ROMAN LEGIONARY GLADIUS TRAINING VIDEO

This is good stuff, 30 years in the SCA...and I wish any of us had something this nice to use as a reference.
+karma!

Good job, that was quite interesting and will certainly help people who want to research roman fighting techniques.

On a side note: it does seem as though your wooden pell got loose... that's exactly what mine always look like after a few weeks.

Here are some thoughts for you. I love what I see BTW, I'm just tossing this stuff out here based on what I was thinking watching your video:

period art: Collect images. Interpret what you're seeing based on your experiments. Are there any other prevalent postures in gladius or scutum (or foot placement) you have not explored yet?

Look at Teutonic based later martial arts footwork, in example Medieval Longsword, Messer, etc. We do NOT know if the Roman's opponent's fought like this, but we DO know the Roman's spoke of similar movements when describing the Celts. We also can plainly see from the Roman equipment this gear seems designed for a fight-in-place mentality. Something that might counter such active and fierce motion.

armpit as a target?

work with someone attacking from the front with the scutum. Observe "windows of most opportunity" your sword works in.

Can you cut a weapon arm after the scutum wards off the weapon and the opponent is withdrawing? How?

We know that breaking the line could be fatal when they were holding a piece of ground. So I doubt you would be able to smash a lot with the scutum in such a situation- you do not want to upset you comrades shields if packed tightly, and you do not want to advance two paces in a hard smash by 'greeting' an opponent with the scutum. What else can you do to create an opening using the scutum while stationary? Can it be lifted into a downward blow of an opponent, stifling them as you counter with the gladius? Can anything be done? I am not saying anything can be done- it very well may be it is just not workable.

Also- how does this work (scutum) countering with it against a side-strike (a horizontally placed blow at perhaps your hips or shoulder/head). Can you 'greet' this incoming strike sideways with the scutum without wearing yourself out?

Let us also be realistic. How does the scutum/gladius work when the scutum is resting on the ground? I would think such a thing is heavy and over a prolonged engagement this *could* happen. Alternatively- terrain is not an equal experience for all fighters in a line.


If your line is broken, how will you fight singly, without the help of a united organized "front"? If your facing/fighting one opponent and another comes in from a random, but unprotected angle, how do you turn/react with scutum?

We know by the Gladius' design that it wasn't for extending out past the shield in an exposed manner, there is no cross guard. Vaguely similar shield-centric fighting styles (Viking, Greek) also have no well developed hand protection. It isn't a matter of changing what you have now, it is a matter of finding the timing of using what you have now to keep from exposing your weapon arm as a target. Just thoughts.

Excellent!

Do some YouTube searches on Pennsic and SCA, you get to see mass battles and large numbers of crazies doing shield wall stuff.
Also look for Bridge Battles, those show some nice static shield wall and spear work. You can draw inspiration from that.
Also, there are some Roman groups within the SCA that you can contact, yet another resource.
But I have to agree with all of what Beowulf said too...

There are pro's and con's to either foot forward.
With the scutum in the left hand, a left foot forward stance like you showed would brace the shield against leveraging attacks. Left foot forward may also reduce the reach of your right arm if your shoulders are not square to the shield plane...
Right foot forward would make the shield susceptable to levering but potentially increase your right arm reach.

So if you stand with left shoulder and left leg into the scutum to brace for a charge or press, you lose some reach. But since your opponent is glued to your shield and trying to eat your face, by definition, he's in reach.

Just thoughts.

Quote: Why were they even in that field?
Nice job. Gives status and a chance for them to talk ,,down'' to the ,,public''. Arrogance. That mentallity reigns still today, even more so, since party politics play an ever larger part in these institutions.
It is a money stream and they want their grubby little hands in there.
If one wants to hear a load of nonsense, go talk with 90% of these people.
Only a precious few are actually interested in their fields.
A lot of research is done and published by so called ,,Amateurs''.
That's the name given by ,,Academia'' to all researchers outside their realm, who might threaten the status quo, ergo might make them look the fools they are.
Sounds harsh, but that is my experience, supported by people I know who actually work there. Infighting and backstabbing are the items of importance and landing, via these methods, of even more cushy jobs. People who have those jobs on merit are quite rare and feared by them.
Welcome to the wonderful world of academia.

awesome demo