Research and Discussion Forums

I haven’t ridden in a long time and I have never attempted to do drills from the back of a horse or to practice mounted combat in any way, so my understanding of mounted combat may be grotesquely flawed, but as I see it the advantages of riding a tall horse into battle seem to be:
a. Speed. It ...

I recently had a conversation that fundamentally changed my view of mounted combat. I was talking with a University of Glasgow grad student who mentioned a theory that has been gaining popularity recently in academic circles. The theory is that knights rode ponies into battle and that the large ...

I think that a piece of evidence that has not been addressed is the simple fact that, to attain knighthood, a period of over a decade of training was required. It's hard to think what they would be doing if not training in some form of martial art. This point is backed up by the dramatic effect ...

I'd actually disagree with the general consensus and say that stature is an important issue when handling certain weapons. The fact is, with the really big swords, I have seen that some small and light fighters have trouble controlling their weapons. When your dealing with a very long sword a bit of ...

Actually, I have found that, in high pressure situations, emotions are almost switched off. When I debate in front of an audience, when I spar with friends (either with swords or unarmed), even when I get on a roller coaster. I often find that, after a paticularly chaotic practic with wasters or ...

Casper said
-----I think what he means was, knights abhorred them. They were well used due to their effectiveness in some areas, but the knights still despised them, primarily for their greatly offset killing power in relation to personal prowess.
Still, it depends where though. Crossbows were ...

I have never heard reference to the use of archery being considered a dishonorable tactic. Crossbows, however, carried a huge stigma. The knights hated them. The pope banned them. Basically, the crossbow allowed a group of men with comparatively little training to do damage to knights. A knight ...

You might just want to use a decent fasimile of armor at the same thickness as the play. Doesn't really even have to be wearable except by a side of beef. If you want to use really good armour its ok, but you could save yourself some cash. It would be more accurated to do it with real armor but you ...

I think that we need to consider that if your fighting a dagger unarmed your pretty desperate. The world is filled with potential weapons. Sticks, utensils, tools, chairs, rocks, all could be used as weapons. In fact I have been taught that, as a general rule, fighting a knife with another knife is ...

I think that type of continuity is quite possible. It also could be that the techniques that work tend to reappear.

An alternative to wrestling the man with the dagger is to kick him. I know alot of guys that adhere to one tactic or the other when dealing with SSPs (short, sharp and pointies).

I think that with archer you only needed to have a comparatively limited effect on knights to be effective. It has been repeatedly emphasized how expensive armor was and earlier it was mentioned that a horse would be 2-10 times as expensive. If we consider these points along with the expense of the ...

I'd say you should get a basic education in hand-to-hand and hand-to-knife techniques from somewhere modern and build your style out from there on historical lines. Stances used in ARMA's armed fencing have some applications in unarmed fighting but they often work off different principles and ...

I believe that duct tape can make or fix almost anything. In fact it may be the greatest force for creation in the modern world. There are better and worse varieties, and for some tasks there are better alternatives (like medical stitching when repairing yourself, or even better, having someone with ...

----"Don't do something obviously illegal, like punching your opponent. It's a sword fight, not UFC." ---
Sean, I wanted to respond to, i.e. viciously attack this comment of yours as well because it directly contradicts the point you’re trying to make. Having anything within your martial art that ...