Research and Discussion Forums

I copied this from an old thread on ringen and MMA. This was my opinion just after taking a self defence class out of curiosity(free) from the pro fighter who eventually became my MMA trainer for two years and a couple of amateur fights. "The basic concept of the fight is the same, that is, any...

1. But, given the choice, would a fighter notice any difference between a weapon made to his specifications and a generic “off the shelf” one? Notice a difference? Yes. Actual improvement of function? Minimal. 6.So, a person in plate armor can still make use of a shield, but only if he is mounted? W...

1. No, A lamborghini is nice but a yugo will get you to the store and back. 3. Pole arms have a range advantage but skill can mitigate things like that. 5. No 6.Yes, but only applies to dismounted. 7. IMHO no, yes. 8. Yes and no. Yes, because that's the whole point of a full harness. Comfortable get...

The individual techniques are there to give context to the principles that Sal mentioned. So, by all means, learn the techniques, but think about why you are using that move and why it's working for that situation. Always try to fathom the principles at work and see how they can be applied across th...

[quote="Eric White"] Ringeck describes only four basic positions: "There are only four basic positions which are useful in combat, this are Ochs, Alber, Pflug, and vom Tag." What does this mean for the other guards John C. describes in his book? They're not to be used? Or do they...

Aaron Pynenberg wrote:
We don't hold it against any other groups for being different from us, we just feel it's important to point out the differences as these differences really define us.- AP

Well said Aaron.

Hilt extended up and out toward the attack, blade up, recieve the blow on the lower half of the blade coming to a bind on your stong.

Close and bind. Think kron vs. shietlhau then apply the principals to all four planes of attack.

Well, my sparring and training partner is left handed and I'm right handed. This results in the somewhat obvious problem of us tending to mirror mode each other's movements. Anyone ever faced a left handed swordsman before? Any idea how to reconcile this (as it does often tend to result in double-K...

We have a study group in Birmingham, but I'm afraid I don't know of anybody that far north. If you want help getting started you could try to make it down here for some pointers. We meet every Saturday morning. My email address is jeff.hansen@att.net.

Interestingly, I found this recently: http://www.fioredeiliberi.org/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=8045&g2_GALLERYSID=b3fc634a7c54baa35f7d0b65e6cd55cf This is from Thibault in 1628[/url] I don't know that I would want to try that one vs. a modern repeating firearm. :shock:

Hi all, just registered. Anyways, I'm 18 (19 in april) and have been fascinated with ancient and medieval history and warfare for years now. Being of German descent I've always wanted to learn the longsword, sword and buckler, messer, etc. ever since learning about ARMA years ago. Anyways, I recent...

Their dussack's look ok, but the grain of the wood isn't in line with the shape of the weapon. If it wasn't so thick I'd think it would break in the middle. I'm an experienced woodworker and have been making all my own wasters and a few for friends since I got into ARMA about 7 yrs ago. I don't see...

This is where I am at the moment. With sharpened steel not used for sparring (and further justification from Jonathan's post) the key element to the new design will be the dissapation of the blow. The main way that I'm looking to do this is to include shear thickening fluids into the design, which ...

I'm looking to knock out a few wasters here for loaners. I know most are hickory, and to stay away from the soft woods and from oak. The local lumber mill hasn't got hickory and can't order it, however, so I was wondering if other woods might work. I was thinking of using ash, which I've seen refer...