Freeplay Videos

[JeremyDillon]

Hello all, my friend and I recently recorded some short video clips of a sparring session and I would love to hear what you all think of them. We've been training off and on for some time, but have only recently gotten truly serious about it, so we're still a bit new. Anyway, here they are:

Sword and Buckler clips:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=5ZbwCiDBwKs
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Y2OlQjsRFYc
http://youtube.com/watch?v=1jia6bpReSY
http://youtube.com/watch?v=0ziXpoTThxc

Rapier clips:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ibz98MmJa3s
http://youtube.com/watch?v=hVhu08wie8A

Edit: Forgive the profanity (if you can hear it) on the second rapier clip, the rubber tip on my rapier fell off and we had no more tape, so we had to end the session prematurely;).

[Mark Driggs]

I only watched the S&B clips, so here goes:

I saw good usage of the different wards from MS I.33 and the bucklers were not held close to the body (though I think they could have been extended slightly further).

There was one cut I saw a few times which I felt was less effective. One person was hanging out in what looked like 'ochs', then brought his sword down through tail to do an unterhau. It just felt to me that it is too slow and likely to telegraph your motions to the opponent.

Also, something I personally struggle with, moving your sword and shield at the same time. There were a few times where the two would go back and forth with a block/then strike, block/then strike. Doing the block and strike at the same time requires a lot of rewiring how your brain and body work together.

Personally for me, I don't know if I could ever train bare foot. I'm so used to doing my training outdoors w/ shoes. But mats would be nice to practice some more ringen am schwert.

[Shane Smith]

I only watched the S&B clips, so here goes:

I saw good usage of the different wards from MS I.33 and the bucklers were not held close to the body (though I think they could have been extended slightly further).

There was one cut I saw a few times which I felt was less effective. One person was hanging out in what looked like 'ochs', then brought his sword down through tail to do an unterhau. It just felt to me that it is too slow and likely to telegraph your motions to the opponent.

Also, something I personally struggle with, moving your sword and shield at the same time. There were a few times where the two would go back and forth with a block/then strike, block/then strike. Doing the block and strike at the same time requires a lot of rewiring how your brain and body work together.

Personally for me, I don't know if I could ever train bare foot. I'm so used to doing my training outdoors w/ shoes. But mats would be nice to practice some more ringen am schwert.

I agree with the comments above. Sword and buckler is not my fort'e and I am no better than competent with the combo personally. I likewise have much trouble with using the sword and buckler held together as in Stu and Brians I-33 work. I find myself using more of a style not unlike that seen in Keith Myers work with Liechtenhauer. http://www.thearma.org/essays/LeignitzerSandB.htm

What rapier simulators were you guys using in those clips Jeremy? They didn't look too terribly whippy.

[Randall Pleasant]

Jeremy

I was able to only take a quick look at the Sword & Buckler clips so there is much I might have overlooked. Please correct me if I did so.

There is a lot that I liked, such as the circler movement rather than just standing flat footed. I also very much liked that you were focused on cutting rather than playing sword tag. On the other hand, I noticed that most cuts were made by simply reaching rather than with a passing step. The main affect of the lack of passing steps is that while you did circle around each other all of your cuts were made directly into your adversasry rather than offline to your adversary. This resulted in a lot of attacks into the adversary's buckler rather than around his buckler. Another affect of the lack of passing steps is that there were no correlated combinations of cuts and thrust. I also noticed that you did not use the opposition guards of I.33, such as Half-Shield, Crutch [Krucke], Longpoint, Covering [schutzen], etc. Thus, guards were not used in opposition to each other, resulting in a lack of real binding and the use of Shield-Knocks.

Again, I very much liked and enjoyed the clips.

[Will Adamson]

Next time you might not want to have the camera operator yawning like in the last rapier clip. It must have been a disinterested party.

[JeremyDillon]

Thanks to all for the comments.

Mark, yes we've been working on the block-and-strike idea, but it's difficult as for about the first year of our practice we had no resources and basically just whacked at each other with abandon. Luckily we stumbled on the (completely unknown to us at the time) WMA community and have been trying to repair the damage done to our technique ever since. The lack of shoes isn't really a choice we made, but a rule we have to follow. The space we have been most graciously allowed to use is a university dance studio, and there's a strict no-shoes rule .

Shane, thank you for the article, it looks quite useful. The rapier simulators we're using are DelTin practice rapier blades hilted by Darkwood Armory. We purchased some cheap rubber schlager tips to make them safe for free play. They work well, and aren't too horribly whippy, but I'm sure they're a far cry from the real thing.

Randall, thanks for the input, we are working on this stuff but with our busy schedules, the techniques are coming slow, but they are coming. We'll definitely be putting in some time practicing incorporating our footwork into our cutting, as well as the opposition guards, thanks.

Will, that was my dear girlfriend Katie, she was kind enough to film us so I'll forgive her yawning .

[Will Adamson]

I commend you for having the resources, the wherewithall, the gumption...nay, the BALLS for putting yourself on video on then up for such scrutiny.

BRAVO sirs! BRAVO!

[Allen Johnson]

A tripod might be a good investment
Rapier: Good job closing and using the off hand. The 4 basic wards for true rapier were present and done well. I feel that the principal of distance might need to be worked on. Many hits came from just an extension and/or a lean. If you properly observe distance, this shouldnt happen to you. Many times you both paused at half sword (this is the later english usage of the word meaning a cross at about mid blade, rather than the medieval gripping the blade useage). This is a very dangerous place to be in even for an instant. Also try working in some more thrusts in opposition.

Kudos for putting yourselves out there, lads.

[JeremyDillon]

Thanks, Allen. I'm not very pleased with our current level of competence with the rapier and these recommendations are welcome. I can definitely see where the half-sword concern comes from, the first kill in the rapier vids is Matt placing his mezzo on my foible, which I allow for a full second, and he simply performs a short lunge and I take his point in the face! Distance is also a problem, but I'm at somewhat of a loss as to how to train it effectively. Any suggestions?

Edit: A tripod might be helpful, but so might an actual video camera. These were all shot using the video function on a digital camera, which is why the quality of the videos is so poor.

[Allen Johnson]

I understand about the video woes- It's hard to have 2 expensive hobbies

Rapier: the principal of distance is the same no matter what weapon you are using (or if any at all). The idea of maintaining and manipulating the space you have available to your advantage is absolutley essential to all martial arts. This is even one of the things that real fighting has in common with most martial sports. Even in sport fencing, kendo and boxing distance is paramount.

How to get better? Other than continual sparring there are several drills or games you can use. A common one used in ARMA is to have one person with a weapon "attack" the other person with NO weapon. The unarmed person is to keep just out of range as the armed person advances on them. Keep in mind that it's an exercise and you arent trying to club someone.

Another one is to have a legnth of rope that is as long as is needed to keep proper fencing distance. Each person takes an end of the rope- keeping it taut between you (not tug-of-war taut). You take turns initiating footwork as the non-initiating person strives to counter-step while keeping the rope taut.

Solo work can be done with a simple target. Approach the target with a variety of footwork techniqies and lunge when you think it is in range. If you are too close you arm will be dramatically bent when you hit the target. Too far and your thrust never arrives or you are over lunging and off balance.

[John_Clements]

Some advice: Coordinate your weapons, man. Use them together, not just "one, two...one, two." Combine attacks and defense, and try to provoke openings better rather than trade shots back and forth. And instead of flinching with your head, turn that reflex into a full body movement starting with your feet.

Cheers,

JC

[JeremyDillon]

Allen, these are some fantastic suggestions, we'll definitely give them a try tomorrow. The rope drill seems particularly unique.

John, we've been really drilling the simultaneous use of our weapons pretty hard since I posted these, and we've noticed some pretty significant differences in how our sparring exchanges play out. I've noticed that we've started to spend less time engaging in the kind of ineffective "one, two... one, two" exchanges that you describe. The flinching issue is one that's bothered me for a while, but it frankly didn't occur to me to try and turn it into a more helpful reflex. Thanks for taking some time to have a look at our vids, your advice is much appreciated.