Longsword some techniques I (old interpretation)

[JawaPenguin16]

Witcher 2

[MalaRhynn]

It irks me how most people think that European longswords or broadswords are "brute force weapons" when they're actually as graceful, if not more so, then katanas or scimitars.

[ChishioAme]

@MalaRhynn Agreed wholeheartedly. I would actually say they're more graceful, given the amount of finesse required to wield them properly. As someone who started out with the katana and transitioned to the longsword, I can tell you, while there's grace in the katana, it's also a very static art. Your arms move, but your shoulders and your wrists do not. The katana uses the arms and the hips; the longsword employs the whole body.

[MrMeineNamen]

beautifully done men. i hate how people only assume martial arts are for rainbow colored belts and spin kicks. you guys are true masters of the sword

[legolaci]

very good pacing, very good film quality. i also like the part when they show the handwork from close. good work

[WickLTAT]

Does anyone know where I could learn this stuff? All the sites I find are for places outside the US. I'm REALLY interested. I would prefer a place near Florida.

[Kunstdesfechtens]

@WickLTAT Also try the HEMA Alliance. The Meyer Freifechter (an affiliated group) are all over Florida. Look for the HEMA Alliance group finder map. If there's nothing near you, contact HEMAA directly. They may know of people in your area.

[Modhsognir]

hey guys u have a really good tecnique! Not like the other idiots we see on the net! (just... u don't think you should try to do full contact with armor? I think you should be very good)

[cvbpo]

very nice art

[myhood25]

this is the best i ever seen but where did you learn this? I REALLY want to learn this too.

[Kunstdesfechtens]

@myhood25 @myhood25 You're in the U.S. right? Contact the HEMA Alliance. They can help you find people in your area who are doing this. Good luck!

[myhood25]

i must say this is the best i've seen anywhere.

[seanamico]

Now that was very nice.

[JDBermuez]

.. I see a lot of edge-on-edge blocking/displacing...

speed/intent are great, but the edge orientation bothers me.

[jettarulz]

awesome !

[Noahandtheark7]

I must congratulate you on this three part series, DarkFury. It is informative and of good visual quality! I also like the music. :3

I also wish to inform you, and anyone else who wishes to observe the Medieval Longsword Martial Art, that I have compiled a playlist of several vids that showed various techniques and drills. DarkFury, your vids were the first that I added. :D

[cypher2b]

Beautiful!

[DorianTheVillain]

Great work.Very interesting video!!!

[ceskakorouhev]

Good work guys...

[Mishenev]

Очень хорошо!

[BaronWVS]

Nicely done!

[Taiwan168888]

I wonder if someone stabs in your throat, will you be able to launch your last strike?

[Ranziel1]

No, pain shock will immobilize you if not kill you right away.

[Taiwan168888]

Are you sure? I thought the pain will turn into greater hatred to fight back.

[Kunstdesfechtens]

It depends on the nature of the strike. Even a punch to the throat can be a fight-stopper, let alone a sword thrust. It's almost certain to be instantly lethal, or at least incapacitating. Also, note how the techniques in the video very often control the opponent's sword as the technique is being done, or otherwise make sure the opponent's blade is not a threat. However, always be prepared to defend yourself just in case, even if you think the wound is lethal... it might not be!

[kolodej111]

So.. that it should look.. great work guys... Much greetings from Bohemia...

[michaelnumb]

simply fantastic! I'm really surprised! thanks for this video!!!

[maaderllin]

Wow, I'm surprised It wasn't in my favorites yet! I keep watching it over and over since last spring hahaha

[EngaChris]

great technics i like this video

guys you are very good!!

[rebelpersev]

Very nice I just started working with this stuff myself.

[OmteZero]

These guys are good. This is easily the best WMA sword forms on youtube. Fast and elegant.

[CollegiumInArmis]

I agree, the efficient, economical form in Carlos' videos is some of the best around and is something to be emulated.

[Isorrowl]

I like the music.

[comradeinjun]

its the track "crusaders" from the soundtrack from "Kingdom of heaven"

[zeromont]

doesnt need the music.

[Ranziel1]

Video here is an example for blossfecnten (unarmored fencing) that was used by many professional warriors, including knights. If you want to see armored and shield techniques, they are hard to find. You'd better watch manuscripts form Hans Talhoffer, for example.

[superpheonixfire]

can anyone tell me where to find a video of knight fighting style?

[Kunstdesfechtens]

IF you're looking for armoured stuff, ARMA has a harnishfechten video up here somewhere.

[Luttmeyer]

Looks great!

Would be great if you could do such a video a bit slower and explain the steps of each technique...:-)

[thatsmyaudi]

I agree, I've been trying these particular techniques on my buddies but I can't seem to do any correctly except for the 2nd one. =(

[Kunstdesfechtens]

It takes practice. If you can find a good instructor, then make the time to study with him. Joining a group like ARMA and getting to seminars will help a lot.

[Irrehaare]

Are groups like that in UK ? I haven't heard about them.

[Kunstdesfechtens]

There are no ARMA groups in the UK, but there are many other good groups there like the Boar's Tooth Fight School, Schola Gladitoria, and the Hotspur School of Defence. Look up the British Federation for Historical Swordplay to find a group in your area.

[ryc3rz]

As Kunsdesfechtens said there are no ARMA groups in UK, but I'm about to start-up ARMA group in Dublin,Ireland-beginning of June2009. We will start from zero(no instructor), but I hope we'll learn quick. Anubody wants to join?

[Mistwraith99]

I hope things are going well for you, I've gone the same thing in Perth, Australia, and it's going well, despite confusing the hell out of people with changing interpretations of techniques.

/ comment necromancy

[kmelliza]

Very good! I like it!

[greatspiritwar]

Muy bueno

[ErikTributsch]

Sehr lehrreich! Habe echten respekt vor dieser Kampfkunst. Da ich nur "Schaukämpfer" bin, greife ich eher seltener auf solche Techniken zurück. Macht weiter so *daumenhoch* denn unsere Vergangenheit ist viel zu interessant um sie anderen Völkern vorzuenthalten. Erst in den letzten 20 Jahren kristalisiert sich die Rückbesinnung auf Traditionen der Fechtkunst des Früh-,Hoch- und Spätmittelalters.... und ihr habt die Nase weit vorne. Hochachtungsvoll....

Erik

[slavuBOG]

very good work

[Pachequistica]

Excelente video. Deberian hacer uno de un duelo verdadero, tomando las precauciones adecuadas claro esta.

Una pregunta, ¿estas tecnicas de combate son las misma utilizadas en la edad media por los caballeros medievales? ¿era algo generalizado como lo es el kenjutsu para la era feudal japonesa?

[Kunstdesfechtens]

Yes, these were considered part of the "knightly arts". These particular techniques are German in origin, taken from the books written by students of the master Johannes Liechtenauer, who travelled and taught in the 1350's. The first manuscript detailing his style dates from 1389.

[Piotrek830324]

Very nice!! excellent!! 5/5 Stars does the music come from the film "the kingdom of heaven"???

[kardentyrell]

yesh

[Philippians4x13]

Great moves!, it's hard to fallow them sometimes. fast

[conqueror101]

metodos d entrenamiento como ese se usan en todas las artes marciales.practico karate x mas d 2 decadas,eso es lo mismo q ippon kumite.todos los q critiquen mal este video es x q no entienden lo q ven .entreno esgrima antigua de forma intermitente y reconosco estos videos como valiosos elementos de consulta.pd si nosotros entendemos ingles q ellos aprendan castellano.

[Troilehhh]

Well, to clarify things, only I can to say that this fight isn´t choreography, but a sample of technical fighter with a long sword, which are practiced and later trying to put into practice in real combat. Those who see here are members of the Zaragoza association of ancient fencing and these people are part of the Spanish Association of ancient fencing. And for end, Sorry for my english because I haven´t control in this language.

[jjwmacdo]

steel swords?

[Kunstdesfechtens]

Yup. Blunt, of course.

[shado989]

wow..wou shouldve choreographed Lord of the Rings...lol

[saucetomate4012]

this is not choregraphy, it's what ressembles the most to how people used to fight

[HansVonLaser]

This is choregraphy. Second warrior is waiting for trick.

[saucetomate4012]

Um excuse me, have you ever taken any medieval fencing lessons?

[HansVonLaser]

Yes. I'm fighting since 2002. And as we can see, the second guy is here as combat dummy. So it's choreography.

I didn't said that those aren't medival sword techniques.

[saucetomate4012]

oh ok I get your point

i guess the words 'choregraphy' (english) and chorégraphie (french, my first language) doesnt mean the exact same thing then

[Jagticon]

maybe you mean demonstration. Choreography would refer a stage fight or in some martialsarts a kata

[BadMartini]

To be precise it's neither coreographed nor a reall fight. this is simply practicing some mooves, same as any martial arts, repeat till it sticks.

The guy is very good though, his movement is very precise.

[Mantinae]

Is there any European Martial Arts schools located in America?

[Kunstdesfechtens]

There are lots of them. The largest is ARMA, which has study groups in many major U.S. cities. Depending on where you are, there could be others.

[Mantinae]

Thank you.

[lobeking]

There's also tattershall and the SCA you can check out.

[Kunstdesfechtens]

SCA groups tend not to be as historically accurate. If you want to learn European MA, remember that SCA is heavily sportified and disallows grappling, and many groups know next to nothing about HEMA. There are exceptions, of course.

[martialpiper]

Excellent video. I don't know enough to comment on the specific techniques from medieval manuals but these guys show control, economy of movement and poise... exactly the qualities which arise from disciplined practice. I suspect though that they would have had extensive training in oriental arts before training in western systems as all too often western stylists don't seem to have as clear precision in their movements even after extensive training. Lets see more of this.

[Caliburnis]

They're practicing a reconstructed version of one of the branches of Historical European Martial Arts, which would emphasize these same exact movements with just as much precision. I'm pretty sure we can't attribute their talents to the magical training regimes of eastern martial arts. :>

[doomboy]

No, nor better or worse, just different ways to wage war

[compupack]

Is the fencer on the right using ye olde 'tinker' Hanwei longsword prototype?

[punio4]

Nope, the Tinker one has a flat octagonal pommel.

[Ieatbabyseals]

It's sad but they have no good fencing schools in America...

[Kunstdesfechtens]

There are actually a fair number of good HES schools in the U.S. With a bit of determination, you can probably find a decent school or study group. :)

[highbridge06]

That was sweet, i usually feel embarrassed for the people who post videos like this because it never looks that impressive to me. But I genuinely admire what I just saw. It looks like you guys are very well practiced and have good form. great job!!

[Roman55Legions]

Honestly I do not think Eropean swords get near the respect they deserve as fighting weapons.

[GoldenPopey]

why do You think so?

do not undrestimate the force... ekhm the European swords.

Can`t wait for an answer

[animematt]

I think he ment European swords dont get the respect they deserve.

They were just as sharp as a japanese sword, weighed the same....They were used in many different ways and styles...

[GoldenPopey]

Was I drank or what?

thanks man x]

[OberleutnantFalke]

@Roman55Legions I personally think that a well-trained and armored European knight could easily take out anything Asia has to offer.

[Delmo67]

@Roman55Legions Its not about the weapons its the fighting styles. A katana and an european longsword will both lop a head off, but they do it in a very different way.

[bookercreator]

@Roman55Legions they do from me

[MalcolmTearle]

Malcolm. Great stuff, for a long time now I have wanted to put together my own club, of guys and girl's who want to have a good old bash, fun and keep fit, keep up the good work.

[Evassassin]

indeed 5 stars that was excellent

[Whiplashfights]

Excellent display  of the principals of fencing with the Long sword. 5 stars

[JamJackJillian]

beautiful. youre within the best swordfencers i know about! and im not talking about the showfencers, but groups like zornhau, gladiatores and so on(sorry, i just know german groups)

Hell yeah, western martial arts were developed on the same level as the asian ones. its just that we didnt make a tradition out of it, and since lets say all 100 years the armory changed, the techniques were also changed and old ones forgotten.

Keep it coming, you rock!

[Haraldur34]

Very nice, thats my kind of fighting!

[Hellion73]

Well, excellent demostration of sword play, i practice myself, just by my own, 'cos here in my country it's hard to find a partner to train whit or share the same level of interest in the EU longsword combat, so, good for you guys i hope to see more of this in the tube, take care...

[VandenRipoffStrat]

I like the use of ringen techniques. My sparring partners have me for speed but if I can get in close I can take them into a bind and win with grappling techniques.

[josuelitos]

viva espana, live spain.

[loginloginlog]

Love the techniques!!!Wats the name of the kingdom of heaven theme.

[Hellion73]

The name of the theme is "Crusaders"

[Roman55Legions]

Western sword arts are far more developed then what most people think!

[ActernusNox]

Agreed, very much so

[nielsdejong]

indeed!!

[LeonNeleus]

Damn, forgot this video. Still loving it. Still haven't found a decent WMA center around my home, though, so I still don't know any myself.

[saucetomate4012]

Well done. Liechtenauer at his best!

P.S.: This video is not a choregraphy, so stop dreaming :)

[Kunstdesfechtens]

Indeed. But wouldn't it be sweet if legit WMA/HES started making its way into films. More than the mention of Vadi's "Posta di Falcone" in Kingdom of Heaven, I mean. :)

[quixoteknight]

which is ironic considering Vadi wasn't to be born till hundreds of years later than the events in that film... and that guard wasn't called by that name till Vadi by the way...

[Dmasterman]

Well done, it looks like the stuff they use for sword plays or choreography for movies (like Lord of the rings!)

[ByzantineCataphract]

Five thumbs up! Keep up the good work!

[eddiedaskull]

Love it ,The sound of the steel and the Kindom of Heaven sound track..Iam putting this in my favorites

[MingTheMerciful]

Love the Crusader theme

[dakaodo]

Nice techniques exhibited -- very fluid. I agree with all the constructive comments about west vs. east, etc. I've studied German longsword and Italian sidesword / rapier for ~7 years now, and I feel A) we have a long way to go but are improving our technical skill, B) we will need limited / free fencing for reality check; most free fights I see get sloppy fast or else are too hesitant / textbook. Good stuff, DarkFury!

[Kunstdesfechtens]

A training partner did what we called "technical sparring". The idea was to spar using only a certain set of techniques rather than everything all at once. Or we might say "today, we'll spar, concentrating on working from the bind". It worked very well, and focused and refined our technique faster than unlimited freeplay alone.

[DOLLOLE73]

Impresoionante video con vuestro permiso lo arrastrare a my blog por cierto la musica del REINO DE LOS CIELOS.

[stopgunfever]

nice techniques

[AlcoHugo]

One of the best WMA desmonstration I've seen on the net so far. Very clear and well executed. :)

[mkarnerfors]

Don't feed the trolls. FeelFree3 is just kicking up shite just to see people go ballistic. 's what happens when you don't get enough attention form mum & dad... then you search for it anyway you can.

The vid is beautiful. It's always facinating to watch elegance and skill in work. Thank you for uploading.

[LeonNeleus]

I hate it when I stumble into these arguments. I take EMA but also attempt to learn WMA from people who know them because, think about it, I use a style that takes the best of chinese, Korean and japanese melded together with the buddhist philosphies. Now, that's good, but what if one took that and melded it with the best techniques from WMA?

I would also like to say that I've picked up a few tricks from this video. I'll meld them next time I do freefighting.

[DonJuan31]

nice, Kindom of Heaven music, the crusaders theme

[TigerStyleMonkey]

Martial artists are amongst the most close minded of all people in my experience. Which is a real shame. We could learn so much from each other if we stopped all of the pointless "[insert style] is the best". I love ALL forms of swordsmanship. I hope that one day I might become good at one of them! *hahaha*

[Glockler]

Amen, I really liked this clip and even though my sword experience is limited to some Ken-jutsu I can certainly see similarity between them.

Keep up the good work, thanks.

[lordofthefields]

Great vid.! Thanks for sharing. Did provide some insight to a Lichtenauer passage i didn`t get yet.

[Caliburnis]

You know, I've never understood why someone would think that a region as engulfed in war as Europe would have poor martial abilities when compared to countries who would go for spans of hundreds of years without all out warfare.

[mccarthysensei]

I am an Eastern Martial Arts [forty years] practitioner and also study WMA. Personally, I think the differences are largely cultural/spiritual, not necessarily physical. There's only so much that can be done with and to the human body --- Hasn't enough blood has been spilt in thousands of years of warfare [East & West] to have established equality in both camps?

[mccarthysensei]

As a practitioner of Japanese swordsmanship [Sugino-ha Katori Shinto Ryu], I found these drills not only quite interesting they're almost identical in nature to many of our practices. For us it is the combative functionality gleaned from template-style learning that makes such drills important.

[Snake3yes]

Feelfree3 you talk utter rubbish my friend. Both WMA and EMA are extremely valid, bear in mind that the Western world was engulfed in war and feudal fighting with swords for hundreds of years, it would therefore be very ignorant and foolish to presume that EMA is better just because it is more popular. Perhaps you should take the time to study the WMA techniques before claiming that EMA is best.

[effigytormented]

Seems like people who propose east over west don't appreciate or understand that western fencing is more scientific than artistic. It's efficient body mechanics and appropriate strategy. In effect to touch without being touched.

[effigytormented]

I don't mean that asian arts are not good in their own rights. Their older forms are very deadly, but Deltagreen451 is correct. I on the other hand, will say nothing more.

[Kunstdesfechtens]

Well done. Nice to see more HES on youtube.

[HaraldTheRed]

Great technigue!This is the kind of stuff we need to make HES and WMA taken seriously in the world.Kudos for you guys.

[piguahand]

very good technics.

[DarkFury]

Thank you for all the comments, it is our community what makes us strong, and it gives us strenght to continue with this Art. Best regards!

PD: You need to fight with your skill, and also with your heart.

[FeelFree3]

chinese swordsmanship is better than western one. This video can't change what many people's feel.

[Kunstdesfechtens]

Patently false. The Martial Arts of the West are on a par with any other. Any objective study of the European manuals proves that.

[FeelFree3]

The Objective study of the European manual tells it is equal or better than Chinese swordsmanship? I doubt that.

[kelgbarbarian]

Feelfree I have seen a rapier novice beat a katana master, I have seen a zweihander (awesome unheard of weapon) cream a dao in one move. In fact in most of the multi cultural bouts, I've seen of 14, only one did an eastern weilding fighter win, he by the way used a jian and was damn good.

[deltagreen451]

No. I'm Chinese, & I'm learning Longsword.

Eastern Martial Arts are more "popular" (& I use the term in the general sense) simply because it has more media exposure. Also, modern-day Eastern Arts are usually diluted down "sports" versions of the originals, designed for fitness, grace and discipline; the western tradition on the other hand have not experienced this dumbing-down effect. What students learn is exactly the same as what was taught in the 15~16th century.

[Gilmaris]

You're right about the reasons Eastern martial arts are more popular than WMA, but Western martial arts is being rediscovered rather than perpetuated. There is no unbroken lineage back to the 15th-16th century, except that which evolved into Olympic fencing. However, there is an abundance of sources and the old European arts are being rediscovered in a pragmatic and scientific way.

[SwordAndBuckler]

How about you come spar with me sometime, then we'll discuss just how we feel at the end of 2 hours. ;-)

[MarkHolgate]

Amen, and touche

what a very "western" solution to the problem. ;)

[FeelFree3]

chinese and Japanese swordsmanship are better than western one. haha

[kelgbarbarian]

wow your dumb. The only reason why Asian martial arts survived longer than Western is because they didn't have guns. In affect the Western martial arts were at least equal if not superior in that they had more variety in what they were trained to fight.

[HaraldTheRed]

And to make that comment I take it that you must have studied kenjutsu and Lichtnauers longsword for years to see the difference?If not then grap a brain and grow up

[FeelFree3]

There are lots of western people learn Chinese and Japanese swordsmanship but VERY LITTLE Asian learn western swordsmanship WHY? Obviously they know Chinese and Japanese swordsmanship are better! I saw people who know Chinese and Japnese swordsmanship always perform better than people who learn western. YOU ARE WESTERN person that's why you support you own race no matter what!

[HaraldTheRed]

umm.You didn't answer my question as to have YOU ever practised WMA to make these claims.And BTW with your logic(or lack of) AK47 is the best rifle in the world because so many ppl use it. And as a last thing I'd like to hear where have you seen chinese and japanese swordmen perform along with western?And what do you mean by performing?

[SwordAndBuckler]

First you say: "There are lots of western people learn[ing] Chinese and Japanese swordsmanship..." and then you say "YOU ARE WESTERN person that's why you support you own race no matter what!" Aren't you contradicting yourself? You might want to do some serious research before you go ignorantly spewing out your own opinion while diregarding everyone elses.

[Elearis]

Actually I'm Chinese and I prefer the Euro style for reasons. Don't get me wrong, it really depends more on the individual than the school itself. I've seen clear advantages and disadvantages on both sides, and it's whether the swordsperson is able to exploit his strengths better.

[Elearis]

Basically I feel that it's better to go along with an art that suits your personal abilities better. But even with my preference for the German longsword goes, I'm always open to learn tips and tricks from my more "Eastern" friends and sparring partners. I mean, who cares so long as we can get the hit in and it's all in good fun??

[LeonNeleus]

Not true. If you go to Japan you realize that many people there are very mucvh into medieval and Celtic (During Roman Times) martial arts styles. It's called research.

[tiamat9989]

awesome. I've always loved the sound of blades clashing...

Nice music btw

[Shirocco7]

Very good...

[sintagma]

is this based on german school ???

[DarkFury]

Yes, it is.

[sintagma]

awesome

[marozzo]

adding this one to favourites.

[SwordAndBuckler]

Excelent job!