Research and Discussion Forums

Anyway, I came across this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUmHwNVyE7Y# it is part one in a series of basic moves and instructions, and I was wondering how accurate it is from the ARMA's P.O.V. ! Simply put, it's as wrong as it could be and bears no resemblance to proper longsword footwork IMO...

Great pics, thanks!

http://www.badgerblades.com/ I've handled their swords, --very sturdy, and they include a lifetime warranty. You break it, they replace it. Cool place though, and they are battle-ready-- However, they are a little bit more fancy. Just thought I'd throw the site out for options anyway. No offense, b...

I'd just like to say I'm very pleased with the longsword waster I got from Brian. It's very sturdy, well balanced, and has a nice long grip. I'm still not crazy about using the nylon wasters for certain drills, but for free play they are great. As Brian and others have said, I think it's best to sti...

Here's an interesting article about a fencing "revival" of sorts in the 19th century. Although they weren't really working from period sources in some cases, and probably missed a lot of key elements in their reconstructions, there does seem to have been a sincere interest in the "old...

I see two problems with that MRL rapier: 1. It's too short. I'd really like something about 46" overall. 2. I don't trust anything from MRL without handling it first. All their stuff looks good in the catalog, but often fails to live up to the description. I don't see a foiled tip in the way o...

Matt: Apparently, MRL just this past season came out with a new line of blunted sparring weapons, including a couple of rapiers. Now before everyone beats 'em up, I'm gonna say that I have at least 1 (one) MRL bastard sword (Arbedo) that IMHO performs just fine alongside the repetoire of Albions. A...

OK, here we go again. I know we've beat this topic up several times before, but I want to bring it up again as I'm shopping around. What kind of practice rapier are you using? I like the wooden simulators for their stiffness, and the fiberglass ones seem to work pretty well, but what about a blunt/f...

My point was that I love the longsword, but there are things that I think it lacks, Like the ability to clean and maintain the tang. A swordsman's life rested on his sword, and his maintenance thereof. The only reason I like the katana whatsoever is for its maintainability. If there were a crossove...

Like all functional weapons, I'm sure the form of the round shield follows it's function. Mathematically, the circle gives you the most area with the smallest perimeter, so you get a lot of coverage without the pesky corners of a square or rectangle getting in the way of your weapon arm. Round shiel...

BTW Jake, your class was awesome as well. Although it was short due to being squeezed in at the last minute, everything you covered was extremely well presented and useful-thanks!

I won't repeat all that's been said already, but yes, a truly memorable event. A big thanks to the Houston crew who did an awesome job of planning and execution, the hard work and care you all put into this were very evident all weekend. I'd also just like to say it was really good to see so many pe...

I totally appreciate the arguments made by the fellows here, as kata may often be wrongly practiced in any case. Hence the sort of statment I have heard from karateka now and then in conversing with them, when they tell me of how they had a revelation that kata was not being done seriously in their...

We really don't do strict sets of movements that must be memorized and performed in order like in many traditional Asian arts. We have several excercises that consist of a series of cuts and movements that we do, but always emphasize that these are only intended to get accustomed to cutting along al...

Welcome Robert! This is exactly how most of the study groups got going, just a few folks, working on stuff together. As far as practice sessions, we, and I'm sure most study groups, do a lot of drills and excercises, then generally move on to working on specific techniques for a while, then usually ...