An introduction to stance and footwork in sword fighting (HEMA)
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 6 окт 2024
- This is a demonstration by two instructors of the Blood & Iron historical martial arts school, Nicole Smith (also co-founder of B&I) and Sean Franklin. Both have won multiple medals in HEMA tournaments.
For those who don't know, HEMA stands for Historical European Martial Arts and is about the study of techniques and strategies from Medieval and Renaissance fencing manuals.
For more instructional videos check out their channel:
/ @bloodandironhema
Part 2 on footwork (collapsed knee positions):
• Skallagrim collaborati...
Blood & Iron in New Westminster, BC, Canada (main school):
www.bloodandiro...
Blood & Iron in Victoria, BC, Canada (satellite school):
/ bloodandironvictoria
********************************************************************************
My favorite online store for buying swords (worldwide shipping):
ww4.aitsafe.com...
Channel-related shirts and stuff:
skallagrim.spre...
Some recommended knife makers on Amazon:
www.amazon.com/...
Want to help fund future videos?
/ skallagrim
My Facebook page:
/ skallagrimyt
Thank you very much Skallagrim for the shout out, we really do appreciate it. Even with your praise as Historical European Martial Artists, making videos is definitely a new endeavor for us and we can only hope to achieve your level of quality in this department as you've set an extremely high bar (But, we're always up for a challenge!)
Rest well and heal fast.
+Blood and Iron HEMA 'Rest well' makes it sound like he's dead. XD
+heresjonny666 T-T Skall is dead? I knew somone would trow a pommel at him, at some point.
Caim Pact We are in control now. It was all a ploy
+Kesyabasturd I'm with ye
+Blood and Iron HEMA
Sure, you deserve more exposure. :)
Thanks, I'm doing my best trying to grow back together. All the effort put into doing... nothing. -_-
Skallagrim used to do HEMA before he took a car to the shoulder.
+Jim Giant
And a leg to the knee.
Sounds far less impressive than the car, I know.
"Keep your stance wide, keep your body lowered, as your moving forward balance is the key..."
Crab people, crab people.
Look like people, walk like crab.
Crab people, crab people.
+Mr Sniffles Taste like crab, talk like people*
***** I don't think you get the joke, or if you do why are you posting that?
Mr Sniffles Kill me.
+Mr Sniffles All ive heard it said "looks like crab, walks like people"
u win.made my night
Wow! There's so many similarities with footwork in other martial arts.
I practice boxing and muay thai, and moving foward and backwards is very similar. Switching stances is a little uncommon because having the strongest arm in the back is to damn useful, but it's good technique for evasive action.
There's a particular branch of Thai boxing that uses this triangle stepping a lot. It's called Muay Chaya. Great reference as some of their techniques involved tonfas and an exotic long handled sword.
As they said, heal fast Mr. Skallagrim. Watching you learn were particularly awesome videos :)
PissedFechtmeister isn’t there a lot of Spanish influence on kali/escrima?
This guy got some very good trained muscles on his legs
+Alexandros grivas Never skip leg day...
ye xD
+Alexandros grivas Και Έλληνες βλέπουν Skallagrim, πολύ ωραία ! :P
+Alexandros grivas Woodysgamertag would be jealous of those calves.
+Alexandros grivas well... (Y)
A bit robotic but that made it precise and clear.
+notstayinsdowns I have a load of trouble teaching new members of our group correct steps because once You get really fluent it is quite difficult to show properly how to begin with it. :-D
+Vojtěch “Mortis” Ptáček It's actually quite funny how much you have to slow down your speech and think of what you're saying more carefully when you don't use specific terminology or slang.
+Blood and Iron HEMA
Yeah, and those young girls and boys are just eager to grab a sword (and make it all smudgy during that process :-/ ) and start fencing like a Witcher or some other movie or gaming star using cold weapons. They are not interested in stepping forwards and backwards for months while someone just tells them what to do again and again. It can't be that difficult. Every movie protagonist makes it right after few short scenes and he/she beats old master after just a minute of a screen time. :-D
PS: Sorry for my English. It is just my second language and it is usually quite troublesome for me to write anything coherent and specific using just terms I can remeber after 10 hours of work. :-/
+Vojtěch Ptáček Hah, I'm sure your English is much better than my ability to speak your native language :)
+notstayinsdowns You have to do it slow before you can do it fast
Great video! Another important point to add that may have been missed, is to always try to keep the knee facing the same direction of the foot; sounds elementary, but it can be easily overlooked when doing the more complex stuff, and can really mess up the the knees over time.
Thank you for this, Skallagrim. I'm glad there are videos that cater to the essentials explicitly.
Nice to see such consummate professionals explaining things from the point of view of their own experience. It's pretty clear that these guys are medal winners.
Love this. So practical, yet so fucking cool at the same time.
This is exceedingly similar to the footwork I learned at my Goju Ryu dojo. The only major difference I could find is the emphasis on not minding where your feet point in HEMA, versus an exceeding focus on where your feet point in Goju Ryu. My sensei used to walk around with a shinai (which I find rather strange, considering Goju Ryu is all about weaponless combat [karate literally means empty or open hand]) and push our feet to point in the correct direction (which was toward one another at around 30' from straight ahead in the short stances; and the front foot inward at 30' and the back foot straight ahead, with the heel on the ground, in the longer stances).
My leg cramped by just watching this.
Skall, I kinda wonder, does the fact that you'r the guy with the big HEMA youtube channel get reflected in the attitudes of the people at Blood and Iron? Considering you're basically popularizing HEMA, do you ever get the impression that they think of you as "the guy with the youtube channel"?
+Tobias Hagström Well, at the last Blood and Iron Halloween party one person dressed up as Skallagrim - The RUclips Channel... we had a heck of a time to write comments on him XD
But no, our Blood and Iron family is super supportive and caring, every single one of them jumped to help us when he had the accident.
+Cara the Rat Somehow I fail to imagine how one can dress up as a youtube channel... you know, as a princess or even as a sausage somehow works... but... well, as I said before...
By painting a cardboard to look like a youtube video page and cutting out a window for your upper body to be Skall in the video. It was a rather ingenious costume.
+Cara the Rat I figured out what I'm going as for Halloween this year. :p
Cara the Rat
Nice :) (Maybe not too suitable for dancing, but that's perfect if somebody doesn't like to dance anyway :-D
Excellent video! Thanks to Blood & Iron for the demonstration. Nicole's lightfootedness and stability are impressive.
Kokutsu Dachi from Karate is what comes to mind.
I like how no matter the style or the region of origin, if it is made for combat the stances are all generally the same. The only outlier would be Capoeira.
Just started my HEMA journey, im in my 40's and have done martial arts for over 16years.
Looking forward to getting my first sword!
Great video, thanks for sharing.
Well Skall, once you recovered fully you should do a video that recreates the recovery scene from Conan the Barbarian to celibrate.
Wonderful introduction to crucial fundamentals. Would love to train with the two coaches some day. (For now, I'm in Ireland, and thankfully have my own local club :) ) Hope your injuries are healing well, Skal!
Like before even watching crew checking in
+Giorgio Fenu fuckyeah
You know it buddy
Love the profile pic :) molon labe
Yep
+Giorgio Fenu We will click like in the shade.
I feel the need to note that sometimes the back heel is raised, most notably in Fiore's work. As far as beginners go though, this is an excellent start. Footwork is the core aspect that everything else is based off after all. I hope they eventually go more in depth with this and explain some more advanced footwork!
This makes a lot of sense with how your dueling videos looked.
what's so interesting is that these stances come so naturally to me now, I don't even think about it anymore
Thanks Skall, you've given me a place to learn HEMA from knowledgeable people! After watching their videos i can see what you mean when you say having an instructor is a lot better than reading manuals and learning alone. Of course it would be nice to be taught in person but for now ill just keep a close watch on myself in the mirror. I look forward to your recovery and B&I's future videos.
+adrian You can also check out 'The HEMA Alliance' group on facebook-ask around there for advice,you might even find out about clubs near you.
will try that thanks!
Get better man. My left hip has become less and less dependable since an injury decades ago, never really had it seen to, so I know how hard it is to do what you know how to do when your base is unstable. My prayers are with you.
my hema trainer (for german longsword) brought up that it is possible that the knee should be behind the foot for quite a few techniques. i remember him talking about Von dasichs Ochs
+warfilgames Possibly. These are just the basics though.
Objection: thought I enjoyed how clearly and professionally everything was, explaining visually and in terms of motion and balance how everything is done, I find it lacking in an appropiate soundtrack. My personal choice would have been "Footlose". Thank you for your attention.
I thoroughly enjoy your instructional HEMA videos. There are no schools near me, I may be moving soon to get to a HEMA School. It would be phenomenal if you could make more videos on techniques and training.
+Benjamin King Check out the facebook group 'The HEMA Alliance' and ask for instructional videos there-lots and lots of great videos already out there. :)
(as well as other sources).
I've never done any martial arts involving a weapon but it's actually somewhat surprising to see how similar stancework is between this and unarmed martial arts like Karate.
Even some of the details like having your knee over your foot is strikingly similar (a reason for this in Karate is it strengthens your stance and also protects your knee from being kicked in, as if you don't do this someone could kick right through your knee)
Thank you. Very similar to boxing. The switching in not commonly done in boxing, but fighters that pull it off use it to their style very well.
+PissedFechtmeister great to know. In boxing and fight sports, switching is very risky.
Half cripple ... i feel bad for laughing...
+Painkiller :D it does suck tho ... a fucking car even ...
Yeah.
D:
this is just so different to the way we step when doing things... its so intriguing, yet at the same time just feels so wrong. you can rock quite a distances over your forward knee if the toe is in alignment with it.
Having done fencing for 14 years I'd say its pretty much the same except for switching feet.
Very nice video guys, i'm gonna explore some more of your works.
I was at tsukino con and I saw some of the people from the HEMA club doing a panel there, it was very interesting
This is great! I think its interesting how these movements compare to my natural movements
Thanks for the upload Skall. Hope to see similar videos in the future.
Yes! i wanted to see this since i found your channel
I take track and field at school. I understand the concept or ruling for a full planted footing. In track, to avoid strain on the knee it is important stay on the balls of your feet and you big toe in between your knee's. It is the flexing of your calves to help support your quads who then carries your body weight. The heel of course is not considered the balls of your feet. Being able to move freely without constraint is the idea and knowing both techniques are best in any competition. Also pressing a bottom may help the cause too.
Personally iv always set up my stance like this..
Step 1- put a straight piece of tape on your floor.
Step 2- Stand with your feet hip width apart with the tape line between your legs.
Step 3- take a step forward with your left foot until your right heel just raises off the floor.
Step 4- turn both of your feet to the right at the same time until your left big toe and your right heel are touching the line forming a straight line between those two body parts.
This is by no means the perfect stance in my opinion but i think its the most adaptable to combat sports.
I dont know if strikes to the legs and groin are allowed in hema but it seems to me that the stance shown in this video leaves those parts of the body far too open to attack, leg kicks can be brutal especially when your pointing your foot straight at your opponent like that with a wide stance rooting you too the ground, in order for him to defend against a kick to his left leg he would have to shift all of his weight onto his back foot so he can raise his left leg to check the kick with his shin as for getting kicked in the groin he might as well hang a sign off of his nut sack that says "kick here" on it.
Loved the joint operation mate! Good vid!
Nicely done video for beginners everyone evolved! It makes me sad when foot work is overlooked. It's so rewarding to improve it.
Footwork establishes ones foundation and mobility. Without mobility and strong foundation your blade work means nothing.
That frame rate tho... I feel like you just gave me a new glasses prescription! :^)
Skall, I want to thank you for the dedication you've shown to making videos. I don't think I'm alone in saying that I think I watch your videos for your personality, and the various things you feature in your videos (swords, guns, video games, etc.) are merely props for displaying that personality.
Also, I'd like to thank you for the introduction this video gave me to Blood and Iron. Hopefully I can learn the basics of HEMA in spite of there not being a HEMA club where I am!
Oh, and get better. I may watch your videos because you personally are entertaining, but it'd be nice if you didn't have to be a 'half cripple'.
I have greatly enjoyed the instructional sword-fighting videos! One suggestion I would make would be to invest in a simple pair of wireless microphones. The sort people wear for TV interviews. They are reasonably cheap, effective, and would go a great distance toward cutting down on the echo which makes it difficult to understand the dialog when filming in an enclosed area.
Great demonstrations, thank you.
I love how they were so dead-faced and serious while I was just completely losing it at that crab-shuffle. X'D
Good to see you back on your feet man. Looking forward to your content :}
I have my first Hema class on monday, my background is in kenjutsu(TSKSR) but my mother was a competition fencer and both my grandparents on my mothers side were fencers as well, epee and foil I believe, this whole pointing with your knee and not with your foot thing is going to really trip me up haha. So much emphasis on the direction of your feet in kenjutsu.
I feel like I'm going to have to unlearn a few things.
id like to see a video of a fight between 2 HEMA instructors with fake lightsabers. just to see how real swordfighters would fight with lightsabers
Keep us updated on your recovery Skall. Can't wait to see you back in action again.
I like what I saw!
It's important to keep your toes on your front foot pointing forward, if you have them to the side your calf is exposed. Unlikely target but it hurt and you generally have less protection there.
And that, my dear friends, is what You are going to practice indefinitely. :-D I have first started fencing in 1998 or 1999 and footwork is compulsory part of all our training sessions until today. :-D
Sidenote: I would guess that Nicole Smith spends more time with light conventional weapons than Sean because her stance is much narrower but I admit that it might be just an angle of camera.
I think this footwork stuff is very important and and very highly overlooked part in swordfighting.
I liked the part about how they mention you want to transfer your movement perfectly horizontally rather than "up and forward". I imagine that going "up and forward" increases the time you can close the distance between you and your opponent by a significant fraction. Also it wastes energy.
However In a sword fight everything is highly dynamic. Worry about your footwork for 1 second and your head gets cut off, or your wrists get slit open. So the main point is to work on your footwork so that you don't have to think about it.
+Keon994 How on earth could footwork be "highly overlooked" among any brand of martial arts? That's like saying that calculus is highly overlooked among physicists. That's just not possible. It's too fundamental to the subject.
+Keon994 It's important for any martial art really. If you are out of position to execute your techniques or move so bad that you cannot execute your technique then it's all for nothing. People in Judo who don't practice footwork and proper falling end up with the most injuries eventually. Gotta tuck that head in!
+Keon994 Footwork is one of the most heavily overlooked fundamental of almosty all athletic forms.
Archery, a martial skill seemingly totally rooted in the upper body is severely limted by an Archer with poor foorwork, and by exstension, poor overall form. The feet and legs are your foundation, without good foundation no house can stand. If your feet are not coordianted with your body, your trunk can be twisted, awkward and far less solid than necessity demands.
+Pizza Shark It simply is often overlooked by the novice.
As fundamental as they are, one can still throw a punch or swing a sword or draw a bow with a shit stance, they will however be at a distinct disadvantage, a disadvantage that is often hard to notice until it is brought to the fore by sparring.
Huh. Sport Fencing footwork is merely just the first one of these. I don't know why, but I was expecting a greater difference.
interesting video, lot of useful stuff for beginners, but a very basic thing to know is that footwork can be a lot different from weapon to weapon; the things shown here seem to be useful for earlier styles like sidesword and two handed sword, but rapier from XVIII sec on has a lot of differences in footwork.
Thanks for another great video!
I love you're not ashamed say someone knows more than me. Because they're an expert in that part.
This was actually really cool!
I wish there was HEMA club where I live, I'd love to try it out
I've been watching videos all day while fighting my whole issue with authority figures like crazy, but I have a style I developed when mimicking other's just didn't seem like a good fit. It felt like putting on and fighting in armor that wasn't meant for me. That's when I started my own kata and added more to it as time went on. Unfortunately, like many fighting styles, its just flashy and intimidating but easy to beat.
The pros are that I can maneuver around a lot of distance and hit many targets while doing so, as long as those targets are standing still, not defending themselves. I can keep in motion the whole time and let the momentum do the majority of the work so I don't have to use as much energy. I've found stopping to collect one's self and then starting again takes more energy than doing a continuous motion and using it to control the movements of an opponent, usually making them deflect high to make them pivot on the foot I want them to so I can set them up and back them into a corner or obstacle and immediately strike with all the stored energy I have saved in a vicious attack the moment their focus wavers when they touch a wall or trip over something.
The cons are I usually get off balance too easily because of how fast I'm going. If I exert the same amount of energy as an opponent normally would, I can move much faster but at the cost of stability. I thought if I just kept practicing I would get more used to it and learn how to overcome it by repetition, but its been about a year and I'm still making the same mistakes.
I started to add in a leg sweep when I feel my balance waver, then follow up with a jump/lunge in whatever direction is needed. I feel like I need a second brain just to focus on my movements, my footwork and how to conserve energy just so I can focus on the opponent. If I broadcast my movements, its because I want you to see it coming and deflect so I can either direct you to go where I want, or to make you put your weapon as far away from my target as possible. If you're pushing me back, I'm just using the same method as a 3 point turn.
Many people try to watch the eyes to see where someone is going to strike next, I usually do that in reverse. I make it difficult to read my movements because 1, I look at the opposite of where I'm going to strike. Even if you figure it out, its not easy to adjust to it because if I see that you cracked it then I just do it at random and my strikes are already unpredictable. And 2, my method of movement is spinning while taking advantage of my flexibility to bend, twist, turn, reach and wrap my arms and body in ways many cannot (think if a contortionist decided to take ballet, then took about 3 Red Bulls and picked up a sword or spear)
So these are all the things I'm doing to be as effective as I can but it still feels like I'm just not progressing the way I should be. I feel like its my footing and I just can't get the hang of it. How can I get better?
It's good to see you up and about. I love your videos, great work :)
2:26-2:29 gif :? i might :3
+DormantGames i love you
Im back too..sorry to hear you are stuck with both injuries..helps not to wear hiking boots for long periods of time as they retraing the way you move without you knowing it..when you stop wearing boots, your feet tends to feel clumsy and lack the senses normally held. Warm up by stretching when you get up. Check Mark Wiley for stretching.
And thanks for the vid on foot work..
+Nikita Onassis If you would like to know more on Espada Y Daga, feel free to contact me via email. With the footwork the 2 principal footwork are the 2 principle footwork. The simple basic is the most advanced. Here what is lacking is practice over iterations of how the body tensions and relaxes, the way weight is distributed. I can elaborate more with a given spanish text but not here..too long.
Pretty cool. Thanks for this upload.
thanks for the video, I want to see cut drills too
man I love this channel thank you so much for your input it is very helpful
Another high quality video!!!
I am totally subscribing to them
Very similar to most martial/fighting footwork.If you have done any boxing, for example, these concepts are very familiar.
You should probably talk to Nicole and Sean about putting up some foam pads on the walls or something; as well done as the basic introduction was, there were some points where they were almost incomprehensible due to the acoustics.
+Saidoro
I have been talking to them about getting lavalier mics and external audio recorders.
I'm mainly interested in unarmed martial arts, so this is of limited practical use to me, but it's interesting how similar, or different, it is to the arts I've practiced.
My main area of interest is aikido, and it's obviously heavily influenced by similar stances and steps to what I see in the video. There are differences, but the similarities are striking (which is in line with what my teachers have told me about aikido's history, it having strong kenjutsu and iaijutsu influences in technique, despite generally not being concerned with weapon use).
On the other hand, the stances in martial arts like judo or karate (which I have admittedly limited experience with) couldn't be more different =)
This is so helpful, thank you guys! :D
Nicole was awesome when I went there for my trial class. And they've now moved to a location much closer to my house.
This is highly educational, thanks Skall :D
This looks similar to Shinkendo stances and footwork. Although in Shinkendo there are more sliding movement
+projecta3halkida Personally I think a lot of sword stances look similar.
+Holo The Wise Wolf (Holo.)
Thats because the absolute basic necessities of a martial stance are generally similar regardless of world origin. You want a solid base stance that won't get you thrown around when attacking or defending.
The variations come with specific styles of course, but since they all deal with the human body's generally similar shape... the basics are usually there.
+projecta3halkida Yup, just like what +Krescentwolf said. Muay thai stance is pretty similar as well
Awesome, another quality channel to subscribe to :D
Yes! While your joints are messed up, you can direct video tutorials with professionals!
hang in there man!! love you, and the video!
Hope things get better for you.
Not a video I expected but was really cool. Footwork seems the least important to me but its that kind of behavior that would cause me to lose. That is, if I ever had anyone to practice any of this with.
PissedFechtmeister Yeah it is, just the most boring to get down. Does make a big difference though.
It's quite the same I learnt in Taiji and Qi Gong. You think you couldn't hurt yourself too much there because the first is mostly and the latter always made slowly but that doesn't help that much, actually. Doing the wrong movements slowly doesn't hurt any less.
WoW swordsmanship is intricate.
what about the long dark gameplays?
+rafael martinez
There will be more.
+Skallagrim Yay! I loved them.
+Skallagrim They were insanely interesting. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the series.
Skallagrim, could you make a cutting test for the Cold Steel 1796 Light Cavalry Saber - Steel Scabbard?
Really cool video
This is nice and all, though they should tell which codex they're reffering to since Meyers footwork is a bit different. Lower stance and what not.
Interesting. In English, we have phrases like "caught flat-footed" and "rocked back on your heels." I always thought that applied to boxing, but apparently it's older than that.
Hey Skallagrim this comment is completely unrelated to the video but I felt the need to make it, I think you should make a video about the Jian A.K.A the Chinese Straight sword, which I think is quite under rated by the few who know what it is. P.S. It was the type of sword that Szun Tsu wielded.
Szun Tsu is early iron age (for china), did swords get directly their classic form?
No but the Jian has been around in various improving forms since the mid-late bronze age (for China).
Ugh yes thank you I fuck up so much in class today this especially the angles
Can you do something about a Blunderbuss? I would also like to see the viking technique of slipping if it helps at all. If you don't know what that is its when you chop with a viking sword with a loosened grip, keep your index and thumb connected though. This pushes the sword forward on the grip for more distance. Can you test if this is better?
Wonderful!
More Please!
Skall, you are almost at 500,000 subs! You do understand you MUST make a celebration video, consisting of you vigorously throwing a pommel at thou opponent cake! And or maybe more firearm destruction, whichever works for you sir. :)
Ah. I disagree about the body sinking. Most sources' illustrations don't sink that much and it reduces mobility and speed. One doesn't walk or run sank like that. I think sinking is meant for low strikes or takedowns from below, to raise the opponent.
nice to see the club getting some publicity
interesting... I thought only eastern swordfighting (samurai, mostly) focused on that semi-squatting stance... Didn't know it was the same for Western swordfighting..
The premise is largely similar: trying to hit/poke somebody with a very sharp metal bar, while avoiding being hit yourself. 😄
We use this same posture and movement (among others) in the Filipino Martial Arts, i study.
the best way to get a good footwork is practicing taekwondo, you fight mainly with your feet and can do nothing without a good balance. it's exactly the way you move in taekwondo, but we have to hit with our feet while moving so it's a little more complicated.
interesting video as always, I guess this would also transfer to martial arts by keeping your knee straight and not going off balance.
but can someone please explain why double edge swords exist? sure it's point is sharper and symmetry might some how be worth it while forging, but you will only ever swipe with the side no matter how you swing it, because you would never strike with the side towards your palm. cos that would just be silly.