its funny, the more you look at old european fighting styles and japanese styles, they start to look rather similar. There's an easy reason for this: there's only so many ways to swing a sword, or throw a punch, or stab with a spear, and whoever studies how to do it well will come to the same general endpoints.
Lets not troll. Its really quite impressive how they've adapted something similar to simple Japanese swordsmanship to fit with a large european polearm/long axe. I wouldnt say axes tho, they look more like shortened glaives or bardiches but hey, it looks good and seems to work. Only problem I have is I've used a Dane axe and have folks in my society that use them and they can't be moved with such grace or quickness, like a sword or those practice ones do. Sorry ^^''
As someone else already said, it looks like the bastard child of Kendo and something else...
Gettin' in close with a sax would do the job a fuckload faster than prancing around stage fighting and disregarding your opponent's follow-up moves, but that's just my opinion...
A.) The Norse would train for use of axes because that's what most people could afford, and it's what was on hand in the villages. The raiders and militarymen would use swords, but the farmers and laborers needed to have knowledge of ax use.
b.) The Norse didn't use shield wall tactics. Norse tactics tended to favor a mass attack, but the shields were smaller and more maneuverable for single combat. In essence, they hadn't figured out the virtues of shield walls. (cont'd)
the two-handed weapons are based in a large atac, when you can attack at 4 metters, a short weapon look to the guy very happy but the shield mades the fights with two-handed in a anti-cavalerie mode
Rubbish!! Be honest and tell the people that this stuff is completely made up from a dim mixture of 15th century fencing illustrations and some kendo-training! This is NOT a historical fighting system!
2 handed weapons are more for dueling, longer, heavier, and in place of a shield they have added distance for safety and leverage which translates to shock power, which renders a shield not only useless but danger to the shield user who is constantly thrown off balance.
I heard of 1 instance of a French who went to Japan to study kendo. After 2 years he beat the sensei and everyone in the school. The next day the Japanese police cancelled his visa & came and arrested him, handcuffed him, and drove him to the airport for deportation. Perhaps you've noticed the best Kyokushin fighters today are not Japanese. If you think there's no politics and racism involved in the cult of Oriental fantasy martial art, (LAF-RPG, live action fantasy role playing game), ur asleep
@bhibatsu You HEARD of an instance? Such an instance would create a huge uproar in the Kendo communities worldwide, and it should not be difficult for you to provide a source for such a claim. Unless, of course, it's just an urban legend. Never trust these "I heard of" stories.
Kendo sucks ass. If you believe everything in movie-land, they'd have you believe the Japs invented all martial arts, when history has proven whenever the samurais encountered European swordsmen, they lost. In the words of 1 French fencing coach "the Japanese know only how to cut, they know nothing of sword fighting". Scientific studies have proven the Norman broadsword has all the cutting power of the best katana without being flimsy and prone to breaking, & also having bashing shock power.
@bhibatsu Scientific studies? Flimsy and prone to breaking? Shock power? Where do you get all this nonsense? I realize these are old comments, but they are absolute rubbish. Sure, a viking sword is by no means worse than a katana, but they were made for completely different purposes. And, I might add, varied in quality just as much as historical katana, and other swords for that matter.
This is just embarrasing. As a swede i would love for there to be a "viking" martial art. It is however just to obvious that these clowns just stole the "kendo" concept and traded the japanese swords for axes and staves... FFS
his stance seems improper at certain points in the video. You wouldn't want to stand with a two handed axe pointing at your opponent, it would take too long to "wind up". You can see what I mean at 1:29, a real axe wouldn't be able to move that fast from that position.
I didn't think any texts regarding the use of this kind of axe survived. It is doubtful this system is based on actual combat experience of any kind. At least someone is trying though.
@Matunaagah "I didn't think any texts regarding the use of this kind of axe survived."
From the viking age? No, they haven't. I do believe there are manuals dealing with the use of axes (among other things), but much more recent than the viking age. This looks too much like Kendo practice to me.
I like how some jackass rolled through these comments and thimbed down any that questioned Stav, but failed to make a valid rebuttal. Very mature. Probably the poster of the video.
This is all very interesting, but I have to ask. Which were the resources you used for your training? There has to be some kind of written material from which you drew those drills, right?
I haven't watched this in some time, but every time I do I am amazed at how phony and contrived this looks.
Each technique looks mechanical and contrived, not fluid or practical. The moves seem to be more concerned with tying into some runic mysticism than any practical application. Stav doesn't make any sense if you know anything about the history of Scandinavia and the Sagas, but it makes a lot of sense if you suspect that an amateur martial artist with a nationalist bent made it all up.
I have a 2 handed 2 sided battle axe and it is swung almost like a baseball bat.
Seeing what armor can withstand and wht it cant, the first man to land a cleave blow win. Axes are not light and inflict massive trauma. I can not see the raiders of old or any ancient warrior using weapons as depicted in this.
Darkswisdom, fairness or not doesn't come into it. It is just a simple acceptance (or not) of stark reality. That kind of realism is what makes the Nordics so great.
It's not fair to say they were the best. Nobody can define which is best, because they are all different. Its how you utilize the skill yourself, that makes someone the best fighter.
I dunno man, none of the drills seem to take into account axes biting, or axes locking.
First of all, none of the secondary strikes are preceded by the delay of having to dislodge your axe after the first strike.
Also, axes tend to get tangled and can be a devil to get apart again. Sometimes it's best just to close quickly and pull a seax. Some of these moves show parries with the stav axe that could really bind you up with a norse axe, but they just glide right out of it.
You have a point, I'm really not sure you can pull the same moves with a Bearded Axe that you could with a sword. Stav really concerns me with the fact that it uses weapons that the vikings, or other Scandanavians, wouldn't have knowledge of, and other weapons rather improperly. I also don't think the Norse even had two handed axes, as they primarily wanted to fight with a shield on one arm.
Ah, there it is. I suppose they /did/ have two handed axes. However, it does make me wonder about their use, like you say. I think you might get a lot of tangles trying to use them like this.
The Norse did use both two and one handed axes, but an axe that short would need to be used with a shield if the wielder expected to live more than a minute in a shieldwall. A Dane axe would need to be long enough to stretch across the gap between shieldwalls.
Swords were used (by law) for holmganga (often men had to borrow a sword to satisfy the law), so I'm trying to figure out how Stav can explain why the Norse would train for axes that are not fit for war OR personal combat.
Again, another good point. The weapon use here is bothering me more and more. Especially with the fact that I'm seeing very little actual Shield use. I'm finding this kind of disturbing.
its funny, the more you look at old european fighting styles and japanese styles, they start to look rather similar. There's an easy reason for this: there's only so many ways to swing a sword, or throw a punch, or stab with a spear, and whoever studies how to do it well will come to the same general endpoints.
rulebook 6 months ago
Lets not troll. Its really quite impressive how they've adapted something similar to simple Japanese swordsmanship to fit with a large european polearm/long axe. I wouldnt say axes tho, they look more like shortened glaives or bardiches but hey, it looks good and seems to work. Only problem I have is I've used a Dane axe and have folks in my society that use them and they can't be moved with such grace or quickness, like a sword or those practice ones do. Sorry ^^''
Johtas1 8 months ago
vikings don't use martial arts... we go into battle, destroy our enemies. easy. we either are victorious or go to valholl, nothing fancy aboot it.
MonthuRa 9 months ago
This is fukin shit. Viking-samurais lol
kapteenijuhani 1 year ago
Good action. More in the forest? If you like:
watch?v=2nE55oKZyRo
1buergervonatlantis 1 year ago
@gilmaris
Flamming everyone with your self-fancied bloated ego, you're depriving a cave somewhere of a troll!
Galumph along now!
bhibatsu 1 year ago
nice
xvxHelgexvx 1 year ago
I'm not impressed...
As someone else already said, it looks like the bastard child of Kendo and something else...
Gettin' in close with a sax would do the job a fuckload faster than prancing around stage fighting and disregarding your opponent's follow-up moves, but that's just my opinion...
ImOnlyInYourHead 1 year ago
A.) The Norse would train for use of axes because that's what most people could afford, and it's what was on hand in the villages. The raiders and militarymen would use swords, but the farmers and laborers needed to have knowledge of ax use.
b.) The Norse didn't use shield wall tactics. Norse tactics tended to favor a mass attack, but the shields were smaller and more maneuverable for single combat. In essence, they hadn't figured out the virtues of shield walls. (cont'd)
BlackCatYupo 1 year ago
@BlackCatYupo What happened to the cont'd? I am very curious to hear your reasoning that they didn't have shield walls, for instance.
Gilmaris 1 year ago
im norwegian, and i have newer seen this kind of martial arts... in viking reanactment`s they are figthing for real. and it is nothing like this.
NixonAre 1 year ago 2
the two-handed weapons are based in a large atac, when you can attack at 4 metters, a short weapon look to the guy very happy but the shield mades the fights with two-handed in a anti-cavalerie mode
Karofaar 2 years ago
this video is bullshit. no offense.
Draconigen1413 2 years ago 2
Rubbish!! Be honest and tell the people that this stuff is completely made up from a dim mixture of 15th century fencing illustrations and some kendo-training! This is NOT a historical fighting system!
Schwertgosch 2 years ago 4
2 handed weapons are more for dueling, longer, heavier, and in place of a shield they have added distance for safety and leverage which translates to shock power, which renders a shield not only useless but danger to the shield user who is constantly thrown off balance.
Shields are for mass melee grunts.
2 handed weapons for heroes and champions.
bhibatsu 2 years ago
I heard of 1 instance of a French who went to Japan to study kendo. After 2 years he beat the sensei and everyone in the school. The next day the Japanese police cancelled his visa & came and arrested him, handcuffed him, and drove him to the airport for deportation. Perhaps you've noticed the best Kyokushin fighters today are not Japanese. If you think there's no politics and racism involved in the cult of Oriental fantasy martial art, (LAF-RPG, live action fantasy role playing game), ur asleep
bhibatsu 2 years ago
@bhibatsu You HEARD of an instance? Such an instance would create a huge uproar in the Kendo communities worldwide, and it should not be difficult for you to provide a source for such a claim. Unless, of course, it's just an urban legend. Never trust these "I heard of" stories.
Gilmaris 1 year ago
Kendo sucks ass. If you believe everything in movie-land, they'd have you believe the Japs invented all martial arts, when history has proven whenever the samurais encountered European swordsmen, they lost. In the words of 1 French fencing coach "the Japanese know only how to cut, they know nothing of sword fighting". Scientific studies have proven the Norman broadsword has all the cutting power of the best katana without being flimsy and prone to breaking, & also having bashing shock power.
bhibatsu 2 years ago 2
@bhibatsu Scientific studies? Flimsy and prone to breaking? Shock power? Where do you get all this nonsense? I realize these are old comments, but they are absolute rubbish. Sure, a viking sword is by no means worse than a katana, but they were made for completely different purposes. And, I might add, varied in quality just as much as historical katana, and other swords for that matter.
Gilmaris 1 year ago
This is just embarrasing. As a swede i would love for there to be a "viking" martial art. It is however just to obvious that these clowns just stole the "kendo" concept and traded the japanese swords for axes and staves... FFS
zer0ing 2 years ago 21
@zer0ing agree @ all !! it's so far from using a broad axe....
FURIEREPAZZO 1 year ago
@zer0ing You now this Swedish martial arts is before even the japanes hade thears fighting art -.-'
Read more idiot.
If you whould see a real Viking whit a axe and maybe a shield you should run for you should be so dam fucking scarde xD
88Tomm88 1 year ago
@zer0ing You have do value to the european martial arts and olny to say that men are clowns. You have respect, thing that you not have.
eudsonamx 1 year ago
I love how they seem to draw their axes from a scabbard like at 00:13. Hilarious.
Schwertfechter 2 years ago 2
his stance seems improper at certain points in the video. You wouldn't want to stand with a two handed axe pointing at your opponent, it would take too long to "wind up". You can see what I mean at 1:29, a real axe wouldn't be able to move that fast from that position.
I didn't think any texts regarding the use of this kind of axe survived. It is doubtful this system is based on actual combat experience of any kind. At least someone is trying though.
Matunaagah 2 years ago
@Matunaagah that is true. although if anything it would be more of a defensive stance
finchywinchylynchy 2 years ago
@Matunaagah "I didn't think any texts regarding the use of this kind of axe survived."
From the viking age? No, they haven't. I do believe there are manuals dealing with the use of axes (among other things), but much more recent than the viking age. This looks too much like Kendo practice to me.
Gilmaris 1 year ago
Ermac from Mortal Kombat..the best.
GordonFreeman70 2 years ago
I like how some jackass rolled through these comments and thimbed down any that questioned Stav, but failed to make a valid rebuttal. Very mature. Probably the poster of the video.
032125 3 years ago 2
This is all very interesting, but I have to ask. Which were the resources you used for your training? There has to be some kind of written material from which you drew those drills, right?
Kantzarakos 3 years ago
These moves look like practice drills from kenjutsu done with axes...
KurokageBujinkan 3 years ago 4
I haven't watched this in some time, but every time I do I am amazed at how phony and contrived this looks.
Each technique looks mechanical and contrived, not fluid or practical. The moves seem to be more concerned with tying into some runic mysticism than any practical application. Stav doesn't make any sense if you know anything about the history of Scandinavia and the Sagas, but it makes a lot of sense if you suspect that an amateur martial artist with a nationalist bent made it all up.
032125 3 years ago
This seems to happen a lot nowadays. This makes me think of that Tushka-homa thing a while back.
Caliburnis 3 years ago
I have a 2 handed 2 sided battle axe and it is swung almost like a baseball bat.
Seeing what armor can withstand and wht it cant, the first man to land a cleave blow win. Axes are not light and inflict massive trauma. I can not see the raiders of old or any ancient warrior using weapons as depicted in this.
zoolery 4 years ago
Darkswisdom, fairness or not doesn't come into it. It is just a simple acceptance (or not) of stark reality. That kind of realism is what makes the Nordics so great.
freewest4ever 4 years ago
You guys are the greatest! Finally, someone to show that the Norsemen gave the world the firts and best martial arts
freewest4ever 4 years ago
It's not fair to say they were the best. Nobody can define which is best, because they are all different. Its how you utilize the skill yourself, that makes someone the best fighter.
DarkWisdom 4 years ago
I dunno man, none of the drills seem to take into account axes biting, or axes locking.
First of all, none of the secondary strikes are preceded by the delay of having to dislodge your axe after the first strike.
Also, axes tend to get tangled and can be a devil to get apart again. Sometimes it's best just to close quickly and pull a seax. Some of these moves show parries with the stav axe that could really bind you up with a norse axe, but they just glide right out of it.
032125 4 years ago 8
You have a point, I'm really not sure you can pull the same moves with a Bearded Axe that you could with a sword. Stav really concerns me with the fact that it uses weapons that the vikings, or other Scandanavians, wouldn't have knowledge of, and other weapons rather improperly. I also don't think the Norse even had two handed axes, as they primarily wanted to fight with a shield on one arm.
Caliburnis 3 years ago
They did have two handed axes, do a wikipedia search for danish axe. I just seriously doubt they used them like this.
032125 3 years ago
Ah, there it is. I suppose they /did/ have two handed axes. However, it does make me wonder about their use, like you say. I think you might get a lot of tangles trying to use them like this.
Caliburnis 3 years ago
The Norse did use both two and one handed axes, but an axe that short would need to be used with a shield if the wielder expected to live more than a minute in a shieldwall. A Dane axe would need to be long enough to stretch across the gap between shieldwalls.
Swords were used (by law) for holmganga (often men had to borrow a sword to satisfy the law), so I'm trying to figure out how Stav can explain why the Norse would train for axes that are not fit for war OR personal combat.
032125 3 years ago
Again, another good point. The weapon use here is bothering me more and more. Especially with the fact that I'm seeing very little actual Shield use. I'm finding this kind of disturbing.
Caliburnis 3 years ago
you obviously wouldn't use a shield with a two handed weapon, nor are you defenseless without a shield.
Matunaagah 2 years ago
I was referring to "Stav" as a whole. There's a disquieting lack of shield usage in the system.
Caliburnis 2 years ago 3
I see. that is odd for a European, weapons-based martial art, much less one based on viking age weapons.
Matunaagah 2 years ago
lol, you look like noob mmorpg characters come into real life...
(a.k.a. characters with very little gear and a shitty weapon in contrast to others in the game)
hellomate639 4 years ago
Isn't it interesting how much the two handed axe is like a longsword...when used correctly. Nice job.
skallagrimm 4 years ago
Nice axe work, lads!
kneppin 4 years ago
thats jojutsu
leogan 4 years ago
and?
To believe that any martial art system developed in a vacuum is ignorant.
savx6547 4 years ago