Research and Discussion Forums

I would never use one of my swords for home defense. It is very bad publicity for the sword community overall even if it is in self defense. It really raises eyebrows because swords are out of the ordinary. If you survive this encounter you will likely be know as the crazy sword guy. I would use a ...

The use of shields pre-dates the Ancient Greeks and was used right up until into the 15th century. It is probably one of the most successful and long-used war tools of all times. I think only the spear can claim as much favor through the centuries. Spear and shield as a combination were used in ...

The side-sword vs side-sword videos just became available.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpNnM5uM ... 239&page=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGBLqPv8 ... 239&page=1

Since I don't do much sidesword, my approach to this fight was to use the sidesword like a short rapier. I used mostly the point and then resorted to the cuts from my sword and shield training in close range follow up attacks.

You are correct Sal. The side sword was pretty even. I don't know if I mentioned it before, but rapier is what I have practiced the longest. I fight rapier in all forms. My favorite is case. Fighting sidesword was interesting in this respect because it was like a very short rapier that I was now ...

As requested for like weapons comparison. We are fighting longsword vs longsword. We are using RWS padded sword because Adam had not fully recovered from his bruises. This fight is two day after the shield vs longsword fight. Adam beat me with an estimated 80% of the kills in his favor vs 20% in ...

I value very much the feedback I get from this community I appreciate your efforts to get your points across.

The terms of blosfsfechten were at Adams request. He wanted to keep the calibration of the hits to that level. He did not want me to ignore blows that I might ordinary consider too light ...

Here's another direction to think about regardless of the outcome of the bouts, but especially since you did so well, and were able to cut. Why do we not see much sword and large shield in the historical literature?

Just throwin' it out there.

It is something I have wondered about and I ...

...nope sorry Bill, like I said I give you guys alot of credit for your effort, it's just been wasted in this regard.

I must respectfully disagree. I went there with the intention of testing 4 things.

1 - Can the techniques learned with a rattan sword be transferred to a blunt? (one ...

We had padded weapons on hand. Adam did not want to use them because he felt it would take more away from the realism then the minimal armor would. Some compromise has to be made somewhere between realism and safety.

I agree 100% in training a variety ways balancing safety and realism so that ...

The flip side of the coin is when you are wearing no armor, and no fencing mask especially, is that all the blows to the head must be pulled short and you can only have touch hits to the body. That gets into other problems when the blade makes contact but the person making it was pushed off balance ...

i htink i know the strike jaron is referring too but like he said itrs very very very different than the SCA WRAPS shot
which in my mind is utterly useless and is not even seen in stick fighting

I thought both the sword and board guy and the longsword guy looked very timid and hesitant as well as ...

If there is one thing that both I and many other people in the SCA appreciate and respect... is keeping separate and distinct what is recorded in historical texts vs what is not. For one thing... it gives us a point of reference.

The purpose of this topic is not intended to argue that SCA fighting is historical... it is intended to demonstrate that it is functional. From that point it may be argued that ancient and medieval people were just as smart and crafty as we are today and likely would have thought of and used a sword ...

What I suggest you do is drop the shield and see what happens between the single sword vs longsword. Or go at him with a longsword of your own.

As to the famous "wrap shot," haven't you ever wondered why no historical source mentions such a blow? If it had been effective in a real combat, you'd ...

Now as for your duel. I would have to say just from looking at the two of you that there was an unequal level of skill between the two of you. His timing and intent are way off. I mean just from his positions and footwork that showed right off, and he is much less skilled than several other ...