depends on whether you're using a system that emphasises single time or double time actions, and what you mean by effective. Single time fencing tends to be better offensively, double time is usually better defensively. Single time fencing also takes a lot more training and experience to use properly.
@@lancerd4934 I think what he meant was that a parry is linked to a riposte. A good example is from table tennis (I used to play it before I started HEMA). We were tought that the strike starts with the end of the last strike. So even getting your bat back was regarded as a strike. So I guess you could say a parry is best tought with a riposte after it. So it is one fluid motion to get from parry to the riposte and not just a static block. The attack starts with a parry yone might say. And I don't say there is no time for static blocks, but parry riposte is more effective.
@@nicopetri3533 if hema kids actually understood the old fencing masters, they would know that there are no blocks in actual fencing( not with weapons nor without weapons)... there is only the attack which has to be answerd indes with your own attack. only thing that can save you in a defensive way is actual fencing footwork (not the forward-backward shit olympic fencers do) have a good one :)
it's great to see people who are actually in decent physical shape to display the German tradition in free play like this, and with this much vigor. And to add to that, I have not yet seen anyone spar under the Italian system using the same tenacity and passion as these two.
+Chrominance87 The Phoenix Society is based largely on Fiore and do very well in tournaments. Their founder placed 4th at Longpoint two years in a row.
Chrominance87 Me too. I think "it's all just longsword to me" was the original lyric in the Billy Joel song "It's still rock n roll to me". Or it should have been. :)
Exactly, some people think World of Warcraft is a historical source. While we're on video games and fantasy I've realised that bows use agility and swords strength as their main state. The realistic way would be the opposite. Bows need strength and swords agility, primarily.
This should be an Olympic sport. Not like fencing, but more full contact; with grappling, takedowns, etc. With modern protection, but ancient fighting techniques.
I'm all for that too. Sadly the sport is respectively still in its infancy as far as regulation and standard practice, but I am honored and hyped to be a part of something that is being rediscovered. I would love to see HEMA have both sporting pursuits(i.e. similar to Kendo, Olympic Fencing, etc.) as well as its current experimental archeology pursuit.
From my limited experience, longsword feels surprisingly like one of those (so-called) "soft-hard" styles that you find in the kungfu styles (like white crane, hun gar, etc.)... There are hard strikes for sure, but at least half of it is sensing through the bind. Maybe I'm not articulating the thought very clearly, but my point is that longswords are far more complete weapons than they're portrayed as, and longsword fencing is far more 'delicate' than it seems on the surface.
Urban Cohort some of those strikes from the bind come super fast it’s one of the cool things about the longsword is the torque you can create is incredible.
You're right and it stems from the dual use of the weapon as a shielding device too. Receive/ shield/ bind then unfold to the strike. 2 edges to strike with double the fun! If your brain compute it naturally you should really start training HEMA. You'll love it👊
I've never seen stesso tempo executed so well with longsword techniques (I'm sure that isn't the proper term for Liechtenauer, but it's the one I know). You guys are on point. Literally! :-)
Historical fencing is something beautiful. To see the reconstruction and/or interpretation of actual sword methods executed with such speed... they were impressive techniques! Popular media has never done something as amazing as this with swords!
I recently started taking lessons in the medieval style of sword fighting with a longsword too and it is freaking awesome to learn and to do. Looking at this really makes me want to learn more, thank you for showing us this, it was amazing!
Absolutely amazing performance: clean fence tecnique and not only ''tutorial moves'' but realistic way of duelling.Two, three second and it's gone. Excellent skills, I really appreciate!
Keep in mind that a single wound of almost any kind was extremely rarely lethal by itself, so fights would naturally go on a bit longer than shown here.
I disagree. This stuff would be perfect for heroes mowing down mooks. With fights between Big Damn Heroes and the Big Bad they could find some creative way of drawing it out without reverting to stale stage-fight/wire-fu bullshit (realistically-portrayed effective armor being a simple and easy choice).
It could fit in fantasy films like the lord of the rings where everyone is just slaying hordes of enemies. Why not giving these "fights" a little more impressing techniques like this, rather than simply cutting down those obviously helpless orcs?
Alexander Bürger While some of these techs will work in the melee, the truth is in battle you cut it down to the barest tactics and use group work more.
Nice, I really like how you guys do the drills as though you were in the middle of sparring with the ready footwork and feints. Definitely adds a bit of realism to it! Great job!
Please holywood. Take note. I'm looking at you games of thrones. I know you can do it! Also this makes me realise how fucking brutal and terrifying an actual duel must have felt. These are not kids playing at fight. It's a man who will kill you as effectivelly as he can. Also: 1:53. Who needs special fx.
Game of thrones yes it looks like kids fighting but ..... they have armor these methods are designed for people with out armor to cut them nothing like game of thrones in there they are armored so setting up a hit can take more time especially as some one keeps charging at you. Although in game of thrones half of what they say is bullshit about fighting. Anyway take it or leave it there's the truth ( I do sword fighting myself and teach it) :)
Agreed. That with some proper build up, blood and make-up would be pretty damn noticeable in a film. I'm surprised it's hardly been done, considering how much love samurai-flicks have gotten all over the world. Other then The Duellists (1977) I'm hard pressed to think of a good film featuring even remotely realistic European fencing. Though, I remember being thoroughly entertained by Bessons Joan of Arc (1999), realistic or not.
Patryk Pospiech You can do cartwheels and what not in full plate. It's lighter than a modern soldier's kit. It's tailored to each individual person. It's range of movement is greater than the human body itself. Stop with the misconception that plate armour restricted movement, because it didn't. If you're a sword fighting trainer, you should know this.
@@DwarfElvishDiplomacy One reason I never did was due to the needless complexity in learning, and thus making it harder to master and keep up with. From the Italian side, I was taught that crossing your arms invited wrestling/grappling and was very weak; I was told it was a very foolish thing to do; never cross your legs and rarely ever cross your arms. Angling down your blade from on high was flimsy and weak, and so crossing your arms while angling the blade down was, to me, 100% pointless and stupid. The early demonstrations I got from a German teacher visiting us was slow and methodical, and as he the presenter shifted and changed to show us some basics, my instructor at the time gradually reflected defensively with Fiore's postas, making the German swordsman look awkward and hilariously complex. Further, our instructor shows us counters and pointed out in context the German manuscripts were of little use to us, and our visitor seemed a bit dumbfounded with no counter discussion. His only response was that there "was still a lot to be learned". I carried that first impression with me for many years. Eventually I loosened up and began looking into other martial arts around the world with less bias and came back to HEMA. This video demonstrates the German approach better at full speed. Complex it may be, but its foundation handles exploitation of timing, distance, and facing much more efficiently and gracefully.
@@AR-GuidesAndMore Looking back I don't think he meant that kind of offense, only that he was a master of the Italian practices at the time and one of the only-known better men available with a study in the German manuscripts was not, IMO, a man with a sense for instruction and teaching. He might've also been trying to provoke some discussion about the differences on purpose, just to share that there were different approaches to martial arts, even HEMA so close together on the same continent, and the visitor was simply unprepared. It could've also been my POV observation was intaking things from a personal bias. Our instructor was a very soft-spoken gentleman. This instance was, the time of this comment, about 20 years ago. So maybe over the course of time things had developed and knowledge/experience gained from interpreting the treatises? I am not sure. I just know I can pick out German influences with some users when I observe or engage sparring, with a bit of respect and fear, now, with relative frequency.
At ~1:55, you can SEE the sparks flying off the swords when they clash. I always thought that that was fake and wouldnt happen in an actual sword clash. O.O
Sparks from swords happen all the time when you are striking with intent. It's pretty cool, as well as the sound. Sharps just notch up more but I think they would still spark from all the sliding. I believe it depends on the metal combo too when when you're high carbon against high carbon non-stainless steel, sparks do happen.
KyoBladezen if any of you have a spare old high carbon steel sword properly tempered and gardens that you don't really care about, take it outside and hit the concrete with a medium swooping strike so the tips flat glides along the ground, you will see tons of sparks, do it at night time I've got a few blades I don't care much about and I swipe them over the concrete sometimes, it gets addictive I think I have a problem, its just nice to see the sparks erupt from the slash arch at night.
Coming from strictly a Japanese swordsmanship background, this is unlike anything I've ever seen. Finally! Actual swordsmanship and not two guys in their backyard wailing on each other. Most impressive.
awesome sparring!! I would love to learn this fencing. I have done Kenjutsu and other arts related to weapons, but this have fascinated me. do you anyone in the U.S. that teach such fighting combat? thanks
This is very very good. Thank you very much for sharing , there is much to learn from this. I applaud you for testing your skill in this manner, and while this is not sparring (nor was intended to be, clearly) the level of skill displayed and the risks you guys are taking to test drive the techniques is inspiring. Much respect and thanks again.
Try the HEMA club finder: www.hemaalliance.com/club-finders/ If you're out of luck, there is always the possibility to pick up a source material, a couple of synthetic weapons from quality manufacturers and train away with your buddies.
It' nice to see some serious adepts of the mediaval swordsmanship, among all those on youtube just dancing ad jumping with sword (or even wooden sticks). This is tecnique. This is the REAL mediaval swordsmanship study.
WIEDZIAŁEM że kiedyś wpadnę na muzykę z Wiedźmina :D cieszę się że utożsamia się ten tytuł z mistrzowskim fechtunkiem :) w skrócie - music from the Witcher yeyea..! How can I get a longsword like this?
@kobuksonhwacha Hi, I have no problem with discussion where people listen each other and don't accept others opinion blindly. The world of martial arts with cold weapons (wester or eastern) is full of myths. It's time to put them away. It's 21th century. I would like to see more relevat videos too. Easter and western. Not only theoretical demostrations, slowmotion interpretations or katas without partner.
@KillaRiku, it looks liek a demonstration of the techniques illustrated in fechtbuchs, if you watch closely they are demonstrating counter blows, and as it progresses it shows how to react to the counter before. The first is straightforward, the second adds an offside shot, the third blocks and counters the offside, etc. Excellent work indeed. A duel between these two would be something to see.
Apologize in advance for my use of profanity, however 3 questions if i may, the first : who the fuck are you guys? Second : where the fuck are you located ? Lastly: why the fuck aren't you in every major city ?
***** hemaalliance.com/?page_id=686 the HEMA Alliance club finder is awesome. There are different types of Historical European Martial Arts schools around the world, with more starting up all the time with increasing interest in our arts. I hope you find one close by you, if you're interested :)
+Frederick Hardy Being physically active is always handy. Obviously, learning a sellable skill (like plumbing or electrician) is well more handy than participating in a sport.
Very very good demonstration and video of langschwert fencing. The moves are accurate and well practiced, solid hits too. Nice choice of witcher music also! Hope we had schools like yours here....it's good at least some Europeans respect, remember and admire their ancestors heritage.Keep it that way!
Very nice video, Kohutovic. Inspirational. I make a point of forwarding your videos to my club's members so that we can be reminded of appropriate intensity. Keep up the good work!
Thi Kieu Oanh Le I don't need to go there in digital era, show me your video then. And hope you don't show me Vietnamese swordfighting with Chinese sword.
+Thi Kieu Oanh Le ha ha, you fear to show your Chinese-copy sword dancing like crap to the world, right? That why Vietnamese martial arts just be known as Chinese martial arts's shadow. Now, prove it your Vietnamese sword fighting is superior than Medieval European Sword Arts with video or nothing. Anyway, which tyle of Vietnamese sword fighting you want to prove? Like this one? watch?v=f4jZdXzYNx0 ? If not, then give anyone your video of sword fighting to prove that Vietnamese Sword Fighting is superior than the bullshit in this video.
Thi Kieu Oanh Le ha ha, just a wall of text without any evidence by video of your superior Vietnamese sword fighting. Just bunch of theories of Chinese Martial Arts and Chinese weapons name lolz. Vietnamese has proverbs "One hundreds of hear is nothing to compare to one time see it" . Right? You can talk billion times, but nothing for everyones to see, you're just failure, got it. Want to prove that your Vietnamese with Chinese swords fighting is superior than this? Stop talking, give me your video of your martial arts, also name your school, or it will never happen and never prove it except from your big mouth, because with any mouth, every martial art of their will be the best martial art in the world and can beat other martial arts easily in one seconds lolz. Or, you just don't have any videos to prove it? Right, ha ha.
Thi Kieu Oanh Le yeah yeah, still avoid to prove your evidence, because you have no evidence, just admit it. Oh, when I look up to Vietnamese history, post Le Loi era, Vietnamese master archery and firearm, up to Tay Son Dynasty, they able to build 50~66 cannon ships and master of sails v.v.... But not used your Chinese sword to slash cavalry, because they use halberd to hook riders down instead slash the horses, halberds become famous in Vietnames history and even has a dance for it, called "Bat Dat dance". And, still where your video of Vietnamese sword fighting arts? Still can't googling it to give it to here?
If you guys look closely between 0:33 and 0:35 seconds, they caused the swords to spark. That is training and sparring in such a way, it makes me love HEMA even more.
The problem is that if you put something like this in a movie you can't see what's happening. It's simply too fast if you are not ver well trained in sword fighting yourself. And after all, the point of a movie is to *see* something :P Of course, lots of movies are really bad in this regard. But I think a lot of them actually make some good compromise. After all a movie is not reality. It's a distorted, interpreted projection of reality that should also be fun to watch (without slowmos, those are so ugly).
+TheMasturCheef But by putting in realism, they can impress us into enjoying it. Most directors, particularly of Medieval European stuff, barely even try :(. I mean, Star Wars for one example is pretty fast. Martially practical, maybe, maybe not, but fast and enjoyable to watch. Can the same not be done with conventional swords?
Natasel I suppose that's true. Even so, there's been at least a few pieces of media that did it pretty well. There's that one 100 Years War anime that came out recently, the Virgin Witch or whatever. Even Skallagrim praises that.
Natasel I suppose, but remember, I'm only talking about media in general. Animation still counts. Even so though, I think something of this sort could be at least attempted in live action.
Natasel Like I said, I see your point. But I'd really like to see somebody try at least. There's too few of those attempts that go without reaching into audacity.
@Beckettlol Thank you very much. We use sport fencing mask with our caps which were influenced by kendo men (see in the next video). I woul like to see long term comparison of these style too. I had some bouts with kendo guys, but it was not a serious comparison. We used shinais and as you see these techniques shown in video cannot be done with short shinais whitout crossguards.
@EvilxMerlin Main reason is that this video is dedicated to certein techniques which hit mostly the head. And the second is that main target in longwords fencing according german masters is head, breast, and neck.
Also remember, the longsword (being double edged) can cut from both sides which means it can cut twice where a single edge weapon cuts once. Ive also never seen half sword tecniques for the Katans.
Longtime with no new videos, i have been reading your articles and watching your fights in Swordfish etc and i really like your current aggressive style. And given the views on this and your other technique based video i think a new video would go long way to promoting HEMA world wide.
To be precise: The Zwerch is used with both edges, because it depends on which side you are going to attack. This can be seen well in the zwerch and gegenzwech part of the video. If you use a zwercha nd the other one blocks this with an alteraion of this zornhau to displace your blade, you throw a zwerch with th eother edge to his other, then unguarded side (and he perhaps gets his gegenzwerch in place fast enough).
Don't worry about the long response, I like long responses. Nice to hear that you train both, it must be difficult to switch between them as you said, but I think that you can learn a lot from it and be better at both.
i was just looking for some videos to use as reference for my animation project. This was just perfect, thanks guys, it's gonna help a lot. Also some amazing skills there, you must work a lot for this
+Semiotichazey It's authentic. It's based on medieval fighting manuals. These particular techniques are from the Lichtenauer tradition of German longsword.
@Thegus0 The most important thing is not if you can cut 50 cm into flesh or only 40cm but how versatile your weapon is. European martial art were completely forgotten and they are slowly reviving from the dust.
They are interpretations of techniques recorded in manuscripts. Masters in Germany (for example) often wrote or commissioned "fechtbucher" (Fight Books) detailing their combat systems. The video above details techniqes from German manuals from around the 1450's. For Italian techniques, you can start with Fiore dei Liber (1410) and branch out from there. Combat both armed and unarmed, armoured and unarmoured, on horseback and on foot was recored in various manuscripts.
Most of the manuals taught how to fight in duels, not on a battlefield, however the techniques could be translated into a battlefield format, depending on the combat situation. Also, these swords are quite real. All medieval manuals were focused on efficiently and decisively defeating your opponent.
Very nice zweihander type swords, and great technique and speed for so lightly protected duelers. I wonder how it would fare against claymore, or scotish highlander sword.
You are right on the spot, these are presentations of how it should work. But the fact that you ask the question tells me that this is a rather convincing presentations. =)
@BigDummy23 Yes, subtle. I try always minimize all movements. It would take much more time to do passing step backward and then forward. I was at Swordfish and I had 2 workshops there. Thanks. Regards, Anton
what a compliment! these are over 2kg, heavier than your average longsword. you just told these "kiddies" they make the swords they wield (and wield with skill I might add) look light. I agree, both these guys have strong arms. I personally use an Oakeshott XVIIIb 1400mm with 1.65kg and a pob of 8cm. And I love it! "Jung ritter lere Got lieb haben frauwen io ere"
I'm not very knowledgeable of such things, so I guess this can act as a bump to your question. Liechtenauer's techniques have a focus on the head and the neck, also it seems that there's alot of emphasis on getting strong attacks in. Whereas Fiore's techniques looks into how to quickly and effortlessly deliver counters and blows, effectively challenging and occupying their defence. Though I may be wrong and both systems teach it. I'm studying Fiore so I can't really say much since I'm rather new
@kobuksonhwacha : They did use the katana on the battlefield, but as a last defense side-arm. At least during one era they did. It's true that it's more suited as a dueling weapon then a battle weapon, as it requires lots of space to use (referring to longsword type weapons in general). THOUGH, a noble could carry one as a sidearm of sorts, and if the battle lines broke and it became a frenzy it would be far more effective than his bow or polearm in most cases. (depending where)
@jarlragnar Hi there, Absetzen is shown in Falkner's messer section. The hands are held lower than most people do it. I do as he shows it, by intercepting the strike with my flat in the first half of the blade and then winding into Ochs. It's way faster for closing the line and safer as your hands are out of the way of the incoming strike.
Always the same discussion about Katana and Longsword X-D. Guys, take fencing masks and spar with each other and you´ll know for yourself what advantages and disadvantages both weapons have. And to kohutovic: I´m pleased and impressed you show true martial arts. It looks skilled, fast, powerful and you both definatly know what you are doing. All the best wishes from Germany and my Sparring Group: You are welcome for a friendly bout. Ask Zukuru, for more information, we would be honored.
If you watched the whole video you would see exactly how light these blades are. And you will also see that these blades are well in the range of historical examples of longsword. If anything, the sword they use are on the heavy side.
@EvilxMerlin Of course. BTW, you can see some schnitts to forearms in this video. But krumphaw was not the topic for this video. Main topic was zwerchhau.
I think my favorite part of this demonstration is how it shows the element that makes most martial arts effective: a parry & attack is 1 move, not 2.
depends on whether you're using a system that emphasises single time or double time actions, and what you mean by effective. Single time fencing tends to be better offensively, double time is usually better defensively. Single time fencing also takes a lot more training and experience to use properly.
@@lancerd4934 I think what he meant was that a parry is linked to a riposte. A good example is from table tennis (I used to play it before I started HEMA). We were tought that the strike starts with the end of the last strike. So even getting your bat back was regarded as a strike.
So I guess you could say a parry is best tought with a riposte after it. So it is one fluid motion to get from parry to the riposte and not just a static block. The attack starts with a parry yone might say.
And I don't say there is no time for static blocks, but parry riposte is more effective.
@@nicopetri3533 if hema kids actually understood the old fencing masters, they would know that there are no blocks in actual fencing( not with weapons nor without weapons)... there is only the attack which has to be answerd indes with your own attack.
only thing that can save you in a defensive way is actual fencing footwork (not the forward-backward shit olympic fencers do)
have a good one :)
@@dennit1221 Well, completely defensive parries do exist, but they're a desperation move and actively discouraged
it's great to see people who are actually in decent physical shape to display the German tradition in free play like this, and with this much vigor. And to add to that,
I have not yet seen anyone spar under the Italian system using the same tenacity and passion as these two.
+Chrominance87 The Phoenix Society is based largely on Fiore and do very well in tournaments. Their founder placed 4th at Longpoint two years in a row.
That's cool, in the end it's all just longsword to me.Kunstdesfechtens
Chrominance87 Me too. I think "it's all just longsword to me" was the original lyric in the Billy Joel song "It's still rock n roll to me". Or it should have been. :)
Kunstdesfechtens Richard Marsden is a beast 😁
This is not free play
I always link this video when someone claims two handed swords are slow and bulky.
Same.
You mean like the commenter above complaining that this couldn't possible be realistic because the swords are too light to be "historical" lol
+lancer D I don't see that guy on top for my phone.
Exactly, some people think World of Warcraft is a historical source.
While we're on video games and fantasy I've realised that bows use agility and swords strength as their main state. The realistic way would be the opposite. Bows need strength and swords agility, primarily.
the one's these guys are using are nowhere near the weight and balance of a real medieval one.
Splendid demonstration, gentlemen! You're by far the best historically oriented swordsmen I'm aware of!
This should be an Olympic sport. Not like fencing, but more full contact; with grappling, takedowns, etc. With modern protection, but ancient fighting techniques.
HEMA for the Olympics? yeah I'm down
BigBoysClimbOnBigRing look up dog brothers, they don’t do HEMA, but as a practitioner of FMA, I find their videos very entertaining and realistic.
I'm all for that too. Sadly the sport is respectively still in its infancy as far as regulation and standard practice, but I am honored and hyped to be a part of something that is being rediscovered. I would love to see HEMA have both sporting pursuits(i.e. similar to Kendo, Olympic Fencing, etc.) as well as its current experimental archeology pursuit.
Medieval knights were big on capturing and ransoming their foes. Imagine if they counted kidnapping holds like the thumb-knife grab as victories
Why everybody is so obsessed with the Olympics? Look what they did to Judo: No thanks, keep HEMA what it is now, Olympics will ruin it.
From my limited experience, longsword feels surprisingly like one of those (so-called) "soft-hard" styles that you find in the kungfu styles (like white crane, hun gar, etc.)...
There are hard strikes for sure, but at least half of it is sensing through the bind. Maybe I'm not articulating the thought very clearly, but my point is that longswords are far more complete weapons than they're portrayed as, and longsword fencing is far more 'delicate' than it seems on the surface.
Urban Cohort some of those strikes from the bind come super fast it’s one of the cool things about the longsword is the torque you can create is incredible.
You're right and it stems from the dual use of the weapon as a shielding device too. Receive/ shield/ bind then unfold to the strike. 2 edges to strike with double the fun!
If your brain compute it naturally you should really start training HEMA. You'll love it👊
I've never seen stesso tempo executed so well with longsword techniques (I'm sure that isn't the proper term for Liechtenauer, but it's the one I know). You guys are on point. Literally! :-)
It's called indes for us.
Historical fencing is something beautiful. To see the reconstruction and/or interpretation of actual sword methods executed with such speed... they were impressive techniques! Popular media has never done something as amazing as this with swords!
That's probably, one of the best, or ever the best techniques video. Great job!
13 years on, still one of my favorite longsword videos...
STUNNING sword work!
I agree. Very few mistakes.
Bill the sword guy If any :o. They probably spent lots of time trying to do each swing correctly, until they had a very clean technique demonstration.
***** Likely correct, but regardless of this its a clear demonstration of them being bloody good.
Lars L Yep!
I recently started taking lessons in the medieval style of sword fighting with a longsword too and it is freaking awesome to learn and to do. Looking at this really makes me want to learn more, thank you for showing us this, it was amazing!
Holy shit, the speed these guys move at
Yep, their speed as same as Kendo masters (note, kendo use bamboo sword, not metal sword). Not slugging like Hollywood movies.
Yep. I do this martial art as well and we can move quite fast.
Well if you train your choreography long enough...^^ (At the end you also need some "reduced" swords/blades, to handle it like that)
@@MW-lw5mn what is a "reduced" sword ?
@@frenchgalloglass A longsword for training, with blades reduced in width and weight. At least that's how I heard it in German.
Absolutely amazing performance: clean fence tecnique and not only ''tutorial moves'' but realistic way of duelling.Two, three second and it's gone. Excellent skills, I really appreciate!
You can't put stuff like this in Movies, the fights would be over too fast. Heh
Keep in mind that a single wound of almost any kind was extremely rarely lethal by itself, so fights would naturally go on a bit longer than shown here.
EmperorLjas Well immediately lethal anyway.
I disagree. This stuff would be perfect for heroes mowing down mooks. With fights between Big Damn Heroes and the Big Bad they could find some creative way of drawing it out without reverting to stale stage-fight/wire-fu bullshit (realistically-portrayed effective armor being a simple and easy choice).
It could fit in fantasy films like the lord of the rings where everyone is just slaying hordes of enemies. Why not giving these "fights" a little more impressing techniques like this, rather than simply cutting down those obviously helpless orcs?
Alexander Bürger While some of these techs will work in the melee, the truth is in battle you cut it down to the barest tactics and use group work more.
Anton is the best sword fighter in the world. This guy needs to design lightsabre fights!!!!!!
0:34 a spark?
Yes, the clashing helped cause friction and made some sparks.
Hiraeth Ephemral Yeah I know how sparks are made just U don't see them very often... At least I dont but hey Im watching this on youtube
Really late, BUT it can also come from the oil used to lubricate and protect the blades
+ahhaboom
Yeah, but I've had my blades make sparks without oil.
ahhaboom You haven't even BEGUN to understand late...
Nice, I really like how you guys do the drills as though you were in the middle of sparring with the ready footwork and feints. Definitely adds a bit of realism to it!
Great job!
witcher music.
Very blown away by how efficient the sword work is, bravo!
Great demonstrations! And that Witcher music, too. Unf!
Wow, your group is an inspiration. In my humble opinion, yours is the best demonstration of longsword technique on youtube!
Skill level over 9000
I watch this video over and over again. Probably 50x now. Especially at 1:44.
Please holywood. Take note.
I'm looking at you games of thrones. I know you can do it!
Also this makes me realise how fucking brutal and terrifying an actual duel must have felt. These are not kids playing at fight. It's a man who will kill you as effectivelly as he can.
Also: 1:53. Who needs special fx.
Game of thrones yes it looks like kids fighting but ..... they have armor these methods are designed for people with out armor to cut them nothing like game of thrones in there they are armored so setting up a hit can take more time especially as some one keeps charging at you. Although in game of thrones half of what they say is bullshit about fighting. Anyway take it or leave it there's the truth ( I do sword fighting myself and teach it) :)
What I meant wasn't the techniques per say, as much as the actual brutality and speed of combat.
Agreed. That with some proper build up, blood and make-up would be pretty damn noticeable in a film. I'm surprised it's hardly been done, considering how much love samurai-flicks have gotten all over the world. Other then The Duellists (1977) I'm hard pressed to think of a good film featuring even remotely realistic European fencing. Though, I remember being thoroughly entertained by Bessons Joan of Arc (1999), realistic or not.
Bo Leth
How about Alatriste and Rob Roy? I haven't seen The Duellists but these two are mostly not bad in terms of realistic fights.
Patryk Pospiech You can do cartwheels and what not in full plate. It's lighter than a modern soldier's kit. It's tailored to each individual person. It's range of movement is greater than the human body itself.
Stop with the misconception that plate armour restricted movement, because it didn't. If you're a sword fighting trainer, you should know this.
Still one of my the most favourite fencing videos! I hope you will make some new like this...
I respect the German treatises now.
you didnt at some point ?
@@DwarfElvishDiplomacy
One reason I never did was due to the needless complexity in learning, and thus making it harder to master and keep up with.
From the Italian side, I was taught that crossing your arms invited wrestling/grappling and was very weak; I was told it was a very foolish thing to do; never cross your legs and rarely ever cross your arms. Angling down your blade from on high was flimsy and weak, and so crossing your arms while angling the blade down was, to me, 100% pointless and stupid.
The early demonstrations I got from a German teacher visiting us was slow and methodical, and as he the presenter shifted and changed to show us some basics, my instructor at the time gradually reflected defensively with Fiore's postas, making the German swordsman look awkward and hilariously complex. Further, our instructor shows us counters and pointed out in context the German manuscripts were of little use to us, and our visitor seemed a bit dumbfounded with no counter discussion.
His only response was that there "was still a lot to be learned".
I carried that first impression with me for many years. Eventually I loosened up and began looking into other martial arts around the world with less bias and came back to HEMA.
This video demonstrates the German approach better at full speed. Complex it may be, but its foundation handles exploitation of timing, distance, and facing much more efficiently and gracefully.
@@AR-GuidesAndMore Looking back I don't think he meant that kind of offense, only that he was a master of the Italian practices at the time and one of the only-known better men available with a study in the German manuscripts was not, IMO, a man with a sense for instruction and teaching. He might've also been trying to provoke some discussion about the differences on purpose, just to share that there were different approaches to martial arts, even HEMA so close together on the same continent, and the visitor was simply unprepared. It could've also been my POV observation was intaking things from a personal bias. Our instructor was a very soft-spoken gentleman.
This instance was, the time of this comment, about 20 years ago. So maybe over the course of time things had developed and knowledge/experience gained from interpreting the treatises? I am not sure. I just know I can pick out German influences with some users when I observe or engage sparring, with a bit of respect and fear, now, with relative frequency.
i respect the commitment to do the moves full speed and give eachother concussions
1:53 - have I seen sparks?
Definitely a good resource for actual fights with swords. Glad I found this.
At ~1:55, you can SEE the sparks flying off the swords when they clash. I always thought that that was fake and wouldnt happen in an actual sword clash. O.O
Makes sense because the sword's material and the speed that they are moving is enough to produce enough friction to make some sparks.
***** Does not require sharp tip for friction.
Sparks from swords happen all the time when you are striking with intent. It's pretty cool, as well as the sound. Sharps just notch up more but I think they would still spark from all the sliding. I believe it depends on the metal combo too when when you're high carbon against high carbon non-stainless steel, sparks do happen.
KyoBladezen if any of you have a spare old high carbon steel sword properly tempered and gardens that you don't really care about, take it outside and hit the concrete with a medium swooping strike so the tips flat glides along the ground, you will see tons of sparks, do it at night time I've got a few blades I don't care much about and I swipe them over the concrete sometimes, it gets addictive I think I have a problem, its just nice to see the sparks erupt from the slash arch at night.
I will never let you join the fire brigade! ;o) Seriously though, that is very interesting, thank you.
Coming from strictly a Japanese swordsmanship background, this is unlike anything I've ever seen. Finally! Actual swordsmanship and not two guys in their backyard wailing on each other. Most impressive.
Music at the end of the video, what's that? Exactly like Witcher's soundtrack, such a beautiful singing imo.
Venza it is the witcher soundtrack
Never knew longswords could move that fast. Very impressive. Now I want to start learning as well.
awesome sparring!! I would love to learn this fencing. I have done Kenjutsu and other arts related to weapons, but this have fascinated me. do you anyone in the U.S. that teach such fighting combat? thanks
Come to the Armoured Company of the Sword. Or a thousand others "nearly" as good.
There are hundreds of HEMA oriented sword classes in the US now. Even Anchorage has a bunch. Google your area and I'm sure you'll find some.
I hope that this style catches on enough to get schools in a wider scope, i'd love o learn this.
\[T]/ Praise the sun! \[T]/
This is very very good. Thank you very much for sharing , there is much to learn from this. I applaud you for testing your skill in this manner, and while this is not sparring (nor was intended to be, clearly) the level of skill displayed and the risks you guys are taking to test drive the techniques is inspiring. Much respect and thanks again.
My first reaction..
Fuck! That was awesome!
If only I have any place to train that in my city..
Try the HEMA club finder: www.hemaalliance.com/club-finders/
If you're out of luck, there is always the possibility to pick up a source material, a couple of synthetic weapons from quality manufacturers and train away with your buddies.
wow, never thought this fights were so insane fast and precise, great vid
Believe it or not most combat weapons are extremely lightweight. Video games have been lying to you.
It' nice to see some serious adepts of the mediaval swordsmanship, among all those on youtube just dancing ad jumping with sword (or even wooden sticks).
This is tecnique. This is the REAL mediaval swordsmanship study.
WIEDZIAŁEM że kiedyś wpadnę na muzykę z Wiedźmina :D cieszę się że utożsamia się ten tytuł z mistrzowskim fechtunkiem :) w skrócie - music from the Witcher yeyea..! How can I get a longsword like this?
Badass the two of you! 👍 The execution of technique and form is flawless! You guys look like professionals. 👑✨👌
And here i am , believing only katana user can be this fast, i am enlightened......
Katana is actually a bit awkward to use compared to a longsword.
@@AR-GuidesAndMoredepends, hard to be nimble with a katana because of the forward weight
Thanks for the reply! Against unarmored and/or insufficiently trained opponents, the speed and lethality of these moves look terrifying.
@kobuksonhwacha Hi, I have no problem with discussion where people listen each other and don't accept others opinion blindly. The world of martial arts with cold weapons (wester or eastern) is full of myths. It's time to put them away. It's 21th century.
I would like to see more relevat videos too. Easter and western. Not only theoretical demostrations, slowmotion interpretations or katas without partner.
Anton Kohutovič can you please give me references for the helmets worn in this vidéo?
Im looking for the same
Wow, amazing action! So fast, agile and precise. Love it!
holy shit, theyre so fast
@KillaRiku, it looks liek a demonstration of the techniques illustrated in fechtbuchs, if you watch closely they are demonstrating counter blows, and as it progresses it shows how to react to the counter before. The first is straightforward, the second adds an offside shot, the third blocks and counters the offside, etc. Excellent work indeed. A duel between these two would be something to see.
Apologize in advance for my use of profanity, however 3 questions if i may,
the first : who the fuck are you guys?
Second : where the fuck are you located ?
Lastly: why the fuck aren't you in every major city ?
Hi,
1: we are Fencing guild in Trnava
2: We live in Trnava, Slovakia, EU
3: There are others more or less similar fencers in most major cities.
***** hemaalliance.com/?page_id=686 the HEMA Alliance club finder is awesome. There are different types of Historical European Martial Arts schools around the world, with more starting up all the time with increasing interest in our arts. I hope you find one close by you, if you're interested :)
***** I agree, the only vital skills in todays society are learned by playing hockey.
+Frederick Hardy Being physically active is always handy. Obviously, learning a sellable skill (like plumbing or electrician) is well more handy than participating in a sport.
+Anton Kohutovič Could you tell me the brand on the swords? I'm looking to get into hema and am wondering what sword to get? Thanks
You deserve every view you have. Best Longsword demo on RUclips (still).
This is so FKN'G cool!!!
This is brilliant looking! You both are so quick and agile.
Who else here from Quora?
Me
Me
Me 3
Me
Me!
Very very good demonstration and video of langschwert fencing. The moves are accurate and well practiced, solid hits too. Nice choice of witcher music also! Hope we had schools like yours here....it's good at least some Europeans respect, remember and admire their ancestors heritage.Keep it that way!
bad ass!
Great work from you both. Thanks for sharing .
witchers? nice wich school? xD
nice btw awsome
Very nice video, Kohutovic. Inspirational. I make a point of forwarding your videos to my club's members so that we can be reminded of appropriate intensity. Keep up the good work!
When these Medieval European Martial Arts spread out to Asia? I so boring with Chinese-in-disgust Vietnamese "tradition" martial arts here :(.
There are a few clubs in Asia (though admittedly they're spread pretty far apart). www.communitywalk.com/map/index/915490
Thi Kieu Oanh Le
I don't need to go there in digital era, show me your video then.
And hope you don't show me Vietnamese swordfighting with Chinese sword.
+Thi Kieu Oanh Le ha ha, you fear to show your Chinese-copy sword dancing like crap to the world, right? That why Vietnamese martial arts just be known as Chinese martial arts's shadow. Now, prove it your Vietnamese sword fighting is superior than Medieval European Sword Arts with video or nothing. Anyway, which tyle of Vietnamese sword fighting you want to prove?
Like this one?
watch?v=f4jZdXzYNx0 ?
If not, then give anyone your video of sword fighting to prove that Vietnamese Sword Fighting is superior than the bullshit in this video.
Thi Kieu Oanh Le
ha ha, just a wall of text without any evidence by video of your superior Vietnamese sword fighting. Just bunch of theories of Chinese Martial Arts and Chinese weapons name lolz.
Vietnamese has proverbs "One hundreds of hear is nothing to compare to one time see it" . Right? You can talk billion times, but nothing for everyones to see, you're just failure, got it.
Want to prove that your Vietnamese with Chinese swords fighting is superior than this? Stop talking, give me your video of your martial arts, also name your school, or it will never happen and never prove it except from your big mouth, because with any mouth, every martial art of their will be the best martial art in the world and can beat other martial arts easily in one seconds lolz. Or, you just don't have any videos to prove it? Right, ha ha.
Thi Kieu Oanh Le
yeah yeah, still avoid to prove your evidence, because you have no evidence, just admit it.
Oh, when I look up to Vietnamese history, post Le Loi era, Vietnamese master archery and firearm, up to Tay Son Dynasty, they able to build 50~66 cannon ships and master of sails v.v.... But not used your Chinese sword to slash cavalry, because they use halberd to hook riders down instead slash the horses, halberds become famous in Vietnames history and even has a dance for it, called "Bat Dat dance".
And, still where your video of Vietnamese sword fighting arts? Still can't googling it to give it to here?
If you guys look closely between 0:33 and 0:35 seconds, they caused the swords to spark. That is training and sparring in such a way, it makes me love HEMA even more.
Goddamn hollywood has a lot to answer for. Crash crash bang bang hollywood sword fights suck.
The problem is that if you put something like this in a movie you can't see what's happening. It's simply too fast if you are not ver well trained in sword fighting yourself.
And after all, the point of a movie is to *see* something :P
Of course, lots of movies are really bad in this regard. But I think a lot of them actually make some good compromise. After all a movie is not reality. It's a distorted, interpreted projection of reality that should also be fun to watch (without slowmos, those are so ugly).
+TheMasturCheef But by putting in realism, they can impress us into enjoying it. Most directors, particularly of Medieval European stuff, barely even try :(.
I mean, Star Wars for one example is pretty fast. Martially practical, maybe, maybe not, but fast and enjoyable to watch. Can the same not be done with conventional swords?
Natasel I suppose that's true. Even so, there's been at least a few pieces of media that did it pretty well. There's that one 100 Years War anime that came out recently, the Virgin Witch or whatever. Even Skallagrim praises that.
Natasel I suppose, but remember, I'm only talking about media in general. Animation still counts.
Even so though, I think something of this sort could be at least attempted in live action.
Natasel Like I said, I see your point. But I'd really like to see somebody try at least. There's too few of those attempts that go without reaching into audacity.
Love your vids. You guys give great insight into how longsword play work
@Beckettlol Thank you very much. We use sport fencing mask with our caps which were influenced by kendo men (see in the next video). I woul like to see long term comparison of these style too. I had some bouts with kendo guys, but it was not a serious comparison. We used shinais and as you see these techniques shown in video cannot be done with short shinais whitout crossguards.
The best video demonstrating these techniques
@MartialSkeptic There were lighter and also heavier swords. But usual range is the same as we use. Some sharp swords are even lighter.
Just want to say you do a great work, dudes ! I really enjoy all of your videos.
@EvilxMerlin Main reason is that this video is dedicated to certein techniques which hit mostly the head. And the second is that main target in longwords fencing according german masters is head, breast, and neck.
Also remember, the longsword (being double edged) can cut from both sides which means it can cut twice where a single edge weapon cuts once. Ive also never seen half sword tecniques for the Katans.
This is done wonderfull, I really enjoy the speed and control of the weapons. Thanks für the nice demonstration.
Very nice, great speed and still impressive control of the blades. Looking forward to the next videos!
Longtime with no new videos, i have been reading your articles and watching your fights in Swordfish etc and i really like your current aggressive style. And given the views on this and your other technique based video i think a new video would go long way to promoting HEMA world wide.
To be precise:
The Zwerch is used with both edges, because it depends on which side you are going to attack.
This can be seen well in the zwerch and gegenzwech part of the video.
If you use a zwercha nd the other one blocks this with an alteraion of this zornhau to displace your blade, you throw a zwerch with th eother edge to his other, then unguarded side (and he perhaps gets his gegenzwerch in place fast enough).
I think this video is just the right one to show someone who is not familiar with HEMA how Longsword works.
Don't worry about the long response, I like long responses. Nice to hear that you train both, it must be difficult to switch between them as you said, but I think that you can learn a lot from it and be better at both.
Holy crap these guys are fast! Practitioner of HEMA myself and I find it amazing that they perform the techniques with such control and speed..
You guys have very intense drilling sessions. Awesome to view.
i was just looking for some videos to use as reference for my animation project. This was just perfect, thanks guys, it's gonna help a lot. Also some amazing skills there, you must work a lot for this
It takes a lot a practice and strength to use a Longsword properly
but once learned, It's extremely powerful
I can't comment on the authenticity, but that was some great energy and clearly visible technique. Bravo!
+Semiotichazey It's authentic. It's based on medieval fighting manuals. These particular techniques are from the Lichtenauer tradition of German longsword.
+Graidon Mabson more like interpretations
@Thegus0 The most important thing is not if you can cut 50 cm into flesh or only 40cm but how versatile your weapon is. European martial art were completely forgotten and they are slowly reviving from the dust.
Fantastic technique, footwork, intent! Superb!
@halfassedfart No. More info about producers of the swords can be found at our web site. Some are from Pavel Moc, some from Jan Chodkiewicz.
They are interpretations of techniques recorded in manuscripts. Masters in Germany (for example) often wrote or commissioned "fechtbucher" (Fight Books) detailing their combat systems. The video above details techniqes from German manuals from around the 1450's. For Italian techniques, you can start with Fiore dei Liber (1410) and branch out from there. Combat both armed and unarmed, armoured and unarmoured, on horseback and on foot was recored in various manuscripts.
Most of the manuals taught how to fight in duels, not on a battlefield, however the techniques could be translated into a battlefield format, depending on the combat situation. Also, these swords are quite real. All medieval manuals were focused on efficiently and decisively defeating your opponent.
Very nice zweihander type swords, and great technique and speed for so lightly protected duelers. I wonder how it would fare against claymore, or scotish highlander sword.
this a flawless technik. I will train and watch. Again and Again! thanks for making those vids!
You are right on the spot, these are presentations of how it should work. But the fact that you ask the question tells me that this is a rather convincing presentations. =)
@BigDummy23 Yes, subtle. I try always minimize all movements. It would take much more time to do passing step backward and then forward. I was at Swordfish and I had 2 workshops there. Thanks.
Regards,
Anton
what a compliment!
these are over 2kg, heavier than your average longsword.
you just told these "kiddies" they make the swords they wield (and wield with skill I might add) look light.
I agree, both these guys have strong arms. I personally use an Oakeshott XVIIIb 1400mm with 1.65kg and a pob of 8cm. And I love it!
"Jung ritter lere Got lieb haben frauwen io ere"
I'm not very knowledgeable of such things, so I guess this can act as a bump to your question. Liechtenauer's techniques have a focus on the head and the neck, also it seems that there's alot of emphasis on getting strong attacks in. Whereas Fiore's techniques looks into how to quickly and effortlessly deliver counters and blows, effectively challenging and occupying their defence. Though I may be wrong and both systems teach it. I'm studying Fiore so I can't really say much since I'm rather new
@kobuksonhwacha : They did use the katana on the battlefield, but as a last defense side-arm. At least during one era they did. It's true that it's more suited as a dueling weapon then a battle weapon, as it requires lots of space to use (referring to longsword type weapons in general). THOUGH, a noble could carry one as a sidearm of sorts, and if the battle lines broke and it became a frenzy it would be far more effective than his bow or polearm in most cases. (depending where)
@SethMan91 It's a 16th century sword made by another one Czech swordsmith. It has 1.9kg but it handles very nice.
@jarlragnar Hi there, Absetzen is shown in Falkner's messer section. The hands are held lower than most people do it. I do as he shows it, by intercepting the strike with my flat in the first half of the blade and then winding into Ochs. It's way faster for closing the line and safer as your hands are out of the way of the incoming strike.
Just a belated thank you for this video, very impressive to see these techniques.
Always the same discussion about Katana and Longsword X-D. Guys, take fencing masks and spar with each other and you´ll know for yourself what advantages and disadvantages both weapons have.
And to kohutovic:
I´m pleased and impressed you show true martial arts. It looks skilled, fast, powerful and you both definatly know what you are doing.
All the best wishes from Germany and my Sparring Group:
You are welcome for a friendly bout.
Ask Zukuru, for more information, we would be honored.
The techniques of the German mercenaries... such tenacity! I am excited to teach this to my students.
If you watched the whole video you would see exactly how light these blades are. And you will also see that these blades are well in the range of historical examples of longsword. If anything, the sword they use are on the heavy side.
@EvilxMerlin Of course. BTW, you can see some schnitts to forearms in this video. But krumphaw was not the topic for this video. Main topic was zwerchhau.