT battle worthy. It is for court-dress only even though it weighs 40 lbs. The issue is not so much that the rings are butted, but they are too soft and would open too easily if struck. Mine is 16 gage but there is an issue of hardness that is more important. I bought it on ebay from a seller called Panther Trading for $200. I was not fighting at the time I bought it. If I was I would have gotten a better one. So far the best deal I have seen on battle ready mail is here for about $400: sussen.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/page15.htmlOn the issue of going Florentine with Axes. Damn, you could not have picked a harder form. You said you are just starting to fight. Slow...down. It takes about 2 years to learn each from good, if you practice once a week with people who really know what how to fight and know how to train you. Learning to use a balanced sword efficiently is hard enough. Using a top-heavy axe is much more demanding. It builds upon the body mechanics you use with the sword. Defending yourself with a shield is hard enough against and experienced fighter. Using a narrow weapon to defend is much harder. I recommend you learn basic sword and shield first. Its ok to screw around with some other forms at the end of your practice... but concentrate your efforts on the basics. Use the sword and shield for two years and you will be able to anticipate where attacks are coming from. To become a florentiner you will need to do two practices a week. One right handed and one left handed to develop the proper muscle memory in both hands . After two years of this you will be ready to begin training florentin with two-swords. You will know how to attack with each hand from your prior training. You will also be able to anticipate attacks. Now you will train to learn how to attack with one sword while defending with the other sword simultaneously. Finally after two years of this you will be ready to begin training with two axes. What I have described is not my opinion or idea, I am passing along what I have heard from others who have gray hair on their heads and can kick my $emprini. The six year plan is also very ambitious. A fifteen year plan is more likely. Most top level fighters in the SCA and MSR are in their 40's. There are some exceptions of gifted people who start in their teens and are Crown Champions in their early 30's. One of my trainers told me "practice does NOT make PERFECT, it makes PERMANENT". That meas if you train the wrong way you fight the wrong way. I hope I have not become an overbearing preacher, but it seemed like you might be interested in these details. p.s. You mentioned that your character is a Varingian Guard. My SCA persona is early Byzantine, although I have not developed that much. I would like to here about you character. That is something we should probably disuse in the Cafe area. Also if your group has any vids on You Tube or a website I would love to take a look at that. I am always interested in seeing how other groups balance fighting and safety.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2007 4:01:55 GMT
I finally found the time to watch all your vids (when I should be sleeping). It was good to watch you fight all the different styles and see how you adjusted your strategy for each.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2007 6:52:03 GMT
My style should change considerably over the next few weeks as I intergrate the snap method we discused in the other thread. I will try to fight with the sword basket at rest infront of my face instead of further back. This should give me at tighter defence and less of a tell. I will work with my short sword (31') at the next practice. It will be easier to controll that. When I create the muscle memory (in a few weeks) I will then try my 37" sword. We'll see how that goes and how everything esle follows.
BTW Jason, do you sell SCA helmets? I am considering some armor changes. I am thinking about getting a gambeson with arming points too. This is going back to a discusion I had with Bloodwraith about needing to adjust my armor to fight comfortably with a greatsword. Its not an immidiate need, just thinking ahead.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2007 7:41:22 GMT
Tsafa: I am new to reenactment but i have alot of martial arts under my belt and i have been using weapons for years. The first weapon i am going to learn to do for reenactment is spear because the staff and the naginata are my weapons of choice. I have been doing two handed twirling drills for about 8 years which really teaches you coordination and to know how your body moves. I would also like to try some longsword as well because it looks like it could be alot of fun. Sword and shield is fine but my character and the varangian guard predominantly used one handed axe and shield or two handed axe. I know about the train the wrong way fight the wrong way, one of my martial arts students has been doing the thing wrong for a while because he was training by himself without my input. Definitely not overbearing preacher as i like to learn these things and i am new to reenactment so i have to unlearn how to kill people with my weapons (how hard can it be to unlearn 10 years of learning how to kill people?). So it isn't about coordination or strikes, i can do that. It's about learning how not to incapacitate my opponent. If you want to PM me about you character maybe i can help you flesh it out
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2007 12:35:27 GMT
Sorry, I have found that you cannot get good SCA helmets unless you have someone in the SCA make them. As only someone who has fought. is involved, and knows the rules can make them up to standards.
I like your idea of changing your armor. I know a knight that fights in a padded gambison, leather belt, and spaulders. His mobility is amazing. Of course as a knight he does not get hit as often as us lowly men-at-arms. I currently wear a leather curaiss for body protection. It does slow me down but I still get bruises wearing it, so cannot imagine what it would feel like with just a few layers of cloth and padding.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2007 13:02:45 GMT
Hmm we wear just gambeson, some of the guys wear chainmail or llamelar but mostly it is just gambeson and that seems to work fine, but then we are using steel and are going slower than the SCA.
Tsafa have you seen those new plastic waster things? They might be the go, better than rattan even and with a more realistic shape.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2007 18:25:11 GMT
Trueswordsman, I think I will hold off until Gulf Wars or Pensic to get the gambeson, helmet and other upgrades. I think it will be best to go to a place with a lot of vendors and actualy try on stuff.
Bloodwraith, I took a look at the plastic wasters. They would be too dangerous for SCA fightinting. The rattan has a minimum 1.25 inch diameter to spread the impact out and keep them out of eyeslots, throats and joint openings. With the power that some guys use, there would be too many broken bones with edged weapon simulators. Also most people don't have every inch of their body covered in armor. Getting hit in the bicept hurts like hell with rattan, but getting hit there with an edged plastic weapon might cause serious damage to the muscle or tendon. It is an issue of force concentration.
I have brought the plastic waster to the attention of my WMA group as an cheaper alternative to steel blunts. Most of the experianced people there prefer steel. New guys get matched up with old people in drilling. So we are thinking that it might create a problem to match steel against plastic. We have decided to wait this out and see how other WMA groups feel about the plastic swords and how they assimilate them into practice.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 26, 2007 3:30:21 GMT
nice vids Tsafa... +1
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 26, 2007 6:01:56 GMT
Thanks Sargon.
I didn't take any video this week but I think I did some of my best fighting ever from a technical point. I remembered to keep the point of my shield up this time and I am getting more comfortable with my snaps. But I still need more practice on that. I worked on using my sword to block places that the shield did not fully block.
Something one Duke mentioned to me after a fight was that I was throwing a lot of off-side shots and no on-side shots. He told me that was not good. I told him I was not, because it seemed pointless to throw a shot to his head when I can see that the top corner of the shield was in position to block it easily. He told me that by throwing the on-side to that corner will cause my opponent to bring the shield slightly in and will allow me to set up a combination off-side. He explained that my off-side shot to his sword-side will have a better chance of succeeding if I first create a diversion to his shield side with the on-side shot. He will have to commit himself to raising his corner a bit more, reducing his vision and tightening up his shield. I have a tournament this Saturday. I will have to work this into my fighting without having practiced the idea much.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 2, 2007 0:35:51 GMT
I had a good fight with Count Valgard at my Tues Practice. A Count in the SCA is a tittle given to someone who has been King once. If you are King twice, you are a Duke. You don't become King by election in my Kingdom. You become King buy beating everyone at a Crown Tournament.
You will notice I am fighting left handed. Because this is an off-handed fight, we are both holding our Shields close and so they are covering our whole bodies. We are both fighting very defensively. I am particularly aware of his greater hight and greater reach.
Next I have two funny vids with a new guy I was working with. I was going easy on him not hitting hard and avoiding his legs because he had poor armor there. In the first vid he took an illegal shot below my knee to my calf. My response was an ass-spank on the next round.
The kid had a good sense of defense. He as able to move his sword side to side to block my shots. He tried to keep his sword between me and him. In the first vid I did not move in on him. In the second vid I did. I was trying to teach him how to deal with a shield that is charging in on him. The idea being to maintain distance and strike around the shield.
After the vids I worked on some offense with him. You will notice that he is firing his attack with his hands held low. I did some drills to get him to strike with his hilt raised over my shield-line and to strike horizontally.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 2, 2007 4:15:31 GMT
Those were much better vids tsafa, i have a great love for two handed weapons, it was interesting to see how the new boy went against your shield. Nice work with the shield, although i wasn't really impressed by the duke, his technique was ok but i would have expected more from a two times tournament winner. Please keep vidding as these are very interesting
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 2, 2007 4:55:35 GMT
Hi Bloodwraith. Just a minor correction, he is a Count, a one time tournament winner. I think that what is disappointing you is his conservatism. He is use to fighting a lot of people a lot better then me and I think he was was approaching the fight in the same careful manor that he approaches tournaments. Generally, good fighters prefer to attack into the other person attack when they are most vulnerable. People will often open up their shield when they attack, or not return to a good defensive guard after they attack. I also think he was also defensive because he saw me change my guard from the last time we fought and was not sure how I would fight. Perhaps I might do something stupid he could take advantage of. He also knows I occasionally charge, so I think he was looking to take advantage of that.
You will notice that I have changed my guard so that I am holding the sword higher, horizontally over my shield . This is a common guard used by fighters. I had tried it before but I was not able to get my shots off well. The key, I have learned, is to use the point of balance on the sword as a pivot point. Doing so allows you to get off rapid combinations efficiently. The drawback is your forearm can be exposed. I got it chopped off a few times at my Wed practice. So at rest I need to keep my forearm behind the shield. Holding the sword slight diagonal will accomplish this. I also need to point the corner of my shield slightly up. That is a lesson from a few weeks ago that seems to have been lost in the transition of guards.
Those two bloober vids with the new kid were hilarious. I laugh every time I watch them.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 2, 2007 12:54:22 GMT
I noticed your new guard, it is very similar to mine. I also noticed when you were legged you switched back to your old style and he proceeded to hit you on top of the head, which may have been prevented had you kept your new guard ;D
Good videos. And you can tell the Count is totally relaxed and just waiting for an opening. It is a good way to keep fighting for a long time.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 2, 2007 17:15:19 GMT
Jason, you are right! I had not noticed that when legged I resorted to my old guard. In first two attacks against me while on the ground, I used the new guard, but in the third attack my guard broke down and that is when I got hit with the off-side shot. I will have to be mindfull of my guard when I get legged next time.
I had watched that peice several times. It was clever the way the count pressed my shield with his tip. He was able to maintain maximum distance and see what I would do. He did it twice and noticed a patten. I was reaching forward and trying to get his leg. On the third attempt he used that knowlege to kill me.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 2, 2007 23:52:17 GMT
I did the same thing when I first switch from oldcastle to the new guard and was immediately killed by a blow to my left temple.
All of the guys who have been doing this for a while have there little tricks. I once fought a knight who used a large round center grip shield. He held his sword behind the shield so you never knew where he was swinging until it nearly landed.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2007 1:16:14 GMT
Trueswordsman: sounds like what i suggested to one of my friends, hold the sword behind the shield so all your opponent can see is shield and work around your own shield. Not sure how well it would work though and you would have to have amazing speed and wrist strength.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2007 1:43:43 GMT
Yeah, the knight I was fighting who was using that technique was extremely fast and flexible like a snake. It will take me many years to get that fast! I need to use both sword and shield for protection at this stage.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2007 4:14:30 GMT
My old style hid my sword well when I was fighting like-handed fighters. Not off-handed fighter unless I really brought the shield over and twisted my body. My old style fired the sword from the shoulder. The advantage is that you can generate a lot of power by twisting the hips a lot. The disadvantage is that the other person could see the shot coming. The way to prevent that was to hold the shield corner up to block his view.
This new style keeps the sword in plain site. It depends on quick diversionary combinations off the sword's POB. The sword travels a shorter distance too. I used it at my Wed practice too. I am amazed at how much this has changed my fight. It just gives me so many more options. Not to say that the old Bellatrix shot from shoulder has no place. I think it is important to be able to have as many options as possible and change up the fight. For now I will concentrate on this style alone so I can create muscle memory and get smooth with it. I was told at my Wed practice that I open up the shield once I get into the third or forth combination.
So to summarize I have three way now to throw the same shot. Off the shoulder with the twist of the hip. The hand-snap that squeezes the hand for leverage. And this last shot we talked about that works off the POB.
Trueswordsman, I was practicing on my pell today. I wanted to combine the hand-snap into the POB combinations. It gets confusing. I think it can only do the hand-snap on the last shot of my combinations effectivly. Otherwise the sword seems too unstable in my hand. I was panning to ask Sir Stephan about that the next time I saw him, but what do you think? I know that you have been working with snaps longer then me.
|
|