Research and Discussion Forums

Hey Dakota, glad to see that you're developing an interest in Ringen as well as the sword. For training in Ringen, the biggest help you can get is to get a training partner, that way you can practice the techniques on an actual person, but with restraint obviously so you don't hurt them. Other than ...

Good choice, let me know how it handles. In the meantime though, practice the guards when you get it to start, then I would move to the manuals page. Also get to know the vocabulary on the terminology page as many of the terms used in the manuals are explained there.

Like I said, Dakota, I can't speak for sure on Lindholm and Tobler. I just remember in a discussion with another ARMA member on our private e-mail list that, according to him, the translations in Lindholm were "out of date", meaning that he used older, more inaccurate translations of Ringe...

I strongly recommend the Codex Wallerstein (especially if you have an interest in Ringen as well as swordplay) and the Medieval Combat books. These are modern english translations of the original manuscripts with black and white photocopy renditions of the original illustrations. It's always best to...

This is my understanding of the gladiators as well. It's unlikely that they would be allowed to just be efficient killers as their point was to put on a show for the crowd. Also, I can't remember where I read this, but I do remember reading a history book which said that often gladiators did not act...

Wasn't that how they were portrayed by western movies...how heavy the swords and plated armors were? Indeed, you are correct, Sripol. This is how older western cinema portrayed knights. However, this is a myth, forged by the later fencing masters who were trying to claim the superiority of modern O...

Something I would like to point out and then I shall drop the matter. The reason I and many others on this forum require evidence to support claims is one of sheer pragmatism. Without a source that others can research as well, one can claim any statement as historical "fact". A good exampl...

Actually most archaeologists have theorized that those axe heads you are talking about are most likely utilitarian tools, not weapons of war. Now, I will concede that is theory, however, there is no definative evidence that a light axe such as that was an actual weapon. It goes back to my earlier po...

You're probably right...about the axes. I was just guessing and for some reason thought they would be lighter since they don't need to make it that big and heavy. At least that's what I thought.... [chuckle] And, the Romans made their shields out of wood just like the Vikings.... Later, they re-enf...

Steve, thank you for elaborating. The case of swords is not particularly my forte so your post was particularly enlightening. And Peter, the works pertaining to fighting with the case of swords mostly come from the later rapier period. There just aren't many surviving source materials from the 1500'...

There is a chapter in Marozzo's work that describes fighting with two rapiers. Di Grassi also includes a chapter on such fighting, and both of these masters did recommend studying this method as it required a high degree of skill. However, I have a theory as to why sword & dagger was preferred t...

A good waster supplier with affordable prices is Hollow Earth Swordworks. I got their info from the ARMA Houston webpage as one of their recommended suppliers. Here's their website: http://www.hollowearthswordworks.com/main_index.htm Their price range is more affordable, a good hickory waster being ...

Ringeck also teaches that it is possible to use the same holds that you do standing while "...lying down." I.E. use the same submissions that you would use on your feet while on the ground if you have to. However, I will echo JC here in stating that you never want to go to ground in a real...

Steven, I wasn't talking about the ability to knock an opponent off of his feet. If that was the case, I'd agree with you whole-heartedly. I'm talking about true stopping power, the ability to incapacitate your opponent, to take him completely out of the fight. Few, if any fighters, can accurately p...

I think this has taken a turn that I was not intending. I was not trying to make an argument for Ringen as a striking art. Nor was I asking why our ancestors preferred grappling to striking. It is very evident from the source materials that our Renaissance forbears were predominately wrestlers. Grap...