Stature and weapon choice

[Mike Habib]

Ah yes, fear the midgets.

Thanks for the continued information. I had to drop off the forum for a couple of days because I was tied up with other things (specifically medical anatomy). I will try to obtain a copy of George Silver's Paradoxes of Defence and see what he has to say regarding height and weapon length.

One additional point worth mentioning is that both build and height should be considered. For example, while I mentioned that I am about 120 lbs (perhaps a bit more now), I am also just over 5' 7". So I am reasonably short, but not terribly so. ie. I have a very wiry build. In this case, reach is reduced somewhat, but the ability to resist torque is reduced greatly. So, just an additional thing to consider.

Cheers,
--Mike Habib

[Shane Smith]

Mike, you can get a look at Silver's work on our "Research and Reading" page here http://www.thearma.org/manuals.htm

[Jake_Norwood]

Also, what is the weapon/person combination training to fight against? Vadi advises that your sword be as long the length from your feet to your armpit, but he also says that if you fight a guy with a longer weapon, go longer to match his.

I've seen shorter fighters served well by longer weapons which allow them to overcome natural reach disadvantages. I, for example, at just under 6'2", can hit stuff with a single-hander that shorter fighters can't. But a longsword or greatsword nullifies that advantage immediately.

European weapons were frequently made for specific purposes. Even a single "type" of sword might be weighted and balanced differently to account for the weight of a guantlet or simply user preference.

Jake

[Mike Habib]

Sorry for the delay in response, I have been out of town for much of this week.

Thanks to Shane for the link, it was much appreciated.

Jake, as for your question about what I will be facing, the answer is really a bit of everything. I am not training against any particular weapon combination; I face opponents of many sizes and armaments each time I train.

However, I face primarily opponents armed with moderate sized hand-and-half swords, large double-handers (especially my largest fighting partner), and double swords (twin short swords or even twin longswords).

I have been facing all of these combinations with double dagger primarily, though sometimes a short spear if I feel the need for some reach (especially for multiple opponents). Obviously this has made for a severe reach detriment (spear excepted), so I am very curious about how to work with a smaller reach handicap (or even none at all). I am probably most interested in using a double-hander against paired swords, as I have found that to be very frustrating to combat with a pair of daggers (even long daggers). Then again, perhaps I should just work on my foot work. But I feel that it would make an interesting experiment, as well as change of pace.

Thanks for the thoughts,
--Mike Habib