Finally got to hold a long sword for the first time today. I defiantly could use a drill like this. I was surprised to find that I couldn't even string two cuts together without practicing it first. (I was however being really careful since the owner of the sword, who's also my professor, was right there.)
labradoodleandpalz keep at it man! post your progress, we are here to help out. I've been blood and iron off and on 5 years and it don't come easy but it does come..
One suggestion I'd make for future videos is to not demonstrate incorrect technique. To someone who practices HEMA already, the moments where you demonstrate what not to do reads fine, but it won't read to someone that hasn't practiced HEMA and could confuse people. Regardless, great work!
Actually, I think it's pretty important that they show those moments. They could add a visual warning/message for those that couldn't see the difference, but I don't think they should remove them as they're useful.
I think it's quite important to show the wrong version, so that people can recognise when they're doing it wrong. That being said, I agree that sometimes it can be difficult to distinguish between them, so some indicators would be nice. I believe in other videos they use a red and a green icon to indicate wrong and correct technique.
I like when they show how not to do it, but I think it would be better if they showed it separately rather than during the proper technique. It can be too easy to get confused if it's all together.
This channel is awesome! Been watching the whole undersanding HEMA series, very useful for someone who couldn't practice HEMA without travelling at least 80 kilometers. Thank you very much!
this is the first time I noticed this, but mechanically, the correct stepping pattern Sean is performing looks a lot like the *ginga* in Capoeira Contemporânea
You'd think so, but unfortunately too many martial artists (of all styles) want to jump right into the fancy stuff and neglect the basics in favour of flashy moves that they don't actually understand because of their lack of fundamentals.
Well it's like Grandmaster told me "You win or lose on the basics." He also pointed out that those fancy people do well in the beginning, but increasingly fail at the higher levels. There isn't a single fight where you don't use basics. Best not to incorporate the habits of losers.
Excellent video. It really made it easy to understand the particulars of the motions when you explained the flourish from the perspective of guard transitions and from the perspective of cuts. Many similar videos make it difficult to see what the drill is trying to accomplish. Thanks! I'm going to practice as soon as I get some coffee in me lol.
it always impress me how two isolated cultures developed sword stances so similar to each other (europe and japan)| they are not the same, of course, as they give preference to diferent types of blade (double and single edged), but they are very similar even so.
It comes down to biology. A human body is a human body, just like a guitar is a guitar, it may only have 6 strings but it can certainly play more that 6 notes. That being said flamenco and country songs are bound to hit the same notes every once in a while. If you want to hit a g-sharp you've got to hit a g-sharp. If you want to power a cut with a human body...well, you get the idea.
Pardon my ignorance but did ideas between Europe and Japan pass to one another? I mean, is it possible that the information (be it word of mouth, documents, etc.) from one area reached the other? Or was it just a coincidence that the Japanese and Europeans invented swords without relayed information from another area?
I'm no history professional but there are 2 factors that makes me believe so: 1st it's believed that the katana design was brought from middle east, that it would be a variation of the scimitarra adapted to Japan 2nd Japan had a complicated relation with China similar to that of Rome and Greece, they looked at China as the highest society possible, both in culture and development (until China got wrecked by Europe), and China was at one of the extremes of the Silk Road for centuries, in a time Japan hadn't closed it self to external influence, which only happened after they expeleed europeans that incentivated a coup of state, so, I believe that through the silk road, they might have had some indirect contact with Europe. The gun, for example, was brought to Europe this way, da Vinci got his hands on some storys and even some pieces of blueprints of ancienty chinese guns, from which he created his own, that later a disciple stole the blueprints and took to another lord, from where it started spreading, so, possibly, some stories and maybe even a piece or other of european technology went through the silk road, got to China and if didn't got to Japan itself, their merchants might have heard of it, as the legends spread, feudal lords or maybe individual inovative people (during the Sengoku not only samurai picked on weapons or created ways of destruction) tried to recreate what they heard on such stories using what they knew about the world. Possibly, the same happened in Europe, specially in Italy, where the silk road ended before it got blocked by the sarracens after one of the last crusades. The same applies to techniques, if a caravan guard saw something that he found interesting somewhere, tried it out and found out it worked during his travels, was saw doing it his way in another part of the road, the people who saw him try to replicate... well, there you have, 2 cultures with the same posture, each adapting it slightly, but both based on the same thing. Actually, maybe both Europe and Japan might have taken things from cultures between the 2 through this way.
Nice vid! Something practitioners can try is lead with the waist and let the arms follow. That should give you faster, more powerful cuts with less expenditure of energy.
Hello, if you would do false-edge descending cuts (like you show at 2:08 ) alone, which leg to step forward with? (using passing steps) I know that it is the usual rule to step with the side you cut from. But with this type of cut it seems a little tricky,. Thanks for explaining and also for all the great videos.
You would also step with the side you cut from. Imagine if you are sitting with the sword on your right shoulder and left foot forward. If you step forward with your right foot you then extend the sword and cut with the false edge. Hope this helps.
At 3:18, Nicole says that there are 4 cuts, all along the same line. Maybe I do not understand "all along the same line," but it looks to me like the 3rd cut is coming from the left side but the other three cuts come from the right side. What am I missing?
Hy i am from Pirot city in Serbia. Only Hema club in country is 4 hours away in Belgrade so i practice alone. I am 15 year old and i made iron "sword" from 1 long iron bar 2 short iron bar and iron ball. Its about 127cm long its balanced and a lot heavier than longsword. It cost me 1.5€.
Fundamentally, it's that a cut has good cutting mechanics. The sword is moving quickly, the edge is aligned with the motion for the entire time it's passing through the target, the plane of motion is consistent through the target, the core is driving, and there's an effective power chain to transmit that force to the blade. It's really easy to get lazy when doing flow drills, and just swing the sword casually instead of making sure each cut is a cut. Just swinging is faster and looks flashy, but cutting with every strike will teach you far more useful muscle memory. There's a lot of good and very detailed information about cutting mechanics on Eric Lowe's channel: search RUclips for Swordwind Historical Swordsmanship.
My hema club is closed because of the coronavirus and I don't have a steel sword. Are these drills also applicable to synthetic weapons, or are they too light for that purpose ?
Blood and Iron HEMA that was quick! Thank you for the response. I watched until the end, i just wish you guys did a whole new video focusing more on one handed sword & sword & buckler. I find it hard to apply the steps & guard transitions to a one handed sword :(
Look closely at Sean's wrists, he's not bending them to turn the sword, but rather opening his hand to let the sword rotate. If you're doing these drills right, you should be able to do it with wrist braces on that immobilize your wrists.
This is helpful thank you but a question, if you use actual metal to fight, then how do you protect? I get fencing mask but my armor i use for stunt sabers wouldn't work.
Generally, longswords have a point of balance between 3 and 5 inches from the guard. For a training weapon that you want to spar with, I'd reccommend a point of balance on the lower end of that spectrum (mine's about 3.5 inches), because it reduces the impact of cuts and makes it safer for your sparring partner. Cheers :)
More solo training videos please.
This channel is great for those like me that have no HEMA club in their country.
Hey start one bro.
@@richarde5718
Almost impossible especially when people around you think you're weird
@@aaronjacobamadorsalazar1934 xD, I know what you mean
@@josiahtm866
And it sucks
@@aaronjacobamadorsalazar1934 I bet most of the people who started their own martial arts clubs were seen as weird at first
Wow, this guy has tremendous skill with that blade. He makes it look so effortless.
Pro-tip: Use Shift + < or > to slow or speed up the video!
Thanks! Awesome!!
Incredibly well practiced. He makes it look effortless & easy. I'm going to be practicing just the footwork for like a month.
Getting into HEMA in 2020 start class tonight this is great intro!
Finally got to hold a long sword for the first time today. I defiantly could use a drill like this. I was surprised to find that I couldn't even string two cuts together without practicing it first. (I was however being really careful since the owner of the sword, who's also my professor, was right there.)
labradoodleandpalz keep at it man! post your progress, we are here to help out. I've been blood and iron off and on 5 years and it don't come easy but it does come..
Hello, just wondering about your progress...
How's progress?
One suggestion I'd make for future videos is to not demonstrate incorrect technique. To someone who practices HEMA already, the moments where you demonstrate what not to do reads fine, but it won't read to someone that hasn't practiced HEMA and could confuse people. Regardless, great work!
Actually, I think it's pretty important that they show those moments. They could add a visual warning/message for those that couldn't see the difference, but I don't think they should remove them as they're useful.
I think it's quite important to show the wrong version, so that people can recognise when they're doing it wrong.
That being said, I agree that sometimes it can be difficult to distinguish between them, so some indicators would be nice.
I believe in other videos they use a red and a green icon to indicate wrong and correct technique.
I like when they show how not to do it, but I think it would be better if they showed it separately rather than during the proper technique. It can be too easy to get confused if it's all together.
Practiced these ones. Worked up a good sweat haha. I would love more of these.
very smooth movements, thanks! I also love that electone-like soothing BG song
I'm really enjoying your videos. It would be interesting to see more about the mechanics of cutting.
Amazing information and equally great demonstrations!! I've been looking for something like this for a while now. Thank you! Keep up the great work!
This channel is awesome! Been watching the whole undersanding HEMA series, very useful for someone who couldn't practice HEMA without travelling at least 80 kilometers.
Thank you very much!
this is gold for me guys, thanks a lot for your quality vids!
Nicely done! Fluid movement! Joyful to watch!!!
Excellent guide and demonstration. I'll be using this and returning to it. Thanks for putting it out there for free.
Beautifully done
this is the first time I noticed this, but mechanically, the correct stepping pattern Sean is performing looks a lot like the *ginga* in Capoeira Contemporânea
Basics are basics and they are universal.
You'd think so, but unfortunately too many martial artists (of all styles) want to jump right into the fancy stuff and neglect the basics in favour of flashy moves that they don't actually understand because of their lack of fundamentals.
Well it's like Grandmaster told me "You win or lose on the basics." He also pointed out that those fancy people do well in the beginning, but increasingly fail at the higher levels. There isn't a single fight where you don't use basics. Best not to incorporate the habits of losers.
The approach and reason is quite different though.
Awsome tutorials, salute to both of you
I love this video! This is what I was hoping for when I subscribed.
Excellent video. It really made it easy to understand the particulars of the motions when you explained the flourish from the perspective of guard transitions and from the perspective of cuts. Many similar videos make it difficult to see what the drill is trying to accomplish. Thanks! I'm going to practice as soon as I get some coffee in me lol.
Amazing tutorial. Thank you very much.
And please! more solo training videos like this!!
Is... just the best I have ever seen. And I have seen a lot.
This is the best type of HEMA video :)
really excellent stuff. I've been waiting years for this series.
Fantastic video, guys! Thanks for the excellent instruction! I would love to see more drills videos, both solo and partner.
kudos to the video editing team. solid presentation.
more videos like this, and your channel will really stands out!
rewatching (again) in 2019, damn Sean was a precision beast
I really like how Sean seems to be straining when doing the cuts wrong. Seems like it's actually easier on your body to do it right.
Excellent drills, can't wait to show my students!
I have seen a few videos and this is one of the best sofar
Doing that cut with one hand looks real pretty
Gotta admit, the green background makes it very easy to see whats happening compared to a white or beige ones which are alot more common.
it always impress me how two isolated cultures developed sword stances so similar to each other (europe and japan)| they are not the same, of course, as they give preference to diferent types of blade (double and single edged), but they are very similar even so.
Its still good no matter which culture to have a solid base and I feel that both europe and japan found the same idea.
It comes down to biology. A human body is a human body, just like a guitar is a guitar, it may only have 6 strings but it can certainly play more that 6 notes. That being said flamenco and country songs are bound to hit the same notes every once in a while. If you want to hit a g-sharp you've got to hit a g-sharp. If you want to power a cut with a human body...well, you get the idea.
Kyle Killpack
makes sense
Pardon my ignorance but did ideas between Europe and Japan pass to one another? I mean, is it possible that the information (be it word of mouth, documents, etc.) from one area reached the other? Or was it just a coincidence that the Japanese and Europeans invented swords without relayed information from another area?
I'm no history professional but there are 2 factors that makes me believe so:
1st it's believed that the katana design was brought from middle east, that it would be a variation of the scimitarra adapted to Japan
2nd Japan had a complicated relation with China similar to that of Rome and Greece, they looked at China as the highest society possible, both in culture and development (until China got wrecked by Europe), and China was at one of the extremes of the Silk Road for centuries, in a time Japan hadn't closed it self to external influence, which only happened after they expeleed europeans that incentivated a coup of state, so, I believe that through the silk road, they might have had some indirect contact with Europe. The gun, for example, was brought to Europe this way, da Vinci got his hands on some storys and even some pieces of blueprints of ancienty chinese guns, from which he created his own, that later a disciple stole the blueprints and took to another lord, from where it started spreading, so, possibly, some stories and maybe even a piece or other of european technology went through the silk road, got to China and if didn't got to Japan itself, their merchants might have heard of it, as the legends spread, feudal lords or maybe individual inovative people (during the Sengoku not only samurai picked on weapons or created ways of destruction) tried to recreate what they heard on such stories using what they knew about the world. Possibly, the same happened in Europe, specially in Italy, where the silk road ended before it got blocked by the sarracens after one of the last crusades.
The same applies to techniques, if a caravan guard saw something that he found interesting somewhere, tried it out and found out it worked during his travels, was saw doing it his way in another part of the road, the people who saw him try to replicate... well, there you have, 2 cultures with the same posture, each adapting it slightly, but both based on the same thing. Actually, maybe both Europe and Japan might have taken things from cultures between the 2 through this way.
This is very useful. Thanks.
Very good video.
Great video. A bit more slower one some of the advanced hand movements would make it easier to check. Thank you for putting this together.
Well done!
Nice vid! Something practitioners can try is lead with the waist and let the arms follow. That should give you faster, more powerful cuts with less expenditure of energy.
Nice! I'm working on it now it's a workout!
Love your videos guys! thanks again!
Very nice! Love your work guys!
I definitely had to watch this more than a dozen times before I got the footwork and flow right. Ironically, doing it right is harder than it looks .
a saying i heard a lot when i was training an other martial art was: Its simple but not easy.
A great thank you from France
Very nice - and I really like this last sentence - every time ;)
Would these apply to the likes of halberds, poleaxes, glaives etc or are the techniques vastly different?
Meyer gives some specific cutting patterns for pole weapons that are similar in concept, but are not executed like these ones.
Pretty similar.
It´s intresting to see how litle he moves. the feets may move a lot, but COG is almost at the same Place.
Watching in 2019... thanks for posting this.
Mesmerizing
Awesome job, thanks!
Thank you, loves.
Hello, if you would do false-edge descending cuts (like you show at 2:08 ) alone, which leg to step forward with? (using passing steps)
I know that it is the usual rule to step with the side you cut from. But with this type of cut it seems a little tricky,.
Thanks for explaining and also for all the great videos.
You would also step with the side you cut from. Imagine if you are sitting with the sword on your right shoulder and left foot forward. If you step forward with your right foot you then extend the sword and cut with the false edge.
Hope this helps.
Sean Franklin is The Sword God.
Sorry, he's already the Push Up God, it wouldn't be fair to give him a whole other thing to be the god of!
Why Push Up God?
He can do over 100 in a minute. (I think 107 was his best)
For those of us not particularly interested in World Records, you actually get more benefit from slowing your pushups.
Erik Bailey and i can't do 3 in an hour xD
you get the sub - thanks - time to go and check out more videos
A neat trick would be to paint the edge and do a flow drill against a bag to see the alignment later.
just wish there was more if any videos for us lefthanders :P
Just mirror every motion and grip - it'll be OK
Can you show any drills working on a one handed sword and larger shield?
looks a lot like the way geralt moves in the witcher 3
At 3:18, Nicole says that there are 4 cuts, all along the same line. Maybe I do not understand "all along the same line," but it looks to me like
the 3rd cut is coming from the left side but the other three cuts come from the right side. What am I missing?
Hy i am from Pirot city in Serbia. Only Hema club in country is 4 hours away in Belgrade so i practice alone. I am 15 year old and i made iron "sword" from 1 long iron bar 2 short iron bar and iron ball. Its about 127cm long its balanced and a lot heavier than longsword. It cost me 1.5€.
For the spear of Mars, I have to watch this video like XX times, lol.
Could you do a video about the difference between a cut a a cool swirling move ?
Fundamentally, it's that a cut has good cutting mechanics. The sword is moving quickly, the edge is aligned with the motion for the entire time it's passing through the target, the plane of motion is consistent through the target, the core is driving, and there's an effective power chain to transmit that force to the blade.
It's really easy to get lazy when doing flow drills, and just swing the sword casually instead of making sure each cut is a cut. Just swinging is faster and looks flashy, but cutting with every strike will teach you far more useful muscle memory.
There's a lot of good and very detailed information about cutting mechanics on Eric Lowe's channel: search RUclips for Swordwind Historical Swordsmanship.
If your edge is aligned through the hypothetical target, it's a cut. If you are just doing figure 8's without aligning the edge, you are twirling.
My hema club is closed because of the coronavirus and I don't have a steel sword. Are these drills also applicable to synthetic weapons, or are they too light for that purpose ?
awesome! would you guys do this with one handed sword techniques also?
4:15 :)
Blood and Iron HEMA that was quick! Thank you for the response.
I watched until the end, i just wish you guys did a whole new video focusing more on one handed sword & sword & buckler.
I find it hard to apply the steps & guard transitions to a one handed sword :(
Blood and Iron HEMA its just im so impressed with your demonstrations id like to learn more just with one handed sword
Any tips on wrist strengthening drills or exercises? Mah wrists r weak!
Look closely at Sean's wrists, he's not bending them to turn the sword, but rather opening his hand to let the sword rotate. If you're doing these drills right, you should be able to do it with wrist braces on that immobilize your wrists.
super helpfull!
What parts of a BOB bag are we targeting with the four cut sequence?
If it works with second sword in the left hand? 🤔
Good
Why do you put your thumb on the blade for some cuts
This is helpful thank you but a question, if you use actual metal to fight, then how do you protect? I get fencing mask but my armor i use for stunt sabers wouldn't work.
We made a video about our heavy sparring kits here - ruclips.net/video/kYOf9fGXRmc/видео.html
Thanks. My teacer used this for some of my training but it was weird with the stunt saber. Thank you!
2:15 I can do it on one side but "repeating it on the other side" proves ehr... entangling. I would've liked to have an explanation for the other side
obrigado
What would be the optimal balance for a training longsword? Or just any longsword, but i'm asking for training purposes :P
optimally you'd want something the same as your regular longsword.
point of balance for the sword
Generally, longswords have a point of balance between 3 and 5 inches from the guard. For a training weapon that you want to spar with, I'd reccommend a point of balance on the lower end of that spectrum (mine's about 3.5 inches), because it reduces the impact of cuts and makes it safer for your sparring partner. Cheers :)
Can someone explain this back-edge to me, my brain can’t seem to process what’s happening
wow - they lost me on that 3rd one
What music is this?
The intro caught me off guard lol
as smooth as Eric Clapton
guard of my sword is so wide that I can't put thumb on the blade T-T
no such thing as drillx or not
man this video moves too fast! good moves though
your intro literally made me vomit
Will a machete work to learn to use a one handed messer (the type with a deeper belly for chopping)?