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Post by Deleted on Dec 9, 2007 19:30:31 GMT
This is my biggest sword. I bought it for my WMA practice. It has a blunt blade tempered for flex. It included the rubber tip. It has a 1/8 inch thick tang with a sandwich wood grip. Each sword is made to order. See how it compares to my G2 BlackPrince in size. Thick tang and a "schilt" as depicted in Joachim Meyer's book of 1570. The schilt is part of the guard, not the blade. length: 54.5 " blade: 42.5 " hilt: 12 " pob 3.5 " weight: 4 lbs Price: $250 I have not had a chance to use this sword in practice yet, but it feels very maneuverable despite its weight because of the blade tapering. I practiced moving from Albert to Vom Tag with ease. Not as easy as with the BlackPrince, but thats the trade-off for the extra length. The schilt also is a significant additional weight factor. Its purpose is to slow the opposing blades momentum before it gets to my hilt. For most people I would advise they lighten the sword. All swords are made to order by Alchem. My thoughts would be to cut the blade down to 40 inches and loose the schilt. The sword is a good bargain compared to the blunts of Arms and Armor. That is what most people in my WMA group use. Those are about $400 for base models going up to $500. Here is a link to Meyer's book: www.schielhau.org/Meyer.title.htmlHere is the link for Alchem: www.alcheminc.com/cruciform.htmlHere is Arms and Armor. This was my alternative choice: www.armor.com/training.html
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2007 4:46:36 GMT
Damn that's a long sword! My hangwei and and a half practical feels puny now...
Very neat, please let us know more as you further test it.
Ancalagon
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Post by Deleted on Dec 16, 2007 6:51:29 GMT
I had a chance to use it at my practice today. It worked out very well for me. Some guys were uneasy about the length, saying it changes the dynamics of drills and sparring. Most of their sword blunts were as long as my blade or slightly bigger. I was a wise-ass and told them to get better swords, lol. Kind of funny given that they have $500 Arms and Armor blunts. Beside since when is everyone suppose to duel with equal longswords?
I expected to hear some complaints about the weight, but I heard none. Having not been told in advance about the weight of the sword, they thought it was maneuverable enough. The Alchem blunt has a thiner and more tapered blade compared to the A&A blunts. They were quick to notice how the schilt's mass effectively adds blade presence to the thinner blade. It gives it a bite while maintaining the quick recovery of a thin blade.
One person also felt that the grip was too thick. Mine came with a standard barrel grip. A waisted one might be a better choice. Given that the sword is made entirely to order from scratch, the grip, sword length and extra weight of the schilt are all adjustable.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2007 6:06:53 GMT
The following video is a demonstration of point control. In one hand I have my rapier and in the other my new longsword. The rapier 2 lbs 6 oz and 47". The longsword 4 lbs at 54.5". I am hitting tennis balls suspended on a string in demi-lunges.
This one shows a Zornhue into Langenort. The point here is to strike hard and fast but end up with your point in line for a thrust.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2008 4:12:37 GMT
I decided to lighten the sword up a bit and see how that works out for me. It was an easy matter of removing the schilt which took off 8 oz forward of the hilt. The removal of the schilt left a small gap which I filled with some tape. If I decide to keep the schilt off I will think of a more permanent solution. Removing the schilt was very easy. All I had to do was remove a tension pin that went through the pommol and through the tang. I then banged down the crossguard with a mallet which slid everything down. Here is what it looks disassembled. One very cool feature of the pommol is that it is a pommol within a pommol. So it is an option to leave out the inner circle and make the sword slightly lighter and more blade heavy. This is what the sword looks like without the schilt. The reason for this alteration is that even while I had no trouble executing simple drills with the heavier sword, drilling combination strikes proved to be more difficult. I am still debating if I want to keep the blade at 43" or cut it down to 38". More practice will tell.
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