swordplay Archive

  • <p>This post is part of my continuing efforts to understand the rapier techniques expounded by Joachim Meyer in his Art of Combat (1570). I’ll summarise forty-odd pages of text into one(-ish). It covers his sword alone techniques. I’ll look at sword and dagger another time.</p> <p><strong>Stance</strong></p> <p>Meyer insists on keeping the right foot forward (for the right-handed swordsman) and the stance is very forward weighted. This makes the front foot a pivot point around which the rear foot moves, generally off-line in the opposition direction to that from which an attack is received.</p> <p><strong>Postures</strong></p> <p>There are three types of posture. […]</p>

    Meyer’s Rapier in One Post

    Posted on 15 April, 2011 | 1 Comment

    This post is part of my continuing efforts to understand the rapier techniques expounded by Joachim Meyer in his Art of Combat (1570). I’ll summarise forty-odd pages of text into one(-ish). It covers his sword alone techniques. I’ll look at sword and dagger another time.

    Stance

    Meyer insists on keeping the right foot forward (for the right-handed swordsman) and the stance is very forward weighted. This makes the front foot a pivot point around which the rear foot moves, generally off-line in the opposition direction to that from which an attack is received.

    Postures

    There are three types of posture. […]

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  • <p>A factor which goes completely unrecognised by most practitioners as we struggle to revive the lost fighting arts of Medieval and Renaissance Europe is the differenced between “sword fighting” and “fencing”. I’m going to try to explain the difference and show how knowing the difference shapes our practice. First, let’s define the terms.</p> <p><strong>Sword Fighting</strong>: battlefield or martial swordplay skills answering the question “what’s the fastest way to put the other guy on the ground and move forward to the next target?” The focus here is on efficiency and economy of action in an environment where skill-at-arms meant life […]</p>

    Sword Fighting Versus Fencing

    Posted on 11 March, 2011 | 2 Comments

    A factor which goes completely unrecognised by most practitioners as we struggle to revive the lost fighting arts of Medieval and Renaissance Europe is the differenced between “sword fighting” and “fencing”. I’m going to try to explain the difference and show how knowing the difference shapes our practice. First, let’s define the terms.

    Sword Fighting: battlefield or martial swordplay skills answering the question “what’s the fastest way to put the other guy on the ground and move forward to the next target?” The focus here is on efficiency and economy of action in an environment where skill-at-arms meant life […]

    Continue Reading...

  • <p>I’m well known for my support of bouting and tournaments within the historical fencing community. If you are unwilling to test your skill at arms in a competitive environment, you need to find another hobby or, at least, drop the pretense of studying a martial art. However, for all the fantastic effort being put into making tournaments work at the moment, there’s a number of factors which I believe have not been considered or not properly thought through.</p> <p><strong>The Approach</strong></p> <p>In the German longsword schools, this is known as the <em>zufechten</em>. The fault can almost certainly be laid at […]</p>

    Thoughts on Historical Fencing Tournaments

    Posted on 17 December, 2010 | 1 Comment

    I’m well known for my support of bouting and tournaments within the historical fencing community. If you are unwilling to test your skill at arms in a competitive environment, you need to find another hobby or, at least, drop the pretense of studying a martial art. However, for all the fantastic effort being put into making tournaments work at the moment, there’s a number of factors which I believe have not been considered or not properly thought through.

    The Approach

    In the German longsword schools, this is known as the zufechten. The fault can almost certainly be laid at […]

    Continue Reading...

  • <p>I’ve been trying to find a framework into which I can fit the various techniques <strong>Joachim Meyer</strong> discusses in his chapter on rapier combat in his The Art of Combat. The chapter is filled with individual techniques and plays and it’s only at the very end of the chapter that he talks about rapier fencing in general.</p> <p><strong>On Defense</strong>:</p> <p><em>“From whichever side he sends in his cut, catch and parry his cut, and cut or thrust in at him to the same side from which he has sent his cut, before he has entirely finished it, or at least </em> […]</p>

    Tactical Advice in Meyer’s Rapier

    Posted on 10 December, 2010 | 2 Comments

    I’ve been trying to find a framework into which I can fit the various techniques Joachim Meyer discusses in his chapter on rapier combat in his The Art of Combat. The chapter is filled with individual techniques and plays and it’s only at the very end of the chapter that he talks about rapier fencing in general.

    On Defense:

    “From whichever side he sends in his cut, catch and parry his cut, and cut or thrust in at him to the same side from which he has sent his cut, before he has entirely finished it, or at least […]

    Continue Reading...

  • Q: You were not a fencing master before writing your Treatise on the Science of Arms in 1553. You were a civil engineer. What made you think you had the right experience to write such a work? CA: An engineer is a scientist, a mathematician. If he doesn’t understand geometry, his bridges collapse. Fencing is exactly the same. I’ve proved that it is nothing more than a study in applied geometry. All these so-called masters of fence who go on and on about ‘guardia di testa’ this and ‘guardia di sopra bracchia’ are all charletons. They’re monkeys reciting by rote recieved ‘wisdom.’ It’s not the middle ages any more. We live in modern times and we need to bring the modern methods of science to bear to exorcise the demons of the past.

    Interview with Camillo Agrippa

    Posted on 19 November, 2010 | No Comments
    Q: You were not a fencing master before writing your Treatise on the Science of Arms in 1553. You were a civil engineer. What made you think you had the right experience to write such a work? CA: An engineer is a scientist, a mathematician. If he doesn’t understand geometry, his bridges collapse. Fencing is exactly the same. I’ve proved that it is nothing more than a study in applied geometry. All these so-called masters of fence who go on and on about ‘guardia di testa’ this and ‘guardia di sopra bracchia’ are all charletons. They’re monkeys reciting by rote recieved ‘wisdom.’ It’s not the middle ages any more. We live in modern times and we need to bring the modern methods of science to bear to exorcise the demons of the past.

    Continue Reading...

  • <p><em><strong>Q</strong>: We know you were born in Basel, Switzerland, around 1537 then spent most of your adult life in Strasbourg, France. Why the big move?</em></p> <p><em></em><strong>JM</strong>: Strasbourg was different then. For one thing, it wasn’t French. It was an important city. It had it’s own Imperial Free City Charter from the Holy Roman Emperor himself and it was a major centre of trade and commerce. I guess it was time to make a break. I was 23 years old and not getting any younger. It was time to stop drinking and fighting the Spanish and Italians, build a […]</p>

    Interview with Joachim Meyer

    Posted on 12 November, 2010 | 3 Comments

    Q: We know you were born in Basel, Switzerland, around 1537 then spent most of your adult life in Strasbourg, France. Why the big move?

    JM: Strasbourg was different then. For one thing, it wasn’t French. It was an important city. It had it’s own Imperial Free City Charter from the Holy Roman Emperor himself and it was a major centre of trade and commerce. I guess it was time to make a break. I was 23 years old and not getting any younger. It was time to stop drinking and fighting the Spanish and Italians, build a […]

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  • <p>The dusack is a remarkable weapon. It’s traditionally made of wood or leather (although some metal examples are known) and was used as a training weapon the the German schools of swordsmanship and the town guard in Eastern Europe to quell hordes of drunken revelers. The dusack fighting system outlined in Joachim Meyer’s Art of Combat (1570, tr. J. Forgeng) is bone-breakingly fast.</p> <p>My question has always been where on earth did such an unusally shaped weapon come from? Then I stumbled across this.</p> <p>Dusacks in Pennsylvania? Gangs of militant Amish keeping the law with quaintly decorated wooden swords?</p> <p>The […]</p>

    The Dusack’s Agricultural Origins

    Posted on 29 October, 2010 | No Comments

    The dusack is a remarkable weapon. It’s traditionally made of wood or leather (although some metal examples are known) and was used as a training weapon the the German schools of swordsmanship and the town guard in Eastern Europe to quell hordes of drunken revelers. The dusack fighting system outlined in Joachim Meyer’s Art of Combat (1570, tr. J. Forgeng) is bone-breakingly fast.

    My question has always been where on earth did such an unusally shaped weapon come from? Then I stumbled across this.

    Dusacks in Pennsylvania? Gangs of militant Amish keeping the law with quaintly decorated wooden swords?

    The […]

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  • <p>I’ve been reviewing a bunch of video of my rapier bouts at Swordplay 10 and I’m a little unsure whether to be pleased or disappointed. The real cringing, gut-wrenching joy of seeing your performance on video is that it lays you bare before the harshest critic in the universe: yourself. There is no better platform from which to learn and improve. Here’s how:</p> <p>1) Watch the videos again and again. Take notes. Specifically, note all the good points, all the things you did. Be generous. List as many good points as you can: stance, guard positions, actions, correctly anticipating the […]</p>

    Long Dark Night of the Sword

    Posted on 8 October, 2010 | No Comments

    I’ve been reviewing a bunch of video of my rapier bouts at Swordplay 10 and I’m a little unsure whether to be pleased or disappointed. The real cringing, gut-wrenching joy of seeing your performance on video is that it lays you bare before the harshest critic in the universe: yourself. There is no better platform from which to learn and improve. Here’s how:

    1) Watch the videos again and again. Take notes. Specifically, note all the good points, all the things you did. Be generous. List as many good points as you can: stance, guard positions, actions, correctly anticipating the […]

    Continue Reading...

  • Swordplay 10 was brilliant fun. Historical fencing schools from all over the country turned up and we had at each other for three days straight with a variety of weapons. The highlights for me were the chance to bout with longswords with the guys from Glen Lachlann Estate College of Arms (GLECA) and a dusack bout with padded foam “boffer” weapons with Paul Wganer of the Stoccata School of Defence (Stoccata). The coffee van turning up each morning rates pretty highly as well.

    Swordplay 10 Review

    Posted on 10 September, 2010 | No Comments
    Swordplay 10 was brilliant fun. Historical fencing schools from all over the country turned up and we had at each other for three days straight with a variety of weapons. The highlights for me were the chance to bout with longswords with the guys from Glen Lachlann Estate College of Arms (GLECA) and a dusack bout with padded foam “boffer” weapons with Paul Wganer of the Stoccata School of Defence (Stoccata). The coffee van turning up each morning rates pretty highly as well.

    Continue Reading...

  • <p>Let’s face it. Fencing is a dead activity. At no time in my life will I ever be called upon to fight a duel, let alone a duel with swords. As a combat art, fencing is a technique without a purpose. So, other than to be pretentious (which is an end in itself) why do I learn, study and practice the fighting styles of a bunch of dead white dudes?</p> <p> I’m going to discuss this problem through an analogy to languages (another passion of mine, by the way). In this way, I hope to diffuse some of the emotion that […]</p>

    Breathing Life into Historical Fencing

    Posted on 27 August, 2010 | 2 Comments

    Let’s face it. Fencing is a dead activity. At no time in my life will I ever be called upon to fight a duel, let alone a duel with swords. As a combat art, fencing is a technique without a purpose. So, other than to be pretentious (which is an end in itself) why do I learn, study and practice the fighting styles of a bunch of dead white dudes?

    I’m going to discuss this problem through an analogy to languages (another passion of mine, by the way). In this way, I hope to diffuse some of the emotion that […]

    Continue Reading...

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