HemaGoth: Sitting on the Fence

Schema and things.

2012-01-26T10:57:00.000Z

There are theories of learning which revolve around the ideas of interference and integration. Basically, the more links you can make with existing knowledge, the stronger it stays. It gets more complex than that- each thing is a flavour of information and the idea is to find neat little ways to put the new stuff into the existing blocks.

For an example of why this is difficult. Distance- Most of the time, the best distance is wide measure. However, really close is also a good distance and you have to safely cross the bit between.

Or there's stepping in to parry. It's essential for some longsword stuff and can be useful when going for a single time defence with rapier. Our instincts tell us to dodge the blade- especially if you're used to staying in wide measure. So it's a matter of "framing the question". Switching the processes from "not getting hit" to "moving to a better position".

A lot of what I want to do doesn't involve getting people to unlearn things, I'd like them to adapt their flinch reflexes and build on what they already know.

First sparring of the year.

2012-01-18T12:00:00.001Z

The winter hibernation is nearly over and it's becoming easier to meet up for a quick session now that the days are getting longer. So, this week was my first sparring session since the parks started to close at 5.

Yes, I still haven't got a hall, mainly because I need to get a handle on the subject matter before doing all of that stuff and there's a point where it needs to come out of the books and the notes and be put into steel. Obviously, I will improve as I teach and as all sorts of questions get asked.

So anyway, this week's sparring was just single rapier. To get back into the swing of it all and because my partner left his dagger at home. I'm still quite static and very defensive (which is acceptable, but limiting). My partner needs to work on his blade domination and aim.

Since we're both inconvenienced by the current financial climate, we can meet up during daylight hours and I can work on drills and things to overcome the current problems as well as figure out some of the confusing bits within the text.

Hopefully I'll also get to go rapier and dagger against longsword- that's going to be quite intimidating, but fun.

Damn and blast

2012-01-11T20:48:00.000Z

I missed my deadline again. So a quicky to keep in the pattern.

This year is when I start really stepping up to the plate and put everything in to action. And I'm not afraid to say this is scary. The reason it's scary is not because of having to do things I don't like- for example, holding court and being the centre of attention- it's because this is important to me. This stuff is brilliant, I repeatedly say how great a hobby this is. I want to add to the collective knowledge rather than harm it.

Everything is pretty new, or at least entirely based upon my own understanding. Moving from explaining my understanding with a bunch of good fighters to becoming an "authority" to random interested people this is a big step, at least as far as I'm concerned. I've worked bloody hard to know this, but thanks to... stuff... I've not been able to test my ideas and face questions. The reasons I want to succeed go much further than the fact I don't want to get stabbed in the face. Hell, if I do this properly, I'll be training up people to be miles better than I am.

I know I need to be challenged to get these things down properly. I need to hear and try to answer the questions that probably haven't crossed my mind... or ones that I've forgotten.

The thing that I'm really aware of is that I've used a lot of people's understanding and hard work to get to where I am at the moment and if I can do this properly- it will make them look even better.

So, in a way, I owe it to them to kick arse. To every person who has run a lesson I have taken or have watched, everyone who has bent over some arcane book and tried to translate it. To the people who have scanned in and uploaded vast quantities of manuals.

And I'm fully aware that the only way to know that I'm doing this properly is by taking people to one side and painstakingly explaining exactly how to stab me in the face.

A late new years.

2012-01-04T23:09:00.000Z

I've realised that my drafts and prepared questions are too wibblywobbly for immediate posting and the buffer dried up just before Christmas. The only one that's coherent enough to share is the one showing my face.

Which I'm not going to share. This started out as an absolute pretence of anonymity. If you muck about with google and people and- well you will know who I am.

However, it does beg one question. How do I explain what I'm talking about without the use of photos?

Bugger

2011-12-21T09:09:00.000Z

Well, there goes my buffer of entries. Unfortunately I've been caught up in something and unable to write/study anything for the past couple of weeks.

Pretend this is something witty and insightful and I'll probably be back on schedule after the New Year.

Reflections on HEMA

2011-12-14T12:00:00.066Z

One of the things that I'm unhappy about is the lack of groups across the country.

Whenever I think about the Swetnam interpretation, I have a slight sinking feeling and confusion about being the best person in the country for this (or at least within the top 10). Not because I've got a lack of faith in my skills or anything like that. It's because I consider myself to be fair and competent... Average, if you wish.

As I've said before- and in fact this was the reason I started this blog- HEMA is fantastic. More people should be doing it. It has a lot of different avenues of enjoyment: fighting, interpretation, history, even something for those people who like shouting at movies. It's a hard interest to pin down because of the wide range of appeal. The fact that a sodding huge bit of pointy metal counters a lot of the traditional disadvantages women face in combative things also widens the appeal.

Maybe it's something to do with the broken tradition and the work that is needed to get a newly discovered book into a teachable form, or doing the same for a curio. But I like that ability to connect with the history.

When I'm swearing at Swetnam and smacking my head against the desk, I'm swearing at him. Several hundred years later and I'm looking at his words and saying "what the hell do you mean by that...?" (or variants of). There is a direct and clear link between me and the originator of the style. Surprisingly, that means a lot to me.

HEMA is great, more people should be doing it.

Advice on Christmas Shopping.

2011-12-07T12:00:00.027Z

Not much to say this week, unfortunately I've been involved in some quite tedious jiggery pokery.

This is the time when you are likely to be grumpy and fed up with wading through the infinite sea of morons and slack jawed tourists. So, if you find yourself getting stressed and annoyed. Take this advice:

People don't think about London too much, so walk parallel to Oxford Street and only go on to that road when you near the shop you have to visit. Limiting your time on that area is vital to maintaining sanity. If you have to go down Regent's Street then use the back streets between Bond Street and Oxford Circus, leaving the Soho side until you're feeling a lucky.

If you find things getting to you and you're near Selfridges, wander up to the Wallace Collection and bask in the vast array of pointy, stabby, smashy goodness they have there, make yourself an imaginary Christmas list (a challenge for most of you: do not just say "All of them") and then think about how it would ease your tube journey home.

If you're at the other end, you could always relax in the British Museum. It's not quite as satisfying, but it's a good place to regain a little calm.

NEVER and I mean this NEVER visit James Smiths and Son's first. It's a lovely cane shop near Tottenham Court Road, they used to sell sword canes (as shown by their stained glass windows) and they have a passing familiarity with Cunningham, Vichy and Bartitsu. They will be able to supply you with canes that are beautiful, effective and a joy to play with. You do not want to be holding one of these as you walk through the crowds, it could end badly.

From before the invention of editors.

2011-11-30T12:00:00.000Z

Swetnam needs an editor- someone to highlight inconsistencies and then send the manuscript back to him to explain things. Also maybe a few footnotes, possibly forcing him to write a brief précis of the idea when he first introduces it. Nothing big (Rule of the backesword could just have carrying the blow over your left shoulder or something that could give a clue to a reader... Just in case he didn't write a second book)

One of my complaints about Swetnam is that he is all over the place. There is actually quite a lot of information, but you have to keep on reading to make sure you've not missed any important pieces. He also presents some things as being guard specific when they're not. A clearer transition from True Guard to a bit of a discussion on principles would have been nice. I can't quite remember where it is, but I think it's a line hidden in a paragraph that just says "True Guard is not a perfect ward, but it is a good way for the novice to learn these principles of defence" and then he goes on to explain things which are universal.

Reading around the book (instead of jumping to the description of the guards and plays from those guards) Swetnam shows himself to be a principles based fighter. Something I can assume comes from being in London. I know that can sound arrogant, but at the time London was thriving, it was full of immigrants and foreign traders. This variation of cultures still remains and it is something I love about the city. Some vagueness is needed because everyone was there, claiming that their methods were the best- you would have absolutely no idea what style you would face. In a less diverse culture you could probably take a good guess.

This principles based approach falls apart a little with the layout of the book. Arguably the rapier and dagger section should proceed the sword and dagger section- since they're both the same kinds of weapons (more or less. One is a thrust and cut weapon, the other a cut and thrust weapon) and there is a lot of cross-pollination. The layout he's chosen is to put single rapier and quarterstaff in between the two chapters. I can see why he's done that, a kind of "these are your basic weapons, learn them and I'll build from there" but all the cross referencing and "I'll explain later" bits means that you're constantly flicking between pages and he forgets to put things down.

Index cards have helped a little, being able to juggle the ideas like that means that I've seen patterns forming. So it looks like I may have to recompile the PDF and put it into sections based on his classifications (basic principles, sword and dagger, big stick, single sword) and see if that gives me a more complete foundation for instruction.

The Rule of the Backe Sword.

2011-11-23T12:00:00.000Z

It looks like Swetnam was already planning a sequel while writing his book... Who knows, it might be hidden in a drawer somewhere, waiting to be found. I hope so because I'm a little vexed.

The bugger keeps on mentioning "by the rule of the backe sword (which I shall cover later)" and either I'm skipping over it when he goes off on one. Or he left it out and has put it in his second book, along with a bunch of guards. The rule of the Backe Sword is supposed to be effective against left handers and it turns up once in a while. (sorry, my notes are all over the place at the moment otherwise I'd be a bit more specific).

Brief digression- At some point, I will be working on collecting techniques against left handers. It makes sense considering how many of the sinister gits have infiltrated HEMA, and it's a different set of thoughts to use and your lines are completely different. Actually, now I think about it. Inigo Montoya was not being generous when fighting with his left hand. All the books say that a left handed man has the advantage because he meets many right handed men, whereas a right handed man is unlikely to meet or train against a left handed man.

Anyway. I suspect (with no ready references or practice to back me up) that this rule of the backe sword/backe sword fashion is some kind of hanging guard. I doubt it's Silver's hanging guard- point retracted with a stabby weapon is silly. False-edge work is a possibility, but I think a remote one.

Although... I've just walked through the Silver True Guard with the rapier and... it could work if you step in and thrust at the half-sword (he likes that in another situation). I'm not convinced, but it's best to put the idea down. Just in case that's right.

Subsidary training.

2011-11-16T12:00:00.000Z

I have a problem. I find running tedious and I don't actually have much of an exercise regime. I walk a lot and that's about it.

This is not good, especially if I'm going to be presenting myself as an example and leading a club. So I will need something to improve certain core skills and maybe provide me with things I can do in warm up/give advice as subsidiary health/flexibility work.

The most obvious one is yoga/pilates. Stuff like that helps with core strength, balance, flexibility and so on. But it's not particularly dynamic. Besides, I'd look bloody silly in a leotard.

But the one that I'm entertaining a bit more seriously is Parkour. You see, it works on things like balance and the flow of movement, improves agility, distance estimation and awareness of surroundings. I assume it also covers things like breakfalls and quick recovery (something terribly useful if I want to dedicate some time to the ninjitsu and wrestling aspects of Bartitsu).

I'll probably lay off the flips and the more preposterous acrobatics. I don't really want to become a parody swashbuckler.

However, the more I think about it, the more Parkour becomes an interesting bedfellow for HEMA.

Fighting is for girls. Part II.

2011-11-12T12:00:00.001Z

There's a particularly offensive feminist statement: "Women have to be twice as good to be considered equal". I hate this because it tells me that I cannot recognise skill, dedication and ability just because of the shape of their naughty bits.

Kristine Konsmo is not twice as good, she is better than that. I may be wrong, but it looks like she's using I.33, the oldest known European manuscript on fencing and one which has a fighting woman in the illustrations.

http://youtu.be/k7bh9RHfOnI

I could go on about gender stereotyping and use words like grace, agility and so on. But...

I want to fight like a girl.

2011-11-11T11:00:00.001Z

The Enormity of it all.

2011-11-10T12:00:00.000Z

I chose Swetnam because of a few reasons. The fact that it's in English is one of them- I can't speak or read any other languages, so having something in a dialect that I grew up reading (Family and local history... I'm a goth, not a vampire) means I can work on it without breaking my head.

Translations are difficult. The skills required are a peculiar mix of pedantry and bloody mindedness and the words you choose will be dependent on if you want a literal translation or a working interpretation. Some bits may be in slang, which means you're pretty much stuffed when looking at translations unless that slang becomes an enduring part of the common language. So, fortunately, Swetnam is "just" a matter of interpretation.

Don't get me wrong, interpretation is still a pain in the arse and you're shouting at the author for his poor choice of words or vagueness. Wondering what the hell he meant by a phrase.. but it's not wondering if you're trying to understand the technical connotations of a totally different word. The differences can be very subtle at translation level, but the errors can become compounded- especially when some bits can only really be proven by putting it into movement, so when you're struggling with a point, you'd have to go back to the original text, check the exact wording and see what other meanings it could have.

Now, apart from the ease of understanding, I chose Swetnam for his local history and the fact that nobody really looks at his work... This actually puts quite a lot of responsibility upon my shoulders. Even with my current knowledge, it's likely that I'm the expert on Swetnam in a HEMA context and one of the first practitioners in London since he wrote the book.

The long term idea to look at the 3 17th century London renaissance books has the potential to make this even bigger- putting me on a strong footing for being one of the best in the world for a very specific aspect of historical martial arts. I'm going to be open about this and say that it worries me.

I don't feel as if I know enough to legitimately say that I'm amongst the best, especially when there's a REALLY big drop off between me and the likes of Dave Rawlings. But I can't actually find anyone between me and that level of knowledge.

In all, I really love the hobby and respect the effort that goes into bringing these dead arts back to life. Which means I've got a duty to be bloody good with what I'm working on. Especially because I'm doing this on the same streets that Swetnam once walked.

Look the goodyear blimp.

2011-11-03T11:52:00.000Z

I remember a tale as I heard out of Germany. Thus it was, the master and usher of a school had upon occasion oppointed the field, and their weapon was each of them a two handed sword, and meeting at the place appointed, said the master that you are not so good as your word. The usher asked him why; marry said he, thou promised to bring no body with thee. And yet look behind you...."

And then the Master smote off his head.

This is one of Swetnam's lessons. Now it is different for us because doing something like this is dangerous, so has no place in sparring or competition. It just opens the door to some serious harm- especially if the back of their mask is not closed.

But it does apply in some ways. You can use body language to suggest you're unready. The Lazy guard with added slouching is a good way to feign that kind of idea, allowing you to break their attack with a bit of surprise. The golden rule is, if you're in wide measure (or thereabouts) then frame a guard, if your opponent appears unprepared, he's probably lying. And don't let yourself get distracted.

I mentioned something like this quite a while ago- when we were first practising in the park. It is very easy to be distracted by pretty, scantily clad women, and that is a guaranteed hit for your opponent.

Sword fighting is for girls.

2011-11-02T12:00:00.000Z

I'm sure I have talked about this before, but I can't be bothered to go back and check...

Women make good fighters. The differences in height and strength are overcome by technique and traditionally female characteristics like grace and agility. 3 feet of sharpened metal is a great equaliser. And, like it or not, women tend to have an ability for cold-blooded calculated violence. (Rather than the hot blooded moronic type that is characteristically male)?

There is some social conditioning to overcome. Girls aren't supposed to enjoy rough housing and good girls don't hit people... which is, generally, utter bollocks. And although I'm not a poster child for the health and fitness benefits of rapier, I can say that it is a great way to tone up. (I am actually thinking about doing some yoga so I'm flexible enough.. lead by masochistic and slightly absurd example)

Besides. What better way is there to prevent trivial household arguments from escalating than kitting up and duelling to see who gets their way? The physical effects of stress are dissipated through the fight, there is a winner (hopefully unarguable, since you want a fair fight)

So, in short. Women shouldn't dismiss HEMA as a boys activity- besides, learning Swetnam would make the misogynist turn in his grave.

Crosse Guard with the rapier and dagger.

2011-10-26T12:00:00.000+01:00

Carry the point of your dagger upright and the hilt so low as your girdle-stead, without putting your thumb against the blade of your dagger, but gripping him fast in your hand, and the point of your rapier under the Dagger hand according to the picture (which, conveniently is not there)

This has required some guesswork- mainly because of the lack of the picture. It's a fairly straight forward stance. The big question is where the point of your sword goes. Obviously it's under your dagger, but do you carry the point near the ground or close to your fist?

Personally, after practice and some of the bits that he says later, I think the point should be carried close to the ground- in a position similar to one of the iron guards. You still have a lot covered by the sword but it looks a bit more open because of the increased space. It also stops you from getting tangled up with yourself.

This guard will make your chest appear open and it helps limit the effectiveness of the opponents dagger.

There is one particularly beautiful move from this position and it comes when you receive a thrust to the chest. It is a simple passing step where you turn the point of your sword up to offend. Providing you keep your dagger arm locked (relative to your body) as you step, you move to behind your dagger and your opponent runs onto your sword.

This looks quite Hollywood and foppish when done- which is a bonus- it feels really satisfying when it works. The hardest thing about the whole manoeuvre is stepping forwards when a sword is coming at you.

The Greatest Weapon of them all.

2011-10-18T13:35:00.000+01:00

What is it? The bill, the longsword, the rapier.. Well, according to Swetnam it is a fair tongue. For a fair tongue, used with skill will prevent swords from being drawn. Solve fights before they occur and so on.

Which is true. Not getting into a fight is the best method of self defence around. Especially since training is usually done with gentlefolk- the kind of people who won't rip your testicles off, bite your ear and gouge at your eyes. In general, we don't fight too seriously (as I've mentioned when talking about intention).

However, one of the reasons I thought Swetnam would be interesting to study is due to the lewd arraignment of women. Not because I stand by his beliefs- but due to the fact that London women probably haven't changed that much over the past 400 years and anyone who can publish that kind of thing would have learned a lot about how to defend himself.

So there we go- a chapter on being polite and civil to avoid fights and yet he publishes something that is so sexist that it results in satirical plays decrying him as a misogynist.

Rapier 2011

2011-10-12T12:00:00.009+01:00

I had the good fortune to be able to attend the rather excellent Rapier 2011 event held by the School of the Sword and I'd like to see more events like that. Don't get me wrong- Fightcamp is an excellent event for deciding what you want to look at properly and generally having fun with new concepts, it also runs the risk of decision lock. Where you have so many options you can't choose what to do.

In contrast, Rapier 2011 was a single weapon event with one workshop on at a time. One of the first things that I've learned over that weekend is that I should really do some yoga/core strength and flexibility work. Rapier is a very demanding weapon and being able to hold a 3-4 pound weight at arms length for the entire fight is only the start of it.

I have said before that sword fighting is very simple. Which it is- there are easily grasped rules and body mechanics to it. The beauty is that these simple things build together to create a complex whole. How you apply these rules is largely a matter of preference and then building them into a bigger picture comes with skill and experience.

You could see this in some competition fights. A nice bout of mental chess happening then despite nobody actually attacking, one person loses, retreats out of distance and tries a different approach. It also appeared in the lessons- despite some movements being unusual, people easily grasped the concepts and could see how it works. Nothing was counter intuitive. Although, I am still having difficulty stepping inwards when someone is trying to stab me in the face.

Anyway, comments about the workshops:

There were two recycled from Fightcamp. The School of the Sword's slow-motion flow drill and Dave Rawlings' introduction to Thibault. I have no problem with this, especially because the slow motion flow drill is a brilliant training technique.

The Thibault stuff. Personally I'd have liked a broader sweep of the subject so I could put things into context and see how it all fits in. However, it's clear that Mr Rawlings knows his stuff and is a perfectionist. I suspect he's got this flowchart/decision tree tattooed on the back of his eyelids and he was reading the first few branches.

A nice touch was changing hands all the time. The other arm tends to get neglected and doing 2 hours of holding your sword at shoulder height is knackering. It was an intensely technical lesson and quite mentally tiring. Maybe concentrating on the principle of blade feel would have made it clearer. I'm not entirely sure exactly what I've taken away from that lesson, but I think I got a lot.

Dutch rapier. Now, this was interesting. I've had a question about something Swetnam mentions. I can't be bothered to find the exact text but it is along the lines of turning your knuckles up and stepping in. It appears there's a Dutch analogue and all is now clear. And it also seems to work as a point down/point up parry with rapier and dagger.

Voids, contratempo and work against the blade. I found myself getting quite frustrated during this. Not because it was difficult or boring but because it moved at a very fast pace, so I managed to get it right once or twice but not enough to seal it in my mind. For me the lesson went "Ow. Bollocks, that wasn't right. Ah, I know what I did wrong. Ah-ha!. Yes, I think I have it. What do you mean stop? I've only just got up to speed". It has shown me something about organising lessons which is plan too much, know you're planning too much and then let the students set the pace. If they need more time on it, give them more time. If they get bored, up the conflict. Techniques I've taken away are few- I've improved the void of the head (although, I doubt I'll use it in sparring) and stepping in and striking from off line.

French rapier. The thing that stood out from this was a very neat way to deal with having your sword grabbed. I'm not going to say much about it apart from it's a bit devious. Lots of good things about fight psychology- things that don't appear in sparring, like if you thoroughly stab someone they are "not dead yet" and so have nothing left to lose and can turn into a very dangerous opponent until they finally drop.

The competition: There should be some video of this from the School of the Sword. It's quite hard to comment on that because of the amount of fighting and the tendency for it to blur together after the first hour. Especially when you're wondering about getting back to the hotel and changed for dinner.

There was also a little presentation from an assistant curator of the Wallace Collection. They're doing a very interesting event next spring/summer involving what we do. The Wallace is a hidden treasure of London and I'd recommend going anyway but the addition of the original manuscripts and an exhibition on the evolution of sword arts- it's now a must see rather than a mere "you'll enjoy this".

Thie was written in advance, but for some reason, the scheduling had messed up (probably due to me)

Scheduling

2011-10-05T12:00:00.016+01:00

In an effort to keep this alive, I wrote a bunch of posts and set up a thrice-weekly schedule. It's now occurred to me (after having a busy and brainfilled weekend of stabbing and then subsequent life stuff) that I'm going to burn out at that pace. However, if I don't hold myself to some kind of update routine- this will fade away yet again.

I like sharing the good things about this hobby and that includes the frustrations of interpretation and.. I've put a fair amount of work into trying to understand the noble art of stabbing people in the face. It's nice to feel as if some of my knowledge is being used by other people. Also, now I'm looking at teaching, putting my notes and ideas up means that I'll get people challenging them and helping me improve.

I think once a week should be sustainable. Especially after I've I taken the final step- get a room to teach in and start my arm of the club.

The myth of Full Intent

2011-10-03T07:48:00.000+01:00

Right, I see a lot of complaints about not fighting with full intent and suchlike. Now, let's be honest- nobody fights with full intent. And as the rattling of sabres and general harrumphing starts up, I shall go further and say you should never trust someone who- in this day and age- fights with full intent, for they are a callous fuckwit.

How dare I say this? Well.. We're good people. We don't fight to kill, or even injure our opponents. We have padding and safety measures to enable us to fight with more intent than we could otherwise and we aim for blows that would be fatal in a real fight. But. You would feel awful if you severely injured your opponent. Sometimes your actions are directed by where you know the padding is soundest, sometimes you avoid shots where you know your opponent is unprotected- you do not go for a groin shot he isn't wearing a box. There's a range of disarms that I will not attempt with the rapier unless I know my opponent is holding their blade in a certain way. Not because it's ineffective, but because I don't want to break their fingers.

In reality, the ideal would be to kill or seriously wound your opponent by any means necessary. I don't know about you- but the idea of doing that to someone fills me with horror.

We will (hopefully) never be called upon to use a sword in a duelling context and that fight- where your life is literally in the balance and it is kill or be killed- is going to be different to even the most intense competition fights. I will admit that I don't fight with intent, I commit to the attack and do what I can, following martial principles and suchlike. But at the back of my mind is the fact that I could seriously injure my opponent and I am wary of it. I'm not big on winning or losing, in fact I consider a poor fight as a loss regardless of who got the most hits in.

Obviously, "fair" intent is a moveable feast. My competition head is very different from my freeplay head, which is different from my "let's see if I can do this under fight conditions" head. For me, I think that my intent is related to how pressured I feel- and I suspect that's the same for most people. There are a lot of compromises necessary to keep things safe and as realistic as possible.

Swetnam says something along these lines- Be cautious of calling yourself great simply because you can beat your friends at play, for they are all gentlemen and do not wish to kill you. It may give you an idea of how good you are, but you will never know your real capabilities until you are forced into a live fight.

Although this is a martial art and it is taken seriously by practitioners, there are concepts of "acceptable injury" at play all the time. It's why we wear padding and use foiled swords. We do not want to wound our opponents, let alone hit them with a devastating blow.

With HEMA, there tends to be only two types of people you fight- people you think you want to have a beer with afterwards and people you know you want to have a beer with afterwards.

Use of the dagger.

2011-09-30T12:00:00.001+01:00

I guess this is the strangest part of rapier and dagger- the fact that your off hand can be used to defend and attack. Once you start with it, you realise how bloody obvious it is to have that option.

It brings another dimension to the fight because you have two ways to close the line and allows a lot more defence in general. Anyway...

From True Guard there's two (main) ways to defend with the dagger, turning point up and scooping the blade towards your sword arm or turning point down and pushing towards your dagger side. This should be timed with an attack wherever possible. Getting the combination of defence and attack down into one fluid movement is a bit tricky.

There is also a question about the best way to progress with fighting- Saviolo says rapier first, Swetnam says dagger and rapier first. Fun says bring the dagger in as soon as is sensible.

I started with single rapier (well, I started with botch-job shinai- utterly crap for thrusting and equally bad for blade feel- and didn't get my hands on steel until my first Fightcamp competition. But that's another story). And until I find a cheaper, more sensible way to bring in the dagger- financial matters means that I will have to teach in that order. Newspaper daggers are ok for a little while, but they don't exactly ooze professionalism.

As a teacher I want to bring the dagger in quickly, it highlights the differences between what we do and sport fencing. Putting a dagger in the hand gives another reason for not throwing your arm back as you lunge.

Bringing in the dagger is a discipline in itself and it really helps dispel the girly-car-aerial prejudice that can exist with the more... robust longswordsmen. Breaking it down so it's not too intimidating for the newbie is fairly easy- there is always an ohshitohshitohshitohshit reaction. (If the dagger is in the right place at the beginning and your sword fails to block- wave dagger about while saying ohshitohshit, and you're likely to keep safe)

Changing the beat of "blimey, that worked" into "why am I not dead" into "man, that was cool" to "Oh crap, he's going to hit me again" to that mutual pause and grin before grappling starts and then to beat all of those/go through all of them in the blink of an eye and just see the new opening... that's the challenge.

The dagger is an absolute game changer. If you're looking at longsword against rapier and dagger- The strengths of the longsword are compromised. The speed you can change lines is met with a waiting dagger. A rapier's range is greater, but if your opponent gets close that dagger is coming in.

I'm not confident about being on the receiving end of steel longswords and the nylons (rightfully) don't hold up well against steel. And the whole protection aspect of it all requires different tools. Which is a shame, because I think it would be good playing against the longsword. Especially with the dagger- something that really helps protect one of my weak spots (especially when compared to longsworders who love it). I'm fairly rubbish at grappling, I tend to concentrate on distance control and don't let people get near enough to try it. This is difficult to do with single rapier. Once they're past the point, there's not much you can do apart from run backwards. Bringing the dagger in means that, while they're concentrating on controlling your sword, your dagger hand can do sewing machine impressions.

As I've said before, weapon choices are no longer about what is "better". We're reconstructing an art and the chances of us using swords in anger is remarkably tiny. We can bring some of the skills into a self defence scenario, but the most likely "weapon" is going to be a cane or stick of some sorts.

So on the important aspects of fun, enjoyment and tactics- the dagger brings a lot to the fight. If you enjoy single rapier, I'd highly recommend playing with dagger as well. If you think single rapier is missing something, I'd also recommend playing with the dagger.

Thoughts made solid.

2011-09-28T12:00:00.001+01:00

There is a curious phenomenon with an interest that is so physically and mentally intensive as HEMA, and that is the loss of words.

Sometimes I see sword fighting as a language. The idea is to become fluent enough so that you don't stumble and pause before answering your opponent.
You have ideas like exchange, expression, riposte, answer and so-on all floating around the fight and essentially it's a very physical and pointy dialogue. Because of this, you get to learn a lot about someone with the way they hold themselves under pressure, how easy they are to provoke and.. well. It's a difficult thing to explain to non-fighters.

However, after immersion in that kind of environment, it becomes very easy to lose your native tongue for a while. Your thoughts and methods of expression are very physical.. and even with my mastery of English, I'm struggling to find the right words for the process of changing headspace or even what the fighting headspace actually is. It is not to be confused with competition headspace (which is what happens when you have something to lose).

So, as I wind down from a really interesting and useful event. I find myself thinking in postures, positioning and gestures rather than words. I suspect this is a good thing, since it means that I'm internalising what I have been working on.

But it is strange feeling your body want to move in a way that would literally put your point across.

Tells and telegraphing are bad.

2011-09-26T12:00:00.002+01:00

Shortly after he describes True Guard, Swetnam goes on about hawks for a bit. This is a long winded and rather pretty digression but it eventually comes to a point. The hawk may be fast, but you get precious seconds to prepare when you see their muscles bunch just before they launch into the air.

Recognising tells and reading your opponent is very important- so is eliminating your own tells. Anything you can do to reduce the window where your opponent can legitimately defend himself is a good thing. Preventing telegraphing is also useful in tricking your opponent into believing that a feint is real.

Blade contact allows you to read intent by feel, this works both ways and your opponent can do the same. If your blades are touching- assume that you're shouting out exactly what you're going to do. You may think this is all bollocks, but contact mind reading has been used as entertainment for at least a century and Derren Brown can find an object hidden in Venice using this skill. You will be able to tell that your opponent is about to disengage, become more sensitive and you'll know a lot more.

However, the majority of the reaction time is controlled by keeping distance and framing a good guard- making sure they have to move more to hit you that you need to move to defend yourself and keeping lines closed.

Everyone regardless of school, weapon or suchlike seems to agree that timing and distance are essential. There's a lot of words spouted about what "good time" is, but distance appears to be universal- The longest reach of the two people, plus one inch. (of course, then you've got to close under guard and stuff when you're short or strike as they recover). Recognising tells helps you maintain this distance, your opponent's posture changes when he thinks you're in their range and you can react accordingly.

True Guard with Rapier and Dagger

2011-09-23T12:00:00.000+01:00

Ok. I guess I'll start in the same way as Swetnam, by describing his true guard. This is basically so you can follow what I'm saying. In the book, he describes this as a guard and then most of his principles and explanations appear attached to it. After reading, smacking my head against the table, ordering more beer, smacking my head against the table and so-on. I decided to separate True Guard from the principles and treat it in the way he's treated the other guards. So:

True Guard with the Rapier and Dagger:

How to hold this guard:

Rapier low- in line with trouser pocket. Hilt of dagger in line with with left cheek, point sloping parallel to the right shoulder. Both arms straight. Tips of blades to be close together. If the gap between the blades is too much- move the rapier hand backwards until the points are near.

Why this guard:

Protects against wrist blows, stops rapier from being tied up by dagger.
It's “True” because it's for beginners rather than being perfect. It allows the beginner to play and discover principles without getting too hurt.

There is a question about the angle of the dagger- he says to have it sloping towards your right shoulder, but in practice that makes the knuckles on the dagger hand far too vulnerable and requires you to keep the rapier back quite a lot to maintain a small distance between points. Pointing the dagger forwards a little means that your knuckles gain a lot more protection and you can extend the rapier hand forward into something closer to what we recognise as third. This question cannot be a matter of closed/open hilt on the dagger as he explicitly talks about this difference elsewhere.

I can see what he means about this being a great beginner's guard. Flinch reactions from this position are effective- you can deflect the attack over your sword shoulder (if you remember to drop the tip of your rapier and thrust) or you can pass to your dagger side. You can have quite a healthy exchange without being hit, even if you start to panic a little.

Also, the position of the dagger means that you're not as vulnerable if you choose to attack a leg. The traditional "pull back your leg and wallop him on the head" doesn't work as well when the dagger is covering that line. It's still not a great idea to go for that as a target, but it's no longer really, really stupid.

Assumptions.

2011-09-21T12:00:00.009+01:00

I guess this is the place to start- and it's one of the hardest since I'm trying to list the things that I take for granted. I think I'll try to stick to the ones which don't quite come into "being a good fighter. That will be a different topic"

"All cuts are fatal". This isn't meant as in "that nick in your arm will kill you". However the gash will slow you down and make it much easier for a nastier blow to land. Being stabbed/cut hurts and pain is distracting. Therefore- don't get hit.

"If you survive, you don't want to be hanged". I think this is a peculiarly Swetnam trait. Somewhere around then, duelling had been outlawed in the city and this brings a more cautious attitude to the fight. If you did some of the capoferro techniques involving aiming at the right eye- you could be hauled up in front of the beak on a murder charge. So the legality of duelling has shaped the fight.

"Any hole's a goal" there's no point being picky about your target. If you can give a light cut and remain under cover it's as good as stabbing him through the heart. If a leg is exposed then go for it. Predicting exactly where and how you will hit an opponent is pretentious, egotistical tomfoolery and a bit silly, especially when "passing". If you can make a hole without getting hit- do it.

"Englishmen have a tendency to cut" this is another Swetnam specific, and from my experience this is pretty true. It's only fairly recently that longsword simulators have been safe on the thrust (well, not including feders) and so you'll notice a tendency to cut with most weapons. From behind a rapier, a cut still feels nice and I know I still go for them despite the fact that it would be wiser to thrust. This is also probably something to do with distance control and suchlike. But basically although rapier is primarily a thrusting weapon, it still cuts and people tend to use the cut first.

"Feints must be treated as if they were real" You must, at least cover a feint and a feint should be able to be moved into an attack on that line as well as the line you're trying to open up.

"Don't trust the other person to believe these assumptions" Just because you don't want to be up for murder, it doesn't mean your opponent is thinking that far into the future.

"All swords are sharp pointy things designed to cut and to thrust. Some types are better at one than the other, but they still work both ways." The differences between one handed, complex hilt swords are fairly moot. What works well for a rapier will work, just not quite as well, with a backsword and so on. Throwing these techniques away simply because you're not using the perfect sword for them is a stupid idea. You never know what may come in handy.

These assumptions will shape my interpretation in some ways- for example the shoulder becomes a "vital organ" and a thrust there is, in ways, preferable to a stab in the face, lungs or heart.

I may cover the assumptions that make a good fighter, regardless of weapon and school of thought later. It would certainly be helpful for putting lessons into blocks.

All this umming and ahhing and false starts:

2011-09-19T12:47:00.000+01:00

Well. I have been busy, but invisible. As I've mentioned I'm looking at Swetnam, but it's slightly more widespread and wibbly than that. The joys of the written word from an era before editors and spell check mean that my brain has threatened to seep from my ears at some point. It's also required me to have a look at the context of the whole thing. (And lots of going back and forth between chapters in Swetnam as well)

I can now run a competent lesson or three on Swetnam's rapier and dagger. But that's not good enough for me. You see, I like teaching. I like seeing people build on what I have done and create something much greater. I don't really care if I'm a good fighter or not- but I do care if I'm a bad teacher.

What was going to be a simple "pointy bit goes in the other person" exercise has actually bloomed into something much bigger. Not just because he cross references everywhere, but because of the cultural background that he writes from.

One of the key parts of Swetnam seems to be that everyone has their own methods of fighting and how they hold things and, being quite late, his work is a response to other methods. So, it's a matter of getting the details of what he would have seen and what he takes for granted. I'm not a purist when it comes to "the masters". Fighting does not exist in a bubble, especially European styles where everyone has tried to invade, enslave, conqueror and steal from everyone else.

Swetnam is a bit vague in places, which I think is fair- since precision is developed over time and you can't improve if you're dead (which is his basic reasoning behind the naming of his "true guard", it keeps you alive for long enough to become adequate) But without an idea of the threats he would have faced on the street, I cannot be sure of my interpretation. He was writing in early 17th century London. A city chock-full of random nationalities and foreign masters who said that they were the best and in an area where things were proven very quickly and, sometimes, fatally.

So what does this mean for me? I guess it means that I'm going to be working on how rapier and associated sword play occurred on the streets of my city and that I'm having to look into Saviolo as a counterpoint (and maybe a bit of Silver.. but not much).

It's going to be quite complex and a real pain in the arse in places- but my interpretation is going to be shaped by knowledge of his contemporaries. Ignoring the fact that students of Saviolo and Swetnam (and others.. but one step at a time) were in such close proximity means that I'd miss important points and clues given by context. I also suspect that Swetnam was used to teaching people who knew the longsword.. a situation I've found myself in.

If I want to be a good teacher- I have to know this stuff. And if I get this all down properly, I won't be teaching "Rapier and Dagger as described by Swetnam" but "Early 17th century sword play: Rapier and Dagger as it may have been seen on the streets of London." Which I like- after all, one of the reasons I'm doing HEMA rather than some oriental art is because of the cultural relevancy and the way it can bring some aspects of history to life.

I also believe that fighting is heavily defined by both culture and environment and that it is easy to lose this aspect of our understanding when we fight in gym halls and wide, open fields. Or when we talk about the "best" weapon/master/school/blah blah blah. The best? At least nowadays, is the one you like the most.

For me, the rapier makes much more sense as a weapon if you go into the City of London and explore the alleyways that litter the area. The layout hasn't changed much over a few centuries and if you grew up in a place like that, you would not think of a longsword as a valid weapon to carry. You can't use a powerful cutting weapon in a location where any good swing will take out more brickwork than flesh.

Anyway, I believe I'm starting to digress. I'll be trying to keep this updated a bit more- I'll be putting up things about my notes/interpretations and suchlike once I've translated my them into something that may possibly be understood by someone who isn't me... and I've figured out how to present them.

Once they're up- I will welcome constructive criticism. I know I'm missing bits and there are things that I've not stated because they are obvious to me and me alone. And sometimes I'm probably going to be just plain wrong.

I seem to have been quiet for too long.

2011-06-08T09:14:00.000+01:00

Do not worry, I haven't turned my back on the arte. It's just that I've been working on something and forgetting to share my frustrations and joys here.

Thanks to the recession I am still.. in-between jobs but I have been keeping busy. However, with the help of the lovely Kindle and my expertise at using specific kinds of software, I've been able to carry around a few manuscripts and comfortably read them. Only English ones I'm afraid- my foreign isn't good enough to work on anything else, and besides they're from my history, my culture and my streets (and my pubs, well at least the ones that survived the Fire).

I am getting more faith in my interpretation as time goes on. I think it will always be a little nerve-racking when you first start testing your studies. It's bad enough with the world of academia when it's only your ego that gets bruised when you're shown to be on completely the wrong path. "I think I've got this right, now try to hit me"

Ok, I'm not betting my life on being right, but it can damn well feel like it sometimes.

I am almost at the point where I'm ready to start sharing my version, I will emphasise that this is my understanding and it's fully open to debate and testing. It will also be revised with other aspects. I am doing what I can to look at contemporaries and I will compare, contrast and integrate whatever is useful.

The Kindle is Evil

2011-04-10T02:28:00.000+01:00

Yes, yet another hibernation. It's a bit difficult trying to write about what is a very physical activity when winter forces you to pay for places to practice or to stay inside. A brief update, which will be expanded on in the future.. probably.. I'm now an instructor. Not qualified yet, but I have now taken my first lesson and it went a lot better than I hoped. I'm feeling a bit Groucho Marx about this- being a good teacher is important to me, and for all my fretting, it was far too easy. I must have been doing something wrong, apart from the obvious.

Anyway... I think I've mentioned it before- the HEMA scene has a high concentration of academics, techy people and bookish geeks. It's a bit of a necessity when you've got to hunt down and translate 700 year old writing that may have been lost in the sofa of time. By nature, it's driven by people who are dedicated to rediscovering a dead language. The information has spread by the net and people have digitised the manuscripts.

And now- this is why the Kindle is evil. It blurs the line between book and computer in a brilliant way. It's the good side of the uncanny valley- something that you need to see to be able to understand. It took me weeks to stop laughing at the fact that I wasn't looking at a piece of paper.

With a particularly obscure hobby and some training in the intricacies of OCR and digital text- I'm now starting to get annoyed. This treatise database is full of pictures of books. They are, by necessity, pictures of books. OCR has never been concerned with things as valuable and as wibblywobblytimeywimy as knowledge.

Especially when you come to computer representations of knowledge. For us a picture of a word is as good as the word itself. For a computer it's not. 16th century English fonts are easy to read- they require a glance and an understanding of the context. For a computer, the difference between ff and ss is a few pixels. The differences between sh and fi are a matter of bad scanning. Computers don't understand the difference between "I helped my uncle Jack off a horse" and "I helped my uncle jack off a horse".

I've already converted my lesson notes and index cards to the the right format. Once I've got a good library of drills, I could share those with anyone who asked. Hell, thanks to the text-to-speech stuff, I could probably run a lesson without turning up.

I'd love to be able to search the original texts on the spur of the moment. A question is asked and you can remember the shape of the book as you open it, you know that it's on a left page and about 3/4 to the back. You even remember a very specific sentence or phrase.

Even if it's in colloquial 13th century Italian- You, personally, need to know the difference, not the computer.

The Kindle is evil because it makes what was once utterly impossible into something that is just out of reach. Really- who wouldn't want to be able to walk the streets with a library that could encompass all of space and time? Ok- then you're just going to have to ask yourself where to start reading.

However it means that people can self publish on a much easier level.

Just a quickie

2010-08-21T21:24:00.000+01:00

I'm terrible at multitasking. It's really easy to carry conversations across people. Still, thing one that I am not talking about went well. Thing two also went well- it seems I'm being much more mobile in fighting (a long running fault that I have been frustrated with)

Ps. Experimental archeology sounds great fun.

Future Developments:

2010-08-18T11:01:00.000+01:00

Something is happening soon. It will be the start of me having a new kind of relationship with HEMA and I don't quite know what that will be or how it will develop. I won't talk about it just yet as we're still working out the details and I'd rather let other people sort out the politics of it all. Besides, in a way, it doesn't involve me. That's not a negative thing, just a simple fact- I'll explain more later.

The one thing I will say about it is that I'm pretty optimistic about what's going on and hopefully it will mean that we forge stronger ties with other groups.

I like seeing HEMA as a community, we are an eclectic lot with a very simple connection (swords are cool), there's so many opportunities for learning and so many people with different focuses and attitudes that it's foolish not to use them. Almost everyone takes a different thing away from it- a sense of history, faith in themselves under pressure, self defence, the dashing swagger of a true swashbuckler, or even just a damn good workout that's infinitely more fun than the gym. And probably hundreds of other things I have forgotten to list.

It is a case of no man is an island. Good, clear, solid communication between groups (not just on instructor level) will benefit us all, even if it just means we get to fight more different people. It can do so much more though, if you know the groups well, you will know their strengths and weaknesses and you will know the way to ask the right questions to the right people.

Fightcamp Summary: The quick one.

2010-08-16T10:41:00.000+01:00

One of the 'problems' with Fightcamp is that there is always a lot happening- fighting, learning, chatting with new groups and catching up on the past year with others and there are also things afoot that I will be vague about until things are clear and the new direction is signposted and made all pretty.

With that in mind I am still processing information from the weekend and a more HEMA focused entry will appear later.

Things I have learnt very quickly: Slow motion drills are surprisingly stressful on your body. When something goes wrong there are only a few inches between a scare and a tragedy. Finding a good teacher is more important than finding a weapon you like.

And rain is a great way to kill enthusiasm. It was wet this weekend- not just a bit of rain. I'm English, a bit of rain is as much a part of summer as Pimms. This was biblical stuff, and unpredictable- in fact, if I didn't know better, I'd suspect that we were being used as a front for Immortals and that the storms were a result of the Quickening.

Swetnam, maths and distances.

2010-07-26T22:49:00.001+01:00

I have already established that Swetnam counts in base 3. That is- there are 3 ways to do this. way one, way two, way three, way three one, way three two and way three three.

It seems that he has two measurements of distance based on this counting method. Three feet or twelve feet. This leads me to believe that three is a short measure and twelve is a long measure. So, how long is a foot?

Today in the Park

2010-07-17T23:28:00.001+01:00

Fightcamp is coming up and I've realised how little sparring I've done since the winter. In fact I've been mostly theory and drilling (poorly) for the past 5-6 months. This means that I will get my arse handed to me in competition.

So, in an attempt to get past that, I spent today in the park with the Saturday Scrappers. Well, two of them, and tried to get back up to speed. Not entirely successfully though. I don't think I'm going to be much of a longswordsman, I prefer keeping my hands forward and they tend to creep to places that are only vulnerable because some fool forgot to put a complex hilt on my sword. I'm certainly not going into competition until I've got that sorted out. Especially with the new synthetic swords- They're pretty safe, you'll get some good bruises from them, but I really don't want to risk my knuckles in really hard play until I'm more confident with my guards. Hand injuries are terribly inconvenient.

Since it seems I'm flexing my teaching muscles a bit more, I thought I'd run through a few ideas with the guys. Drills, basic concepts and a little sparring and analysis. Capo-esque for the sparring- It was more a matter of shouting "hold" explaining why they should move their blade in a specific way and then watching them do it a bit more- and Swetnam for the drills and explanations (I only have one dagger). The scrappers are longsword to a man, so I get to worry about the intricacies of rapier rather than distance and all of that.

I am starting to have quite a bit of confidence in my Swetnam interpretations, obviously they need improvement, but I know they're going in the right direction. Today was the first time I saw it from the outside and explaining it to people who were not my esteemed and honourable maestro.What gives me confidence in my interpretation is how little movement is needed to defend- twist the dagger, straighten the blade and your opponent almost impales himself for you..

I set up the drill like this:

A takes the dagger in his left hand and holds in a guard.
B Thrusts at A's face
A parries with the dagger, After they're used to the idea of blocking with their left, I give the defender a sword and tell them to reply with a thrust at the same time.

Repeat with other guards.

I chose this way for two reasons, as mentioned before I only have the one dagger, the other reason is that it forces you to get used to the concept of an off-hand weapon. I know the scrappers are competent fighters and not exactly a good benchmark for difficulty- however, the cackles and mild swearing as they kept on inconveniencing the attacker or suddenly finding a sword in their face suggests I've found a nice little drill to build up the reflexes and that I have got the guards held properly. They also followed movements through, which I didn't tell them about and pulled them off almost identical to how I think Swetnam describes it.

All in all, a really productive day and a good reminder of why we started these sessions in the first place.

Understanding.

2010-07-15T14:44:00.001+01:00

I am a great advocate of teaching as a method of understanding something- So, in a bid to improve my
Capoferro skills and get a local sparring partner, I have started to instruct a lady who doesn't get on too well
with my honourable and esteemed maestro's teaching methods...These things happen, we've all had teachers who were good but not good for us.

Why does teaching help you understand a subject?

Well, I have said this before- revisiting the basics is essential. They are the basics for one reason alone- they are what you will use the most. And it doesn't really matter what system you use for a lot of them, the principles are basically interchangeable. Distance is always going to be knowing where you can stand to hit someone, footwork is always going to be about moving in and out of distance. Guards are related to a specific system, but the reasons for them and why they work are not. Methods of striking are dictated by the blade you're using but are still basically stab 'em or poke 'em while staying behind your blade. You will use these regardless of what weapon and style you finally choose. They'll vary a little here and there, and a lot comes down to personal preferences, but in the end- a solid base in these will hold you in good stead regardless of what you have in your hands.

The basics can get a little tedious after a while. They are essential, but you will get bored with them until you've realised that your disregard for them is the reason behind that lovely bruise developing on your arm. Which brings me on to the next point.

There's a tendency to reach plateaus and stagnate in this kind of thing. You can get into your patterns and you don't push through to understand something that's been responsible for a different bruise because each time you do it wrong you get hit so your old instincts come into play and you avoid the blow in a different manner- making it harder for you to break through to the next level of understanding.

The best way to slow things down is to try to teach someone else. Firstly you have to ask questions of the text- why is it like this, what's the best way to demonstrate it, how does this tie in with everything else, and so on. Then, during demonstration and explanation, you will realise you've missed a bit or the person you're teaching will ask a question that you really have to think about. This is good. It's even better when the person you've just explained it to replies with a sentence you wish you wrote.

And all through this process, you're teaching someone that you didn't even notice turning up to lessons. You. As you help that beginner, you're putting yourself through drills you long gave up on because they're boring or you had done enough. You're solidifying the basic rules of a fight.

Then there's the reward of a job well done. Just enjoying the dawn of realisation when an 'impossible' task is made possible and the allegedly complex is proven to be quite simple.

People think that sword fighting is complex, it's not. It has things that everyone agrees on and the rest is a matter of personal preference. What happens in a fight (especially competition) is that things go quickly and you never quite see the stages that make them up- that's the point. So you get a blur of movement, a few exchanges and then someone is hit. Daunting if you don't know how straightforward it is.

Today's session was an hour and a half. I reinforced the guards (which were discussed at an earlier time) then covered stepping into distance, controlling your opponents blade and recognising when your blade is being controlled and stepping out of distance as soon as possible. When she gets these down perfectly, it won't be a thrilling fight but it will be a very, very long one that she might win by accident.

Drink lots of water.

2010-07-10T14:19:00.001+01:00

I seem to have let the Saturday sparring slide into the background. There's a combination of reasons for this, and a few of them are practical.

These are due to the lovely English weather and the antiquated public transport system we have over here. A quick history lesson for those who are not familiar with this amazing city. The London Underground was the first underground railway line in the world. The first excavations were over a century ago and, as such, there are limitations. The platforms and passageways are fairly small, sometimes going all sorts of bizarre ways. It's not a nice thing to navigate while carrying a big bag of swords. Adding to this, they've just turned King's Cross into an international station and so you have to deal with a lot of eejits who can't follow basic courtesy like "don't stand in doorways". They've also got bags about the same size as mine. It can be quite a stressful journey at the best of times.

Anyway, back to the heat issue. If you ever come to this fair city and enjoy a pleasant day. WALK. It is for your own good. You do not want to be on the tube, it gets stifling, busy, and very hot- this is England, we don't make provisions for strange things like sunshine and warm days, we're only just getting the first air conditioned tubes. Buses are not much better, and so travel will leave you feeling dehydrated before you even start fighting. This is not a good position to be in.

Fighting is hot and sweaty work. The padding and mask only serve to make it worse. I urge you to overestimate your need for water. You don't have to drink it all, but you'll be damn glad the extra litre is there. Be aware of the warning signs.

Heatstroke symptoms are:

headache
dizziness
disorientation, agitation or confusion
sluggishness or fatigue
seizure
hot, dry skin that is flushed but not sweaty
a high body temperature
loss of consciousness
rapid heart beat
hallucinations

Dehydration:

thirst
less-frequent urination
dry skin
fatigue
light-headedness
dizziness
confusion
dry mouth and mucous membranes
increased heart rate and breathing

Some of these you might not notice, some you might not have. However, keep an eye out for them in both yourself and the people you train with and don't try to push through them. Everyone gets more training in if you don't faint.

Remember, hitting each other with swords is fun- treating injuries and life threatening problems is not.

Swetnam and footwork.

2010-07-07T22:05:00.001+01:00

If any of you have tried your own interpretations, you will recognise that some bits are bloody useless, some bits terribly vague and some bits are downright contradictory. This, combined with a lack of editing can cause it to be a nightmare. You will get things wrong and you will have to revisit and revise ideas.

For the sake of clarity and honesty, I am only working on a small portion of Swetnam- I may go on to work with other aspects later, but I am picking up the bits that are of interest to me. In fact, for all I know, he may have extensively written on footwork elsewhere in his book. However, he does not mention it in the bit I'm reading.

OK, he says something about a passing step here and there. However he doesn't say if it's passing offline or passing straight. And so it is a matter of trial and error- does a straight passing step bring you within range of his offhand weapon. He even throws in useful asides about void of the foot.

I've figured out (mostly) what the arms should be doing and it seems to lead the legs. It seems to be closing at an angle, driving you offline and keeping your opponent at two movements to your one. This thought means that I'm going to have to revisit my concepts of "passage". After all his insistence on thrusting straight, it was hard to imagine passage being diagonal. However, adjusting that thought a little means one or two odd instructions sound a bit easier. I digress- There's just this pattern of movement that feels natural, your feet follow your body, a little twist here and there moves you out of danger and gives you greater reach.

This also adds another layer (although, one Swetnam approves of, he frequently says something along the lines of "if it doesn't feel right, don't bet your life on it")- am I doing this footwork because it is correct, or does it just 'feel' right. I consider myself an adequate fighter, take that to mean what you will, there is a lot of room for improvement and I am prone to foolish mistakes especially pausing in transitions. Part of the learning process is to admit and be comfortable with your weaknesses- which I would happily list if there wasn't a competition coming up soon- especially when looking at new sources or attempting your own interpretations. We all have preferred actions and it can be tricky telling the difference between preferred and correct, especially when something is counter intuitive (for example stepping into a blow).

There isn't much to work from (I'm covering the rapier and dagger), but that is not a bad thing. In fact, a lot of the confusing bits start to make sense when you realise that instead of a "true" guard that protects from all harm, he uses his "true guard" as a beginner's position, one that allows your flinch reactions to protect you and gain a feel for the subtleties of distance, timing, reading your opponent, having two hands to block with, and so-on. Most of his true guard waffle is loose guidelines for fighting with sword and dagger and things that you will learn by practising from that position. By the time you get to the end of it, you're given guards and that's it- only a few common errors are mentioned.

People tend to confuse simple with lazy. True simplicity comes from reducing all the needless movement and faff from something. You need simplicity in a fight, the more you need to think, the more delay you have between thought and action. You don't want to have to refer to a flowchart if someone is poking you in the face with a sword.

I think, once understood, Swetnam is a very simple system that allows quite complex outcomes.

Teaching techniques and things.

2010-06-17T10:05:00.003+01:00

Well, there's no point learning a system if you don't have anyone to help you test it- so the first thing that needs to be done (once you've started to understand what the hell he's going on about) is to explain it to someone else, in clear and straight forward terms. Preferably in some kind of sensible order.

Flicking through the notes I've been taking while trying to understand Swetnam, has made me aware that they are pretty useless for teaching. Not only that, they're not very useful on the field- even in a natty little A5 ring binder that fits in the front pocket of my sword bag. How have I overcome this?

Index cards.

Not only that, they're typed, mainly because my handwriting is blasted shoddy. I am contemplating sharing them here, once they're done. Maybe in several stages, so you can follow the path of understanding that I am travelling. Maybe they'll help you, dear reader, maybe they'll just end up with you being confused.

It's quite likely that you'll end up being confused because I'm not one for 'correct' terminology. I have a hotchpotch education within HEMA and I pick up anything that looks interesting, learn some of those principles and move on. I think I'm more of a fighter than an artist- I don't care if it looks a bit sloppy providing I hit them without being hit myself. I also seem to have developed the English habit of throwing in occasional Italian terms where I'm only vaguely aware of what they actually mean. It's perfectly acceptable, on a historic level, but it's not helpful if you're writing for someone else.

I've also done this with Capoferro's plays- mainly trying to remove the excessive wordiness and translate it to movement rather than explanation, but I'm not sure how accurate they are since I've not had time to run through them or any form of double checking.

Mystery Science Theater 3000

2010-06-15T22:26:00.002+01:00

You can be serious about something without taking it seriously. I don't have the linguistic knowledge to translate something from medieval/renaissance Italian to proper English- the kind anyone with half a brain can understand. My understanding goes back 400 years or so and no further than the M25.

How about this for a newsflash: HemaGoth wants to be paid wear leather trousers, sit in a puddle of alleged real beer. and proclaim that in the name of the Queen that this beer is good. My casual wear has meant that I've had to take Americans to one side and explain that I'm not an exhibit and, yes, this is me. (by the way, I believe a co-owner of the Rake in Southwark is one of us. The beer is worth every penny and it is not cheap). Part of this blog was intended to take the piss out of a hobby I love.

Anyway, I digress... Swetnam is an intriguing source of frustration to me. My sloppy notes combine Fiore, Silver and CapoFerro. Due to my sinestre nature, I can't see things in terms of left and right- it's sword and not sword- despite the fact that I tend to fight right handed.

Anyone who has tried to understand an original text has wanted sneak into a bedroom and press a pillow to the author's face. These things aren't easy to understand, you've got to translate them, dictionaries weren't invented and they're not really a "teach yourself" book.

I'd love to see some sarky interpretations/annotations appear online-I've got quite a few things to say about Swetnam and Silver. Some of Silver's bits read like an awful action/horror movie that should be panned for constant xenophobia. Swetnam... Well, there's a reason I'm confident in saying that I'm in the top 10 practitioners in the country (There's about 5 of us... if that)- He's in desperate need of a good editor.

Rapier and Dagger, The English Way.

2010-06-09T22:15:00.004+01:00

In keeping with our English focus- my esteemed and honourable Maestro and myself have been looking at Swetnam's rapier and dagger. Swetnam is quite a character, he has more hits in Google for his misogynist ranting than he has for his book on stabbing people. This book follows in what appears to be a tradition in English fighting manuals for waffling on somewhat (I've only looked at two, but it's a 100% hit rate so far... Silver pretty much forgot that he was writing a book about fighting. )

Swetnam is also a blasted idiot. Or innumerate. Or using a different method of measure than normal human beings. Or a blasted idiot.

Anyway, I digress: I'll come to that again, later, once I've finished reading his book.

This one is more difficult for me to read, mostly because I don't have a physical copy and I'm working from a PDF, partially because the scan is less than perfect, and partially because I have to keep changing from thinking in diuerse ways like thif to modern typography. Something I find easy when making notes by hand.

I like books and in a perfect world, I'd read this over a few pints then come back and make notes from the important parts.

Anyway- It can get confusing, let's take this:

When thou dost practise with thy friend or companion; at the first get thy backe to the wall, and let him that playeth with thee stand about twelve foote distance , and set thy left heel close to the wall , and thy right foot heele to the great joynte of the left foote great toe.....

He goes on a bit but doesn't really say what the purpose of this is or what to do after that, except to get proper technique for the lunge. Your sword is about 3 and a half feet long, your pace is about the same. You might make 9 feet if you start with your arm in a half-reasonable guard.

I'm just starting my third year of this stuff and I've been bouncing about, watching some people, joining in other lessons and this sounds roughly like Dave Rawling's introduction to time and distance (or whatever he calls it). Your partner stands well out of distance and walks towards you. You strike when he's in range.

This is a far more sensible way to interpret this than a 12 foot lunge (the length of a snooker table). However, this is merely an educated guess that sounds more likely than an extra 3 feet of stabbyness appearing from thin air. Swetnam does not give you the information needed to make that interpretation.

I'm glad I'm not one of the poor sods translating things from medieval Italian.

Here comes the sun.

2010-05-26T23:33:00.003+01:00

Holy shit it feels good to be back.

Unfortunately a combination of Real Life and the winter has kept me away from the blades for far too long. The evenings are getting longer and staying dry so now our informal sessions are starting up again. As I've mentioned, this is a scattered interest. Popular worldwide but it's a bugger finding a local group. Running a formal group means you have to hire a hall and make sure you've got the insurance and all of that. Not that much of a problem if you have enough people to cover the costs of the hall and storage (trust me, carrying 2 sets of swords is enough without the masks and padding). I live in a city, having a place with a garden big enough to hold a lesson is a minor miracle, indoors? out of the question.

If I wanted to spend £40 a week on a hobby that leaves me breathless and feeling a bit sick, I'd smoke cloves. So, until my lottery winnings come in, we're reliant on weather.

This break has lead me to ask one question. King's Cross is now a fully functioning international train station- How can one tourist with a pull suitcase the size of my book pocket take up more space than me with a sodding huge bag of swords? OK two... why can't I stab them?

Breaking silence

2009-11-26T11:08:00.002Z

Unfortunately I have had some real world issues that have prevented me from enjoying HEMA. The worst has passed but I will be erratic until I have finished making adjustments to my new lifestyle. Or maybe spring, when outdoor training is more pleasant and practical.

Mr Charles Stross, would you care to step forward?

2009-09-22T20:53:00.004+01:00

I picked up Halting State today, it's a book set in a world where Augmented and Virtual Realities are commonplace and Real World people have been called in to investigate an MMORPG bankjob. It's first film matrixy but English and real. Anyway, I've not brought this up as a book review.

What grabbed my attention was a fight scene with Augmented Reality (for those not in the know, the software is just coming into mainstream mainly through the iPhone- the GPS and inbuilt video camera work to create an overlay to your reality.) In this case AR was used to increase the realism of a swordfight. Below is an extract:

"'Your mother wears army boots!'

You're not sure that's the right thing to say to a late fifteenth-century main battle tank, but he takes it in the spirit you intended- and more importantly he spots you changing guard, lowering the point of your sword. And he goes for you immediately, nothing subtle about it, just a diagonal swing, pivoting forward so he can slice a steak off you.

Of course, this is what you expected when you twisted your wrist....... You dip your pont and grab your blade with your left hand, blocking him with a clang...... You're using sword like a short stabbing spear now- and hook the tip into his armpit like a one-and-a-half-kilo can-opener while hooking his knee with your left foot.

Unlike a modern main battle tank, the old fashioned version can fall on its arse".

Later, the AR works to show the efficiency of a hit and projects blood all over the place. The tech to build that into fencing masks is quite some time away, but it's a fantastic idea.

However, a few things struck me:

"Thirty seconds of combat feels like thirty minutes at the gym or three hours slaving over a hot spreadsheet"

"... when you either did dress-up re-enactment or actual martial arts (and never the twain shall meet)"

"... and stuff it in your briefcase with the usual: pen, iPod, your father's antique pocket calculator, and a dog-eared copy of Tobler's manual of sword fighting that you borrowed from Matthew"

Mr Stross also technobabbles D20 gaming, LARP, Renactment, the embarrassment for all of this. He hits the nail on the head too often- I suspect he is One Of Us.

In which case, I must say: Hey lazerlips, your momma was a snowblower.

Fehlungs, nothing more than Fehlungs.

2009-08-29T23:46:00.005+01:00

Now this is interesting... Well, to me at least.

The Great Triangulation is getting a new and interesting tool. I am not a fan of steel longsword sparring. The more I look at my own motives, it's probably because the affordable options are really tools for drilling rather than fighting. They look great, but being the frilly shirted rapier monkey I am, the low-end steel longswords don't have enough flex in the thrust for me to be happy about using them. This is a problem they share with the other aspects of the Triangulation. I don't think I'll be as interested in longsword as I am in rapier, but that may change if the introductory tools are good enough.

The thing is, I've been privvy to some development. I've not said anything because my opinion on what makes a good longsword simulator is worthless. I don't know if it feels right on the swing. I can't tell you if the way it binds is correct. All I can say is if I like it or not.

The Saturday Scrappers have been trying to fill in some gaps. Our experiences at FightCamp have shown us where we can get better and we've been examining that for the past month. The general consensus (aided by objective comparisons using the rapier) is that we need a different viewpoint. I've mentioned "the bind" in previous entries, this experience is not important once you understand it and have internalised it. However, you need to know how these things would happen.

Our current simulators are bouncy- the reason for that is because they harm less. Unfortunately it makes it difficult to pin your opponent's sword- a good parry will aid your opponent, he will know that any defence will be strong and the good response will be a weak one. (or whatever the Italian version is)

As ever, and as it should be, the thing you are actually holding in your hand is what dictates your actions. The Knight Shop has been working with a Mr Dave Rawlings (you may have seen him on TV recently, beating the crap out of a green beret) to produce a median tool.

I managed to play with these briefly last month, I had no opinion because I did not know what a bad version of these plastic wasters felt like. The Saturday Scrappers have bad versions, they bind well, but everything else is wrong. A good block should not reverberate through your shoulderblades, but the binding acted nicely- to the point where I would "lose" a parry and "win" a cross. The problem with the early generations of plastic wasters is that they are early generations. We're bug fixing, if you like- in fact, that is where my involvement came in. Mr Rawlings and the Knight Shop have asked for a wide sample of people to beta test the new hardware. The first round of testing happened at FightCamp and there was a second round a few weeks ago for people who really knew what they were doing.

The Knight Shop has been working with the community (sometimes asking very old questions) and trying to figure out where the gaps in the weapons are. Mr Rawlings is a perfectionist when it comes to the art, remarkably focused, and Knows His Stuff.

Everything I've experienced so far, the earlier nylon swords, my use, the conversations with the Scrappers, Mr Rawling's attitude, the people involved with the second round of testing and the proposed price. All of that suggests it will be the median tool.

Tournaments.

2009-08-04T21:17:00.002+01:00

My esteemed and honourable maestro is a particular fan of pressure testing and throwing himself into the deep end. It is something he recommends to anyone that will listen. A good way of creating pressure is by entering tournaments, especially with unfamiliar weapons. In fact, the harder you make it for yourself, the better. This is not my way, I am trying to maintain some kind of focus with my fighting. It is too easy to be distracted by all the interesting things to do and end up knowing a little of everything. I will permit myself that distraction once I'm happier with my rapier.

However. One of our Scrappers (I should do something about naming them at some point) bravely embraced his ignorance of the rapier and followed our maestro's example. The first match was painful to watch, he froze and was beaten to within an inch of his dignity and barely out of his corner. Still, every thing is a learning experience.

The second match was much better, he was facing a smallsword- something that is close to an epée in weight, reach and size. This gave him an advantage of around a foot, obviously this gave him the courage to attack and move around. Some strikes landed and when it was all over, he actually looked pretty good. He lost, but he had clawed back some dignity.

I'll be honest, I was expecting the last fight to turn into an absolute bloodbath. Our Stalwart Scrapper was up against Mr N. who graciously came and gave us a little instruction a while ago. Mr N. knows his stuff, whereas our Scrapper knows which end should go in the bad guy. This was a match with rapier and dagger, after all, if you're going to get obliterated you may as well really confuse yourself.

As the air rang with the word 'Fight' I was counting the seconds until the first 10 hits. Expecting our chap to be stabbed, cut, pommelled and disarmed every time he thought about striking. Except this didn't happen. Somehow he had found his game. Mr N. had difficulty predicting what was going to happen because he was up against an inexperienced fighter- the textbook precision of Mr N. was reduced because our fellow didn't read the damn thing. Our chap defended himself very well. In fact, according to one of the judges, he spent a little time in the lead.

So, I say well done our man. You may not have won any of those matches but you should hold your head up high. You did very well, all things considered.

The idea of pressure testing is a great one. Your fight changes utterly in competition, experimentation goes out of the window and you stick with what you have coded into your muscles. I think the orientals have a word for when your mind goes blank and you stop thinking and start fighting. I find this much easier to achieve under pressure- during freeplay/sparring it's about finding new methods and intellectually choosing openings. But a fight is not the time to be thinking, a second's thought is a second you're not protecting yourself.

Fightcamp 2009. Part 1: lessons and thank you's

2009-08-02T19:13:00.008+01:00

I have recently arrived home after a weekend of training. The 6th annual FightCamp is currently winding to a halt, the events officially finished yesterday, but there has been socialising and people sleeping on site. Alas, I heeded the psiren call of hot water and soft fluffy pillows and was back yesterday. This may was probably for the best. The bar was lovingly stocked with 3 casks of really nice beers for the first two nights, we drank it dry. Then the bar was restocked with Black Sheep and Adnams. There was no Black Sheep left. My outside is bruised and I don't think my liver could handle any more violence.

Now, Fightcamp more-or-less marks my anniversary in HEMA. I started a few weeks before the last one and I believe it has shaped my vision of the international scene. This year has moved to a new venue, which increased the cost of the 4 days of camping and 3 days of events by 100%. I must say, it's the best £20 I've spent in a long time. In fact, the last event I attended that was this packed, interesting and cheap it was held by the Scouts- and they have a phenomenal amount of funding and facilities compared to us.

Firstly, I should thank Jim and his staff. They were all great. If you need something HEMA based and don't know where to look. Start with the Grange (http://shop.suspensionofdisbelief.co.uk/hema)- the prices are low and the service is brilliant. There were times when you looked at Jim and saw his 10 year old self looking back and thinking "this is sooo cooool". I like Jim.

The next on the list to thank would be Matt Easton and his charming fiancée, Lucy. I can't imagine how tiring and complex organising something like this would be. Still, they managed it without apparently breaking a sweat, although Matt's Godlike powers obviously stop before weather control. His collection of marshals dealt with any problems in a swift and discreet manner, allowing us to get on with the important things in life, like fighting and drinking. Hats off to all involved there- your dedication and insight makes FightCamp the enjoyable event it is.

And finally, thanks to everyone that took part. My partners during lessons were great and I did not have an unenjoyable bout. There were similar grins from the attending Saturday Scrappers. Despite the trecherous ground and some very intense fighting (Sparks flew. Literally), there were few injuries that and seemed to be fingers. Which justifies my preference for complex hilted weapons.

There are two main parts of FightCamp (three if you count the socialising)- Fighting and learning. I decided it would be more productive to learn... well, actually the lessons were so good that I didn't really have the energy to spar. I could have done some sparring today, but everyone was either being careful due to the main tournament or feeling delicate after some enthusiastic socialising.

The highlight of the lessons was (unsurprisingly) Mr Marwood's Bartitsu class. It was engaging, enjoyable and principle based. His teaching style is fantastic, he explains a principle and moves that use the principle and tells you to play with those ideas. (Described by one of the Saturday Scrappers as "here's 100 ways to cause intense pain.. have fun trying them out"). Although there were constant warnings to be careful, and it's obvious why they were needed- even at 1/4 speed there were times when you'd accidentally find your partner on the ground and you have no idea how it happened.

Those of you familiar with Neverwhere will know Mr Croup and Mr Vandemaar, in particular the scene where they are instructing Richard on the force needed to cause pain... well, imagine that scene with a one better dressed person replacing the two. Although, generally lovely, Marwood gives the impression that he would (if provoked) pull your arm off and use it to give you a practical demonstration of force multipliers and why it's better to use the end with the hand rather than the bloody stump.

Everyone I spoke to who took Mr Marwood's lesson on close combat gun use was enthusing about that.

I would like to expand on Mr Stillwell's Gatka instruction but all I got from the Scrapper that attended his lesson was "that's cool. We should get him down for one of our sessions." My dear brother would certainly agree, since Gatka has been interesting him for a while.

My honourable maestro held two classes that went down well, despite a few teething problems with one of the first lessons of the weekend, I believe I've mentioned his style and strengths before so I won't waste valuable space here. This is a mere fraction of the events, there is a lot more to say, but for now I shall just say:

Bloody hell, that was a fantastic weekend.

Safety and HEMA

2009-07-28T21:10:00.000+01:00

My main reason for staying with HEMA for so long is that it's fun. The health benefits, the ability to purge my fight or flight instincts, the fact that I do not look like an easy target (quite important if you're wandering the streets at night wearing eyeliner and flouncy shirts) and all the other bits are side effects. I'm not competitive, except against myself so I'm not out to win fights. In fact, part of that is not doing my best in a fight and helping someone else improve- explaining things to other people helps your own understanding.

And this is the position I come from when discussing safety.

As far as I'm concerned, masks are essential. I will not take part in anything resembling a real fight without a mask on. My primary targets are face, neck and chest. No mask means I will not go for the face or neck. Why? Well, I refer you to my main reason for doing this. Pulling your friend's eyeball from your sword does not come under my definition of fun. (And friend they will be, or at least someone you trust and respect- unless you're an utter moron). In a good fight, things move fast and get confusing, your brain switches off and you run on instinct. In this situation, accidents will happen. It's just a matter of time and hoping that it's only a minor one. I've recently had a blade break on me- the flexible bit just went sproing as it was thrust into me. These things happen and if I wasn't wearing a decent jacket it could have been quite nasty- hospital visit, stitches and several weeks off training kind of nasty. Instead, I had a rather pathetic bruise.

Don't get me wrong, I don't mind hurting and getting hurt, but I draw the line at harm. In fact, I don't want to cause any damage that requires more than a 10 minute pause for things to ease. I certainly don't want to cause any damage that prevents the post fighting beer.

So how does this affect my fight?

I tend to pull blows when they look like they'll land on unprotected areas. I'll never try anything particularly dastardly unless I know my opponent's wearing a box. This means that unprotected fighting is not going to help my technique. Some people may be able to override those instincts, but it serves no purpose for me to do so. I know I don't treat blows as seriously as I should if I were training for combat.

If I were to get into a real fight, I know things would be different. For one thing, I would not be armed (unless you count an umbrella or a beautiful blackthorn and yew dress cane that would look terrible covered in the blood of a ruffian...anyway), I would be as weary of getting hit as I am now, but I would use all the dirty tricks. Stabs to the throat, eyes, testicles, knee stomping, the lot. Why? Because I would be fighting for my life. The fundamental difference is that I don't want that person to come back, I don't want a beer and a laugh with them when it's all over. I want to see them running away or down and staying there until the police arrive. Preferably the latter.

More park thoughts.

2009-06-29T21:30:00.000+01:00

As I have said recently, we are making the most of the weather and meeting for informal training in the park. Now, I should explain the setup of this. There are lots of groups around the City, but for some strange reason we don't meet up much. In an attempt to alter this, myself and a few people from another group are meeting. This is not the optimal situation. Although we have different weapon preferences and different backgrounds, our basic strategies are shaped by the instruction of our honourable maestro.

I do not think I'm giving too much away by saying that he is a fairly static fighter, holding a strong defence and waiting for the other to become impatient or knackered through running around. It's an effective strategy. In a lot of systems the defender is considered to have an advantage. Even the German concepts of Vor and Nach- where you gain the initiative by forcing your opponent to do something can be used to explain a deliberate defence (probably..I'm not too familiar with the German stuff). I may remember to explain this in a later post.

One of the strengths of HEMA is that it is still evolving. This can be perceived as a weakness, but sod those people- they have no imagination or understanding.

Why is this a strength? Well, we have hundreds of people across the country all looking at the same manuscripts and getting different things out of it. Is this a failiure, a sign we're doing something wrong? My answer would be no. Look at sheet music- that's a precise notation, yet you will get people playing the same notation on the same instrument in remarkably different ways. This is the nature of art. Art rarely means the same thing to different people. This means that different schools have different focuses and interpretations, something considered minor to one group can be very important to another. It's not a matter of right and wrong, this is an art after all.

George Silver says that to become a true master you should be able to hold your own against a drunk, because he will know no fear. Someone untrained but determined, because they will not be predictable and a master because they will be the better swordsman. Safety does not permit the first option and most of my fighting is against my esteemed maestro, or the occassional newbie.

With this in mind, I was rather glad to hear that someone I've been wanting to fight since I became competent with rapier was heading to this city and had some time to kill after taking in a few museums. I met Mr N once, about this time last year, my first impressions were of an intelligent man and a good teacher.

It sounds pretentious to call our little band of scrappers a study group, but I suppose we are. This title was certainly earned this week as we enjoyed Mr N "waffling on" (his words) at us about how to use the rapier and pointing out a few subtleties that I've overlooked. Once the others were in a position to engage in swordplay, I got the bout I was looking for.

I have been working on a little project, I suppose you could call it the viola of the rapier world, I don't really want to say much more than that for the moment, I'm still working on it, and I'd like the element of surprise to be on my side when it gets to competition time. So this fight was testing a few things. Does my interpretation hold water and do I think my skill is at an acceptable level, all things considered.

The answer to the former is, probably. I blatently need to do more drilling and become more competent with muscle memory, but I didn't get hit that much

The swordsman who enjoys freeplay and sparring is an enemy of the Art?

2009-06-19T07:15:00.003+01:00

Obviously I don't think so.

Freeplay is fun. As far as I'm concerned, that should be enough reason to justify its use- a fun thing to prolong interest in the art. But people do not think like me, and that is ok. So here are more intellectual reasons:

Let's start this by looking at why I'm not a fan of oriental martial arts. Kata, the struggle to fend off an invisible army by a sequence of 'programmed' moves. It has it's uses, helps teach proper form, for one thing. But remove the context of a fight and you are left with a bloke in white pajamas, stepping around a mat and waving his limbs about. I would like to see what happens if the imaginary fight surrounding the kata became a real one. Some things would work, some would not.

Ideally You should train as you would fight. Naturally, with swords that is difficult. You get quite a lot of amplification of force for one thing- so a certain amount of pulling your blows happens, you have a psychological difference when fighting in a mask (for example, your head is the most protected part of your body- a cut to the head hurts much less than a cut to the arm). Pulling blows is not a terrible problem- Once all the safety measures are removed from the sword (flex, bluntness, slappyness) it is more than compensated.

A mask, to my mind, is necessary and will remain so until I show such prowess with the blade that I can cut the corset from a tailors dummy without inflicting damage (then I move to an attractive cooperative goth chick, then an attractive, willing but uncooperative goth chick). The usefulness of fighting unmasked is questionable- your head becomes less of a target simply because you would never do that kind of thing with someone who would cause you great injury. My honourable and respectable maestro would have to curtail his instinct to go for a blow to the head whenever it's uncovered.

Anyway, I digress. I'm supposed to be talking about the uses of sparring and freeplay. As far as I'm concerned- my personal goals- is to fight. I understand there are going to be some compromises between that and using a sword to kill. I can live with this. I don't interpret what I want to do as a sport. I'd use the word swordplay more often if play didn't have such a negative/trivial connotation.

Play is one of the best ways we learn. Look about you, remember the memory games and maths games you played as a child. Look at the rough and tumble of lion cubs that play is part of their training to become killers. So my aim is to play-The simple fact is I have no desire to kill anyone I face. In fact, I want them to have as much fun as me and come back for more.

So, how do I work towards that?

Simple Stationary drill (assuming that you can perform the action without moving)- building up arm movements, getting a feel for the acceleration and where to be aware of your own blade.
Mobile drill- Add in the correct footwork.
Target practice if possible.

This is all to build up muscle memory. Once the muscle memory is developing nicely some people will go for cooperative drilling. I'm not a fan- people don't let you hit them and don't come in for the blows in exactly the same way every time.

Uncooperative drilling- This is pretty close to sparring. You have restrictions to force you to use what you are trying to improve on. Huge variation on what can be done here, but it boils down to A will try to hit B, B does not want to get hit.

Freeplay- I suppose I'd classify this as sparring with minimal intent. The restrictions in place with uncooperative drilling are lessened, maybe removed altogether. But it lacks the 'killer' nature of competition.

Competition- Pressure testing. Regardless of how beautifully you pose with a sword, how elegant and smoothly you move. You're dead if you can't put it between you and someone who wants to kill you. In lieu of homicidal maniacs that the police will turn a blind eye to, competition is the most sensible alternative.

You use all these tools, identify weaknesses and start again, working to strengthen aspects of your fight.

Personally, I can take or leave competitions. I am a gamer by nature- I see no problem with losing if it results in a better game or an improved opponent. Don't mistake this for giving someone an easy ride or making a mockery of the Art. As stated before, I hold games and play in very high regard. In fact, they the keystones of intellectual, social and physical development.

But if I want to beat myself, I need to go up against people I wouldn't usually choose to fight in situations where losing matters. I need to face off against people who do not want to get hit and will try to hit me in return.

Also- certain things will not make sense unless someone is trying to hit you. I have some ideas about flinch reactions that I'm slowly shaping. I've always thought the best techniques embrace and build on hard-wired responses. There's no point reprogramming yourself if you can just add an extra twist into a pre-existing program.

We're interpreting something at the moment and the logic behind some of it did not make sense until uncooperative drilling. In fact, a lot of things like that don't make sense until it's put into the context of someone trying to kill you. One well placed thrust is remarkably good at showing you which direction your interpretation should be heading.

Ah... Summer.

2009-06-05T18:36:00.002+01:00

Time for the usual outdoor pursuits. Days in the park, listening to the the gentle sound of ~~willow on leather~~ bamboo on flesh. Yes, now the weather is what passes for good in this green and pleasant land, we have decided to enjoy the sunshine while it lasts and have some additional, informal sessions outdoors.

The focus of these sessions is freeplay/sparring. I admit I don't do enough drilling- it's a means to an end and I'm likely to be developing bad habits because of this. Then again, I don't fight many different people either.

Fortunately, I haven't developed a suntan (mesh patterned or otherwise)
yet. However, I have noticed a few things about outside training that are worth mentioning.

Water-The most important one. Lots of water. Those masks get rather hot and you're being very active. After 2 hours fighting, a litre and a half of water is barely enough. It's much better to have too much than not enough- dehydration headaches (the main reason your head pounds during a hangover) are awful.

Know your surroundings- this is a common thread amongst schools of thought. If you can force your opponent onto ground where he will mis-step on his attack (a sudden dip, sandy ground where he was expecting firm earth) then do it. The same with the sun, he will find it difficult to parry a blow when you have the sun behind you. Fighting in a public area
also brings some safety considerations, curious onlookers, stupid dogs and children mean that you have to be aware of many things during a fight.

Focus- London in the summer is a beautiful place. People from all over the world flock to this city and enjoy its charms. This includes the many green spaces. As such, there are quite a few attractive young ladies of various nationalities wandering about in very little clothing.
Understandably, this kind of thing is distracting. Get distracted in a swordfight and you die. As last words go- "look at the legs on her" doesn't really cut it.

Filming- this is a useful tool. My honourable sensai and maestro can shout 'your legs are too stiff' until his throat is sore, but 2 minutes of video helped me analyse my stance and some problems. I am tempted to post and critically analyse my technique at some point in the future. It will give you an idea about where I'm coming from and would help frame my
words. But not today.

I have also started to fight mixed weapon bouts. I am still forming my ideas and opinions about it, all I can say right now is that it's fun and you stand a much better chance if you know the weapon you're against. So the knowledge exchange starts- I pick up a little longsword and they pick up a little backsword and rapier.

The Rapier Virus is contagious. Maybe because a rapier just doesn't hit as hard as a longsword, maybe because we all secretly want to be gunless Musketeers, maybe because rapier and dagger just looks so damn cool. These things make it a fun weapon to use, easy to start, difficult to master and provides pain in new and interesting muscles. I gave the longsworders some brief instruction on how to use it and some are now making noises about
getting their own.

It may be my bias towards one-handed weapons, but I find the longsword terribly confusing. Not only do I wonder why it took several centuries to produce something as blatently sensible as a basket hilt (my knuckles do not like the simple hilt found on most swords) apart from that, there's something like 12 guard positions. So far, the only thing that makes sense
to me is cutting through to another guard. And the grappling. This may seem counter-intuitive to people unfamiliar with swordfighting, but there are two distances that are 'safe'. One is so far away that he cannot stab you, one is so close in that he cannot stab you. Unfortunately there's this zone of painful death between the two. Still once you're in close you've got to wrestle, disarm and kill your opponent before he has a chance to react. I'm used to fighting at distance, a rapier blade is long and your opponent is likely to have a
dagger. This means there is only one safe distance- closing means you're likely to get a blade between the ribs. Fighting against people who grapple is a different experience, part of your brain is geared up to get rushed, disarmed and pinned and so you are even more aware of keeping the right distance.

HEMA, Study and learning.

2009-04-20T21:28:00.005+01:00

It's been a while, but I'd rather say interesting things than fill this up with bollocks.

I have recently taken one of my inevitably expensive trips to Foyles. They're starting to stock a lot of books in 'military history'. Arguably, they should be downstairs in the martial arts section, but it's a start. There's the glossy hardback Silver interpretation, a Talhoffer reprint, some Huttons and Mayer/Mair's polearms.

I was well behaved. I left with one book, and I paid for it.

I'm not sure if I like interpreting work. My group has done it a few times, mostly with Cappoferro- there are enough people around with the knowledge and the manners to assist when we get stuck or make cock-ups (That, and Windsor's interpretation is well written and works well as a reference point).

Don't get me wrong, I like asking "why this" and "how that" but it's nice to put that all on hold and build up the mechanics. It's very easy to get distracted by what does that mean and forget that the point is to become a swordsman. Unfortunately the local experts are far too manly and butch to embrace the kind of weapons suitable for a pasty faced, frilly shirted, makeup wearing weirdo.

The "local" rapier school is somewhere close to a 6 hour round trip away. If you include the lesson and the socialising, that makes it 9 hours for one lesson. I want to learn rapier and the off-hand weapons. Especially rapier and buckler. I can learn I.33, the earliest known sword and buckler techniques- but the dynamics of a fight with an open hilt are vastly different to the closed hilt I prefer. I've seen the local I.33 teacher in action, I like his style and I can believe he is a Name. It's just a shame the weapon does not 'talk' to me.

I'm not sure if the necessity of interpretation is a good or bad thing. A bad habit well learned is still a bad habit. However, it opens up a world of debate. I can email questions to almost every person that has interpreted a manuscript. The good ones will be happy to help, will not get offended by a good question and through the community will build a 'true' system. (for given values of true).

This was going to be a comment on sport/historical fencing.

2009-03-19T00:02:00.003Z

However, my drinking companion needs a kick up the arse so he can explain the differences between epee and rapier. That and he needs to come out and play with us some more.

Instead, I think I shall talk about another common thread amongst HEMA. Joy.

The instructors I have had the chance to learn from have this simple thing in common. I have also seen it in those who teach, but I have not yet had the pleasure.

The thing about joy is that it can manifest in endless ways. From the obscure digressions of my own honourable maestro, the jolly arrogance of Mr Easton, the single minded perfectionism of Mr Rawlings, to Mr Marwood's Safeism. The Thomas Brothers and Swordworks (http://www.swordworks.co.uk).

I am informed that they are Names. Mr Easton, taking a strong part in the translation of one of the Fiore manuscripts. Mr Rawlings doing a lot of work on i.33. Mr Marwood's attempts at the Chap Olympics. If the Thomas' are not names- they will be. There are others, many others who demonstrate their joy in different ways.

There are admonitions against taking an instructor at their word. Something along the lines of "would you bet your life on it". Nowdays, the stakes are lowered- I'd bet a bone that any person I've named here would be upset at any serious injury to those under their instruction.

High Turnover.

2009-03-12T00:12:00.003Z

We tend to have a high turnover in our group. I could go through a whole range of reasons, but the short version is that we're not a big group and our catchment area does not really cover 'our kind of people'.

Yes, I know it sounds elitist. It is in a little way. Accepting just anyone means that you could end up teaching people who aren't gentlemen.. (or gentlepersons- I'm elitist, not sexist)

What is "our kind of people"?

This is a difficult question to answer. There is no joining thread beyond being a fundamentally good human being and liking swords. So far, I've not met a dullard in HEMA- arrogant, geeky, singleminded, French, but never dull. I'm sure that will change when given enough time.

Xenephobic... possibly. But in the kind of way that means you invite a bunch of foreigners over because you want to beat them up and then get them really, really drunk and laugh at them. Then do it all over again. This time being a foreigner yourself and at the mercy of the hosts. More like the way you would fight a brother than anything else.

I suppose it's people who are serious about martial arts, but not serious themselves.

Efficiency.

2009-02-26T00:40:00.003Z

The most honourable and wise Maestro that I am blessed to study under was recently injured. Being the kind of man he is, he could not abandon his students.

So, on his sick-bed, brought down by a sprained ankle, he had a revelation.

Pinning a foot is a training tool we haven't used until recently. The idea is- one person stays still, and the other comes in and tries to stab. Historical terms could be Patient and Agent... Hindering the back foot forces one person to be the Patient.

CappoFerro says that there are tempos to strike in (yes, I'm mixing terms, so what). Generally, as he steps, as he goes to strike, after he strikes and... stuff. Nailing your foot to the floor shows this quite clearly. If your distance is spot on, the agent will get a sword to the face every time- why?

Because, just as it is hard to pat your head and rub your tummy at the same time, it is hard to step forward and parry at the same time.*

*This may not be true. If you have set the blade so your strong lay by his weak, you may be able to turn the blade offline in the natural progression of a step. Thus parrying, stepping and killing in the one movement.

Further Teaching...

2009-01-27T21:06:00.003Z

The Beast's suggestion that I may be interested in getting coaching qualifications has piqued my interest. I am probably a year away from being ready to take the assessment. Primarily because I still have a lot to learn, after all, I've only been doing this for 9 months or so. There are other reasons, for example, I am still to discover what 'my' weapon/system is.

Still it looks like a good qualification to have. The BFHS (British Federation for Historical Swordplay) are trying to produce an equivalent to the UK coaching certificate and the syllabus looks pretty comprehensive. Between turning 15 and discovering what women are for, I spent a lot of time freezing my nuts off in a Topper (the boat, not the hat), or a Wayfarer. During this time I gained enough qualifications to prove I was competent, did some first aid training (focusing on drowning, shock and hypothermia rather than anything I'm likely to see when fighting) and spent time teaching Scouts the difference between close haul and long reach. A morning of this resulted in an afternoon of free sailing. I found it all rather enjoyable and rewarding. Anyway.. that was two summers of teaching.

The BFHS certification covers first aid, child protection (may be useful, after all, Scouting is one of the reasons I got here), Teaching ability (group and 1 to 1), and a range of other sensible and practical things.

I'm expecting quite a few differences between this and what I had to go through to instruct on water, and I would expect (even demand) that sailing criteria are far more rigorous than the BFHS.

As sports go, sailing is open to more serious accidents than HEMA. It may sound silly- after all how could sitting in a boat be more 'dangerous' than getting hit with swords? The simple answer is this- if something goes wrong in a boat there is only you and lethal amounts of water and the wind continues to blow. If something goes wrong with HEMA, you may get a broken bone but at the first sign of something serious- everything stops and those who can will step in and help.

As knowledge goes- to teach the basic principles you do not need to be an astounding swordsman. Theoretically you will become a good swordsman by drumming these in and developing perfect measure/true time/whatever the Italian version of BraveStaar calls it. The principles are easy to understand, perfecting them and using them under pressure is a different matter altogether. Sailing, you need to be able to deal with a lot more, mostly because there's no guarantee of conditions. You can play the odds, but even then you've still got to be able to bring people safely back during the uncommon but likely scenarios.

From what I've read so far the accreditation is good, and has a lot of use away from the salle. It is certainly something to keep in mind.

Teaching.

2009-01-22T16:55:00.001Z

It's the New Year, and this means one thing- people with Resolutions.We're a small group and although I have the experience and skill to fight safely, there's not really enough room in the salle to hold two classes/one class and some freeplay. This means that we cater for the newcomer, and all of us take part in the beginner's lesson.

I bet you can already imagine my groans and sighs.. Well, you're wrong. Basics are basics for a reason. Of course, I would like to go on to some hideously complex stuff or just get back to a bit of freeplay/sparring/pressure testing but the basics are important. You can't spend too much time on judging distance, building up muscle memory and learning how not to get hit.

Besides, this is the umpteenth time I've done the introductory class and so I am confident (and knowledgable) enough to explain principles and correct the beginner. This low-level instruction helps me one hell of a lot, I can see and feel the mistakes that I make. It also slows me down
and forces me to really think about what I am doing. The more thought that goes into it now, the less thought is needed when I don't have time to think.

It's also showing me that I understand things I thought I hadn't. We're still on a rapier phase and we were doing the basic thrust parry drill. (A thrusts slowly, B parries.) Even working at slow speed I was automatically disengaging the blade, circling under and taking advantage of the opening. Slowing down to explain why I did it helped me realise that I, too, take the blade wide during my parries.

I have only just 'got' the void of the right foot, again when I paused and explained it to one of the newcomers. Under pressure, I suspect I'll still use the void of the body- it just feels safer. Still, it's good to have another technique to use.

Teaching is a very good way to lock the basics into your mind. Maybe I should get Swetnam's manual and see what happens if I start trying to explain that to people.

Drill, Drill and Drill again.

2009-01-15T00:27:00.002Z

It's been a while. We've had Christmas and the usual inactivity that happens. But now it's time to get back into the habit of writing. My apologies if this is tedious, but I am forcing myself to write- otherwise I'll just take my sword in hand, wander into the sunset and not talk about how fun everything is.

What has happened in the world of HemaGoth? To be honest, not much. I've had my first freeplay using Longsword. I like it. That's about as much as I can say right now.

I'm starting to feel the need to push myself. My second intentions are poor, my identification and forcing of openings is poor. The basic body mechanics are there, but I'm more of a reactive than a pro-active fighter.

Prove yourself.

2009-01-02T00:20:00.000Z

I forgot I had a pile of notes made when I had something to say... The life thing's been a bit full recently, so here's a recycled one.

Being a longhaired, pastyfaced, makeup wearing freak I have had people demand that I justify my existence. Why do I make myself look this way? Why don't I follow their fashions? Why do you listen to such depressing music? and so-on. Really hard questions to answer seriously. It isn't because of some dark hole in my heart or anything like that. Even my usual, unassailable reason (when I go clubbing, I get to be surrounded by beautiful women in corsets), isn't actually the real one.

I have no real reason beyond I like it, and this makes me a 'better' Goth. I no longer have anything to prove. I can just shrug my shoulders, stride onto the dancefloor and dance like a man covered in bees with his feet nailed to the floor.

Now, American Goths tend to take themselves FAR too seriously. They pull the vampire schtick (even psychic vampires now, obviously for the ones who aren't hardcore enough for blood). They just simply don't get the whole point of goth. For them it's all depression, shit poetry, worse makeup and the Crow. They've corrupted it to a point that they take offence at me titling a photo "I'm more goth than you are".

I could see how it may cause offence, but then again. It was a photo of me drinking absinthe out of a coffin shaped hipflask in the graveyard by the ruins of Whitby Abbey the morning after seeing the Damned (or was it All About Eve.. Or the Wayne Hussey). Anyway, you get my point.

I am noticing something similar with HEMA/HES. The Yanks seem to be trying to prove themselves all the time. Maybe it's part of a disconnection with history- the fact that as children they weren't, as a matter of course, shipped over to the nearest castle. That they will never understand why it was immensly amusing to see Marilyn Manson (not a goth, I hasten to add) shouting "Milton Keynes!" to get an audience warmed up. Maybe it's one of those cultural things that I'll never understand, like their obsession with guns (I know, a bizarre claim from someone newly developing a thing for swords, but I've always found guns a little loud and impersonal)

But that is it- it's probably from a lack of cultural understanding. I can see it being difficult to show that what you are doing is culturally valid when you can't stand somewhere and say "I am learning how to fight like people did on this spot 700 years ago" or "This is probably the methods used when our 'Lord Protector' was accusing the King of treason".

I can see the irreverence we treat this as being a touch irksome to those who can't do this. Things like the romanticism of living in a castle wear off once you see there's nowhere to put the central heating, double glazing would look stupid and the roof costs a fortune to maintain.

And don't get me started on the subject of why American comedies tend to have a laugh track...

Party Time

2008-12-15T19:31:00.001Z

And that is why I have been silent recently. Well, that and I haven't had anything worth saying. My little group have been working through things and although things have been good I have had no epiphanies about technique or made any significant links.

This is part of martial arts. Sometimes you have times that aren't stagnation, but aren't that thrilling for other people. "Today, my point control improved a fraction" "I'm spending time fighting left handed because I'm starting to get visible muscle growth on one side of my body".. Not worthy of a post in itself.

Drilling can be tedious. In fact it should be, your mind is going to be so busy during a fight that you don't want to think about how to move into true guardant/posta de finestre de whatever. In fact, during a fight, you shouldn't even be thinking about the name- *This* should be when your opponenent does *that* and so-on. It is supposed to be instinctive, and that's what drilling is for. If you can successfully perform a drill whilst your mind is elsewhere, you have been practicing properly.

I suppose I should start talking about muscle memory, something I've been developing in a different field for quite some time and I can feel it building up slowly. However, it is difficult to find the words for it- this is in the realm of the sixth sense. (we have more than five senses- there is sense of balance, sense of body and so-on. We just tend not to talk about them so the language isn't really developed)

Rituals.

2008-11-18T23:13:00.000Z

Your tongue contains quite a lot of nerves and provides your brain with an unceasing torrent of distracting information. You will find this information slows to a trickle if you hold your tongue between your teeth. However, this is a stupid thing to do during a fight. If you find yourself doing that, stop.. Then press your tongue against the roof of your mouth. It has the same effect and you don't risk serious injury.

Why do I mention this? Well, it has struck me that we all have our little quirks with mask on head and sword in hand. The master that I have the honour of being trained by reacts very differently in competition to how he does in freeplay, and as such he encourages his protegés to engage in competition even when the odds are against them.

I have noticed that my mind goes blank shortly after the salute, not in a bad way- I've just stopped thinking and.. well.. fight.. This can lead to problems, since I have noticed a tendency to mirror other people's fighting styles. This will probably fade once I know what I am doing and have learned enough to develop my own preferences, but then again, I would like to keep a little of that chameleonic tendency- knowing how your opponent fights on an instinctive level is a useful tool.

But I digress, rituals are important in their own way. In my opinion, Oriental martial arts overruse them. I could do some psychobabble here but quite frankly I find it insulting when people use long words to prove that they know what they're talking about, so I try not to do it as much as possible.

So the importance of ritual? Well, since it is becoming obvious that I am a fan of magic, I shall explain using Derren Brown as an example. Mr Brown is a sneaky, conniving git- he has, through the use and understanding of ritual, persuaded someone to be drunk every time he sees a certain word. This is allegedly through the use of something called Neurolinguistic programming. Although, you may as well call it semi-hypnosis. The concept involves tying a certain psychological state to a sensation, a Pavlovian response ¹ if you will. This is the mechanism behind a ritual. You also have something known as state-dependent memory- this basically means we're more likely to recall something if we are in a similar state to when we learnt it.

So, we have the mechanisms, or at least some of them. Ritual allows you to step in to 'character', we use it all the time- you hear actors saying that the defining moment of their character is stepping into those clothes for the first time. People have their routines that get them into driving mode. Every one of us has something that brings us luck in certain situations.

This doesn't bring us luck by being lucky- it does it by allowing us time to access the right parts of our brain and tie everything together into the structures that make us better fighters/drivers/pass our exams. It can act as a placebo, allowing you to become calm again and be in the original state that you were taught in. From what I have heard about the Beast's self-defence training, he knows this- but because you cannot calm down when surprised, he tries to control your emotional state to replicate how you would be feeling in a dangerous situation... but my thoughts for teachers and what aspects I think they excel at is for a different post.

So, what are your little rituals?

¹ Pavlov- Russian bloke, discovered classical conditioning. Made dogs salivate to the sound of a bell by ringing the bell and producing food at the same time. Eventually the food was not produced, but the dogs still salivated. Internal physiological effect produced by external, artificially related stimulus. If you spend a lot of time being beaten up whilst wearing a fencing mask, putting the fencing mask on should persuade your body to produce fightystuff before you get hit.

The true detectives.

2008-11-07T15:43:00.000Z

The world's greatest detective (no, not Batman, the other one, comes from London, wears silly hats, smokes and shoots up) had his own martial art you know.

When people think of Mr Holmes, they think of an inquiring mind, but they don't think of a man who could soundly thrash an opponent. Despite the fact that he was no bookworm when it came to thugs. Victorian London wasn't exactly a safe place. Gaslight made the shadows darker. Thugs and garotters hid around the corner and most streets were not safe to walk down.

Enter a Mr Barton-Wright. A fellow who spent an appreciable amount of time in Japan, doing railway-type things that the Empire used to be good at. A time of Isembard Kindgom-Brunel and the building of Tower Bridge. A time when the British could do anything.

So, what did this Barton Wright fellow do?

He took time during railway laying to learn aspects of oriental martial arts, specifically Ju-Jitsu. he then brought it back to London, and taught it as one aspect of a system involving historical fencing, cane fighting, boxing, savate and generally anything that worked.

Stuff happened and Barton-Wright died a pauper. The two fellows he brought over to help teach Jujitsu helped fan the Victorian desire for the Orient and ended up eclipsing Barton-Wright's self defence for ladies and gentlemen. (or as he called it, Bartitsu)

And that, really is where the tale begins. Bartitsu lays forgotten, Barton-Wright in an unmarked grave and forgotten by all those who would never have practiced Karate if it wasn't for his visionary attitude. One comment kept this fighting system alive.

It was more of a throwaway remark in The Final Problem where Sherlock Holmes explains that he defeated Moriarty by use of Baritsu. People started to wonder if it was a real system. It grew from there.

Barton-Wright published a few articles in, if i am not mistaken, the same magazine that first published Sherlock Holmes. A lot of hard work has been put into this and the articles have been collated and re-published. (Mr Beast- I believe this is where the plug should go)

This is a fascinating fighting system, and I hope it is the time for this to re-surface. The historical significance is astounding, the techniques are for civilian, suit wearing combat. So even today it could be used as an effective self defence system. (Umbrella fighting, including how to use the crook to trip, ok the hat as buckler stuff may be a little inconvenient, but then again- why not bring back hats?)

More magic and swords.

2008-10-31T17:25:00.000Z

didn't intend this to become a blog with lessons on the principles of magic. Unfortunately I see quite a few links between magic and fighting and by explaining things in the language of one, I understand it in the context of the other.

There is something known as contact mindreading. During a mindreading show a member of the audience was asked to hide an item in the theatre. The magician would then take the audence member by the wrist and lead them to the hiding place. No stooges were involved and the magician honestly had no idea where the item was. I think the most skilled practicioner of this type of magic could find a ring hidden no higher than the first floor of a building in the City of London (or to be more accurate an urban area of one square mile)

My memory for dates is poor at best, but I believe this kind of thing was fairly popular in the early '20s. At one point, people did this with their only contact being copper wire. (had to be copper, otherwise the electricity from the brain couldn't reach the magician.. or some reason like that).

I do a much lower scale version of this, and it is one trick that I'm happy to 'expose' (or even teach) in the pub because I believe it adds to the wonder of magic in general rather than destroys it.

How does it work, I hear you ask?

It works, more or less, in exactly the same way as the bind. The bind, for those who are uninitiated in the ways of the sword, is the position where you trade witty insults in movies. Naturally, it barely lasts long enough for you to swear but artificially you can manage things like "Join me, my son and together we shall rule the Empire" and so-on.

This connection is a novel realisation for me (although, I think I've been doing it naturally)- Using magical techniques, you can read the mind of your opponent through sword contact. The resistance he places on your sword not only gives you extra momentum on a move, but also tells you if he is about to disengage and a host of information. This is certainly something I want to learn to exploit.

Glossary

2008-10-28T18:03:00.000Z

Since I'm writing this for both old hands and people who have no idea what I'm actually going on about, I suppose I should give a little glossary. If I'm wrong, someone's going to correct me.

HEMA- Historical European Martial Arts
HES- Historical European Swordsmanship
Historical Fencing... Self explanatory.

These are, more or less the same thing. If you want to do something cool with swords, try putting these into Google.

Weapons:

Broadsword- a cut and thrust weapon with an enclosed hilt- you can't lose your fingers, so the style is more upfront. Weighs between one and one and a half bags of sugar.

Rapier- Mostly a stabby weapon with limited cutting ability and hand protection. Weighs around one bag of sugar.

Longsword- Your traditional two handed 'knightly' sword- fingers are vulnerable and the styles reflect this. Weighs between one and one and a half bags of sugar.

Sabre- has two flavours, one is sport sabre and the other is martial. The sport one is considerably lighter. Not too sure about the real sword.

Epeé and Foil- Sport fencing swords. Have no real idea about the weights, but they are stupidly light.

Grosse Messer- It's a big knife (literally, Grosse- big, Messer- knife ah those crazy germans) Think lovechild of a machete and a knightly sword.

Main Gauche- Left handed dagger, usually paired with a rapier. Used for parrying and stabbing if your opponent gets too close.

Buckler- Small shield held in the fist.

People:

Silver- wrote in 1599, rampant xenophobe, tells some good stories. Remembered that his fighting manual didn't have much in the way of instruction and started writing something else. This got lost before publishing and rediscovered later. Mainly concerns himself with
broadswords.

Vincentio- Does rapier. Silver hates him, has a manual somewhere.

Cappo Ferro- I think IronHead sounds much better, but that's far too manly for a rennaissence italian obsessed with rapiers. Had cameo in The Princess Bride.

Lichtenheur- Medieval German. Does lots of stuff on blade awareness and feeling the movement. Mostly Longsword, but has a comprehensive system.

Fiore- Medieval Italian. Inspired by animals. Strength of the bear, Speed of the puma, Eyes of the hawk, Ears of the wolf.. kind of thing. Mostly Longsword, but has a comprehensive system.

Drilling should be boring

2008-10-25T23:02:00.001+01:00

Drilling is not the be all and end all of martial arts. Boredom is.

Think about how you are behind the wheel of a car. You drive with a knowledge of your lead foot, or at least I hope you do. The idea behind driving lessons is exactly the same as those behind drilling. You need to stop thinking about things.

As you learn to drive (and I apologise to the Colonials) you will spend quite a lot of time feeling for the clutch. You will spend hours trying to build up those routines and awareness that allow you to hold a conversation whilst processing one hell of a lot of information.

You shouldn't think about reactions, guards, positions, spoons, distance, True Times, the aesthetic pleasure gained from the woman behind your opponenent (if it's remarkably more pleasant weather than it is now).. You build as much as you can into your kinesthetic sense and work from there. You stop trying to drive and start reacting to the conditions.

Drilling is not trying to win, it is trying to minimise risk. With a drill, you know where the blow is coming from. You should have one movement needed to block it (or a group of plays). Your partner is helping you learn, not trying to make sure you carry your hands home between your teeth. Even in non co-operative drills.

Once you become so bored with a specific drill that you can do it blindfold, then you might- and only might- not need that drill.

Instructions on card tricks.

2008-10-25T10:48:00.000+01:00

I dabble a little in card and coin tricks. Nothing big or clever, just enough to keep me amused and to build up my dexterity. This has given me what appears to be a novel view of muscle memory- but I will share that at a later date.

This is more about manuals and the difficulties in creating a workable motion from the written word. Below is an extract from 'Expert at the Card Table' by Erdnase (Dover publications, reprint of a 1902 book about cheating at gambling)

To cull two cards-
Undercut about half deck, in-jog first card and shuffle off. Undercut to in-jog, run one less that first number running one more and second number out-jog. (The two desired cards are now located at top and bottom of the middle packet, which is held by the in and out-jogs) Under-cut to out jog, forming break at in-jog, in-jog first card (a desired card), throw to break, and shuffle off. (The two desired cards are now together, being the injog card and the next above it.) Undercut to in-jog and shuffle off. This leaves the two desired cards at the bottom.

Confusing isn't it- and the bloody thing has no illustrations. The thing is, it is really hard to explain magic using a static medium. It has it's own set of dynamics that the uninitiated will not understand. Also, this is not the only way to cull two cards- once you get the principles and the basic moves, you will find your patterns altering towards a way that is more natural to you.

I don't know many magicians who Lay Down The Law. They are more concerned with the effect rather than the method. This may be one of the better, harder to detect methods of culling cards. However, if you can just put the two cards where you want then do it.

Essentially, you take a base set of manoeuvres and principles, then adjust them to fit your own body mechanics and produce a desired effect. If you can produce that effect with less mucking about, then aren't you going to do that?

Magicians can't guarantee that their interpretation of the instructions are correct, and they are written in modern English.

Is any of this that different to HEMA?

Let's defeat Knife Crime

2008-10-24T17:36:00.000+01:00

There is all this bollocks about how to make carrying a knife less cool.

As anyone who has held a real sword can tell you, they are cool. There is something in holding a few pounds of metallic death that sings to the soul. Even oriental swords have a weak echo of this feeling.

We will never stop this being cool, so why not make it realistic?

We can get daggers with fencing blades and safe messers, there are people out there who would be good judges of the injuries collected. Let's just let kids stab each other in safety (with bare minimum of actual instruction- try to reflect exactly what would happen if they pulled a knife on someone).

Since practically everyone has a mobile phone, send them a text message saying

You are now a murderer, oh and by the way unless you look after the wound you got you will die from bloodloss soon. Good luck approaching the hospital- they've been told to look out for people who have been in a knife fight.

Get the loser to lie in situe for an hour or so. Maybe even draw a chalk outline. Send the message 'do this for real and you will die'. Give them tales of duels where the 'winner' was the chap who died second.

Make them realise that there is no such thing as a knife fight, it's a stabbing competition. The idea that you will come out of one unharmed is ridiculous. Do this for real and you will die. If they still want to fight, then help them do it safely.

Drum it in- swordplay and knife fighting is cool, it's great fun, it provides lots of benefits like improved health and so on.

Swords and fighting are cool. Killing people isn't.

SFI's immoderate moderation.

2008-10-23T18:22:00.000+01:00

For context, this is a thread questioning the decision to ban someone and commenting, in general on the lack of friendliness in the forum.

This is a comment by a moderator on SFI- Gregory Mele. I have no problem mentioning his name, since he made the comment in the public domain. However, I have concealed other names since they were making the comments in private, and on another forum.

Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 3:29 pm
Mr B wrote:
Somebody stir up some trouble on SFI so they can rant about it.
MR A wrote:
I'm working on it.
)
This sort of nonsense helps no-one. If A really *wants* to be reinstated here, then as his friend, maybe you should let A, C and I try and work this out rather than looking to "stir up some trouble" here?

This was from a thread entitled "Are Hemaboy, Hemaman, Hemagirl and Hemadog finished?" I have secretly harboured a wish to be personally insulted by Richard O'Brien, but failing that, I suppose a second rate lookalike will do. Yes, I realise this comment may end up with my skin becoming as black as a graveyard at midnight and as blue as my soul.

The full original quote was said with the irreverent sense of humour which is an integral part of the forum and is one of the reasons I enjoy reading it. And hopefully why I will only hunted down and get beaten up a smidgen.

So- the SFI Mods have banned people for alleged trolling, then made public a comment on a private forum (on a different site, with a different attitude and out of context) in a blatent attempt to troll and justify their general rubbishness. If this is not against the word of the rules, it is certainly against the spirit of them.

This sort of nonsense helps no-one. If Gregory really *wants* to increase the respectibility of SFI and HES (Historical European Swordsmanship- it's like HEMA, except they only use swords) then maybe he should be impartial and transparent. He also edited the site owner's post, for innocent reasons and in good faith. (You've got to be naieve to fail to see how suspicious that looks)

And the irony is: I wouldn't have had my mild antipathy against SFI reinforced if it wasn't for the despicable actions of a moderator on that site.

The phrase- again, I reiterate, in a private area of a different website- "Somebody stir up some trouble on SFI so they can rant about it." Was all that was needed to show that SFI is not a good place to go. It wasn't meant with any malice and I seriously doubt anyone was going to do that.

Even if it was in context (which it wasn't) in a public area (which it wasn't) there would be no need to bring it up as a means to disgrace your opponent.

I feel sorry for those newbies who find that as their first experience for seeking information. There are better places out there, ones that are more welcoming and have more information than a newbie would need with people who take pleasure in sharing it.

Mr Gregory Mele, I question your ethics, your methodology, your impartiality and your desire to make HEMA/HES a thriving and interesting community.

[edit- the offending comments have now been removed. I'm not one for revisionism]

What Hema has done for me.

2008-10-22T17:42:00.001+01:00

There is something strange about HEMA- it's a bit academic compared to how you would expect a martial art to be. This is an unfortunate side effect of us no longer carrying swords and challenging people to duels for farting in our general direction. We have a bastardised, sporting version of swordplay and.. well it's bastardised, fair and generally sporting.

Without blowing my own trumpet- I am an intelligent chap and having an extra bit that's a touch cerebral helps engage me a bit more. I was surprised at how easy I found 16th century printed English was to read (the handwriting's a bugger, but then it's always been like that). So HEMA has given me something to do with my brain when I would usually be idle. I quite like this aspect, but I can understand that others will find this a touch intimidating. There is no need, people are willing to teach and you can keep clear of the books if you really feel that you must. I urge otherwise, but that's for no other reason than because I find it fascinating.

My kinesthetic sense has been fine tuned. I'm now more aware about where I am and what I'm doing without being conscious of it- I have a much better internal map of where I am in the world. This leads into improved muscle memory, even unrelated things like touch typing have improved because of this internal map. I've not gone back to any old sports, but I'm fairly sure I will have a slight improvement because of this.

My balance has improved and so has my general, low level fitness. I judge distances/widths better. I'm a lot more alert without showing it- although my threat perception isn't top notch, I can feel a more self assured posture and an aura of "you don't want to mess with me" starting to develop.

My dancing has got a little more varied. You wouldn't believe how easy it is to tweak guard positions and drills into something that doesn't look out of place on the dancefloor. Silver's True Guard is fairly close the archetypical "Woe is me" hand stapled to forehead pose.

I am, generally, more relaxed. The general exercise does all sorts of lovely things to the brain that makes it a better place to be. Of course, when people at work start getting to me, a serene smile crosses my face as I mentally list the ways I could get them to STFU and RTFM. So that helps a little as well.

And, I'm insured against accidentally dismembering people. Which still hasn't ceased to make me smile.

Weapons II

2008-10-20T19:04:00.000+01:00

Last post, I covered the common weapons. So, now I should give an overview of the uncommon and complex.

Sword and Bucker- egad, this looks fun and painful. I've got no idea about the guards, except I recognise a few as tricky and deceitful, depriving your opponent of a measurement of their risk. The few bouts I have witnessed (mostly on youtube) come across as fast, vaguely confusing and relying on decent strategy so your flinch reactions don't end up killing you.

Pollaxe- It's an axe, a hammer and a spear all in one. I would call this the swiss army knife of weapons, but that makes it sound pansy. Far from it, this is more like the anti-tank gun of the medieval era.

Scythes... Yes there are sources out there that describe scythe fighting. Proper two handed big scythes.

Quarterstaff- Nothing like the Robin Hood stuff. The extra reach granted by holding it by the near quarter gives enough range that a talented staffman can take on multiple swordmen.

16th century dutch barroom brawling- still valid now, except for the chapters on throwing people by their hair and what to do when someone is trying to stab you with their eating knife.

Umbrella and bowler hat fighting. Eat your heart out Mr Steed. Someone was actually doing that on the streets of London.

And the best thing? The list is almost endless. If you master one, you have several more to learn, maybe you will be lucky enough to get your hands on a 'new' old manuscript that gives novel instructions for a known weapon. They're out there.. Somewhere. (and I have opinions about the new Fiore furore.. but that is for a later date)

Europe has been at war in one way or another since one tribe found another. Even at peace, there have been civilian ways to kill each other.

On weaponry

2008-10-19T22:47:00.000+01:00

So what weapons are covered in HEMA?

It's seems to be one of three. Rapier, Backsword or Longsword. This isn't an exclusive or comprehensive list, you can find many weapons if you look hard enough. At the larger events you will be able to find people willing to teach practically anything.

Rapier is as close as I want to get to sport fencing, it's actually rather fun and there are lots of subtleties. I've not moved on to using a second weapon, but I am looking forward to learning a little rapier and cloak, rapier and dagger or rapier and buckler. Apparently, this kind of admission may result in people questioning my manliness. But I wear nailvarnish and eyeliner, so I'm used to that.

Backsword is interesting- It's a bit simplistic, there's only a few methods of attack and defence but this allows a better understanding of the mechanics of the fight. You don't have to worry about lots of guards and many places to attack. It's a good starter for people who want to get a feel for the dynamics of a fight. Besides. Paradoxes of Defence is actually quite a laugh to read, there might not be a lot of information about fighting but it tells you a lot about the time.

I don't really know much about longsword. It comes in two main flavours, German and Italian. German is a bit forthright and potentially suicidal. Italian is a bit sneakier and complex. It looks interesting, but I've only had brief instruction on the two types so I don't have enough knowledge to form an opinion. It looks fun though.

HEMA, defined by what it is not.

2008-10-19T10:19:00.000+01:00

Is HEMA full of frustrated Larpers and renactors?

No.

Are there frustrated larpers in there?

Yes. Me for one. I have also been a frustrated karate type and a frustrated sport fencer.

So why did I get into HEMA?

The short answer is I got dumped, but this isn't about that. What happened is I was left with time on my hands and the need to do something.

I have problems with Sport fencing, it's a bit two dimensional- the rules don't really reflect what you would do if someone is trying to stick a giant kebab skewer in you.

I dislike the formality of oriental martial arts and it doesn't have a resonance with me. I'm learning someone else's culture when there is so much of my own hidden in the shadows.

LARP and Reenactment are just people running around in silly costumes. At least LARP has nicer food and more comfortable outfits.

So- why HEMA?

It is informal- people (paradoxically, considering my last post) encourage you to develop your own views. It's not just repeat after me. Not only are you allowed to ask 'what if' or 'how does that work' it is almost demanded of you. You are encouraged to find new knowledge that interests you. Some people might just say this is because my instructor is lazy, I would argue it's because he is a teacher rather than robot.

It is realistic- It's not foam rubber swords, pointy ears and shouting "double, double, single". It's not "you can't strike unless you make a successful parry". It's not being authentic in all ways but the actual fight.

It's he's got a "fucking big sharp piece of metal and he wants to kill you, stop him". It's authentic in the fight and the fight alone. There are safety measures, and politeness (and people clever enough to wear a box) dictates that you don't kick them in the bollocks and decapitate them whilst they are.. distracted. But this is taught as a legitimate technique.

You can slash, thrust, pommel strike, disarm, wrestle, and aim for the face. It is a fight. Sometimes it's not pretty, but so what- pretty doesn't save your life.

And then there's the range of weapons, but that is for another post.

You are only as good as your opponent.

2008-10-18T11:18:00.000+01:00

Are you the best you can be?

Are you sure?

How can you consider yourself good if your opponents are all rubbish or non-existent?

Finding good opponents is a difficult thing for the Hema newbie- I don't mean good fighters, there are certainly quite a few of those around. In fact, that's part of the problem. The good fighters are..glib.. about starting a fight. They know their abilities, are sure of the level of safety they can maintain when fighting. A battle holds little to no real world fear. Sure, injuries happen, but 9 times out of 10 it's been an accident in the truest sense of the word.

Now, I'm no naive fool- I know that confidence is best gained by faking it, and it's something that I'm making moves towards. However, it is intimidating to challenge those who outclass you in many ways. Pain may be a good teacher, but you need to have time to realise why you've just had your arse handed to you- that split second between oops and ow is what teaches me, not when you've been hit five times before you've finished wondering why you were hit the first time. (well, except that time you lost concentration, twat.)

I realise the value of a decent foe. This is why the HemaBoy debacle surprises me.

For a scene that prides itself on being able to beat someone up, shake hands after a fight and then head off to the pub. We're awfully afraid of conflict. SFI (a forum I browse once in a while, but cannot bear to read properly) is reknown for sycophantic behaviour and punishing those who break the status quo. HemaBoy has been the centre of a furore because he was being a bit of an outspoken gobshite and trod on a few toes.

Will people just wake up and realise one little thing- We have come together because of the love of a good fight, it is what we do. We spar with honour, We proudly announce when the opponent has made a good, well placed hit and you compliment your opponent when he has done something well.

Why is the friendly, good natured obliteration of your opponent only ever limited to the battlefield?

Without an opponent, all you're doing is waving a stick in the air. If that's the case, maybe Morris Dancing would be your thing.

Please allow me to introduce myself

2008-10-18T10:59:00.000+01:00

Well, what with HemaBoy, HemaMan and now HemaGirl, I thought this would be a good time to find my voice.

What these lot have in common is that they're all old hands at this. There seems to be lack of a voice about what it is to be new to this...

I am new to all of this. My martial arts history is practically nothing. I got bored with karate well before I got past the white belt. I've had introductions to fencing which stuck me as immensely two dimensional and pointless. I also, at least on the surface, conform to a lot of the stereotypes about the kind of person that participates in this kind of thing.

However, don't assume that I am writing under any form of anonymity. I'm fairly sure those who know me will identify me within the first few posts (assuming the name hasn't given me away already)

So consider this a fresh pair of eyes, untainted by a lot of the politics and too new to remember the glory days. The answers are not in the past- The past merely serves to provide us with interesting questions.