The Zwerchhau (Outdated Interpretations)

[tantorecords]

Nice unarmed drills. Armed drills next please!

[wariscomeing]

please get some test cutting videos up some time it would be interesting to see how lethal  they are :)

[gurkfisk89]

@wariscomeing

The NYHFA has done it. Look at this video:

watch?v=HNEBpu8eDsU

around 25 s in.

I would not like to be hit by that to my head or neck. =)

[ewbecht]

do you guys know of any similar schools in florida

[gurkfisk89]

@ewbecht

Google: "HEMA alliance club finder" and you'll soon find a map over some of the clubs. If none of them are close to you then I recomend you contact the one that's nearest you and maybe they know of clubs in your area that aren't on the map.

[LessaAlessandro]

Can't understand the movement of your feets. Vary unusual for me.

Cheers.

[foxfire122]

hello, very nice very nice. what are you using in these videos? wasters? and were did you get them?

[ktvad2]

5{5  stars!!! i love the vid good jod

[MADdwarfWorkshop]

love this music. anyone know what it is???

[kingolaf99]

I think this is "amoroso" but I'm not sure who's performing it. The only one I can find is La Rossignol. Hope that helps. By the way, you guys are something of a legend around my beginning blacksmiths group. Keep up the good work, and post a couple more vids for us, haha!

[AldaronV]

Yes I know I was just joking when i saw them jumping around :D I am fencer too but i thing it is faster when you just walk not jump and in that half of second when you are in air you have no stability. But nice vid

[AldaronV]

I´d like to see him jumping around him in 60kg heavy armor :D:D:D

[Ranziel1]

This stuff is for unarmored fighting. Armored looks different, another style.

[myshirtgoeswtf]

where you get the music?

[danhodg1]

Great video I loved it, amazing to see European martial arts, would love to see more from you!

[longmad51]

awesome !! action look very logic thx for video bro..very nice

[EllamWideblade]

LOL! Playing Amoroso in the background... so much for an Italian Love Dance. :P Good work guys!

[bowman2064]

Fine. Good work. Took this video to my playlist: European martial arts. If i would have seen this . well .. 25 years before .. i never would have trained Karate.

5* for it

[PsychoProfite]

AWESOME...

[bicciu82]

great vid...what's the name of the music?

[zankwack]

Very nice sir. 5 stars

Master Moran

[DragonnSlayerr]

show me more joint locks and hand to hand wrestling!

[Flamingwhut]

very cool, well done. good to see this being studied

[jglopez]

Very great!

[sirbobulous]

How much actual cutting power/damage is actually being dealt to the opponent with some of these block, displacement, strike sequences that are shown? There seems to be little body twisting or arm movement to generate power and I wonder if these would do real damage to a foe. Could you make a test cutting vid, perhaps get a side of beef or something and perform some of these strikes with their limited arm/body movements and see if they actually cause something lethal/serious?

[MEMAG]

We've done a fair amount of test cutting using the types of attacks seen in this video, usually against whole hams. I can assure you that every attack shown here is debilitating or lethal if delivered correctly with a sharp sword. I'll see if I can get some videos of test cutting up in the near future. Thanks for the comment!

[halfassedfart]

When you're well practiced, there's not a lot of the windmilling arm movement that you see in Hollywood. You can deliver a surprisingly nasty strike just by levering (leveraging?) the sword.

[taitungknight]

@sirbobulous

I'm thinking with these blades there's so much momentum that they do a huge amount of damage. Besides, one could also twist the hip at the last second to add power...

[Ranziel1]

@taitungknight You shouldn't be twisting your body anyway, power comes from the hips.

[taitungknight]

@Ranziel1

That was what I meant. When you power it through the hips, it tends to twist your body...

Strangely though, I see very little of hip twisting in the video but rather very fast stance changes.

[superiorsantateresa]

Great job!

[MarymonckiJohn]

I watched it again and it looks like You are right about the jumping which make it more interesting as a technique , I have practiced in Lorika, Poland, They are quite serious in their work but they do mostly rapier, french rapier/ and polish saber, Few guys there deal with long sword, I had a long break, more than a year, but Im thinking about going back and I will surely tell them about You. Maybe they will be able to draw other conclusions or maybe its also new to them, thanks

[MarymonckiJohn]

or You made it up, or the third, which may also be possible, I did not see something?

Besides, nice video, interesting choices, great music and admirable commitment, Keep practicing, keep improving and make more videos! thanks

[MEMAG]

Johannes Liechtenauer writes "What you well Zwerch, with jumping you protect your head." We interpret this jump (spring) as a movement using both feet. While I do agree that some of the jumping footwork of the "loser" in the video is unnecessary, I am fully confident in the use of jumping with the Zwerchhau and similar actions. Another thing is that the video doesn't really allow you to see all the different angles we use. Many of those jumps take us well to the side, not just switching feet.

[Djemps]

Also keep in mind that this is a two handed sword. If the blade is positioned on the right side of the body, the left foot should be forward and the right foot should be back. This is basic body mechanics. If you don't switch your feet when the sword changes sides, it twists the spine. Period manuals always show the same thing, so there is more than enough evidence to support changing feet while staying in the same place.

[MarymonckiJohn]

I dont know those german authors whos techniques you tried to present but, as having some contact with other documents and practicing a bit on my own in a fencing school I have some doubts on whether Your foot work is right, First of all, You are changing foot positions when standing on one place which is new thing to me and it seems a bit pointless, You are almost jumping when doing in it exchanging Your feet positions, It has many disadvantages and is rarely seen, Is it a part of a treaty or

[MBlongsword]

Hi guys these series of clips you have done are great. I hope you will be doing more? It just goes to show that our western fighting systems are an intricate sophisticated system of movement. I know there was question over the dynamic movements that you are doing I can understand the questions on the practicality but think that good solid fast moves are the key to a good outcome in a sword fight. Well done I'm a fan. Hey also what is that music? It's great...

Regards MB

[Arielnoble]

Great work guys! You make me jealous as I'm stuck in a damn country that is simply not interested in doing anything cultural that doesn't involve a zulu spear or a katana. No one seems to appreciate the highly developed and beautiful forms of HEMA. It saddens me.

[xSpiritbane]

This was great show you did make there. As I am really intrested in this cinda Sword Fighting, great work and I hope to see more form you guys.

[Bomberdoom]

amazing amazing music

[Kunstdesfechtens]

Hi guys, I can't see what you're doing to counter the high cut to the arm before the duplieren to the mouth. What exactly are you doing there?

[MEMAG]

The Duplieren is the counter to the slice to the arms, which is then countered by a slice to the throat while winding. I hope that helps!

[kardentyrell]

by the way, nice music to accompany the video :D

[tiamat9989]

nicely done! I'm looking forward to similar videos by you guys about the other master strikes =)

[MEMAG]

Oh, they're coming! Krumphau should be next. Thanks!

[mortuary3]

Great stuFf again Corey & crew....thanks

[MEMAG]

Thank you!

[Djemps]

I'm suprised I didn't notice this video earlier. The Zwerchhau is my favorite Master Strike! Great job. I can't wait to meet some of you guys at the Chivalric Weekend in NY.

[MEMAG]

Thanks! I look forward to seeing you there too! Take care.

[ranpleasant]

Nice video, the blade work is ok. However, the hopping footwork is totally unrealistic. I'm guessing that the the hopping footwork is an attempt to match images.

[MEMAG]

We interpret the "spring" or jump described in the fechtbücher in this manner. It works for us very well with no problems, and matches with the images and texts. I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. Take care!

[Marozzo1536]

I have to agree with Ran about the jumping; that is, I'm somewhat skeptical as it makes the step a "ballistic" action. However, I am not familiar with the German, and the Bolognese stuff does contain some jumping (but only backwards out of measure or in Spada da Gioco stuff), so I guess it might be possible.

[MEMAG]

Master Ringeck writes "When you attack with the Zwerch you shall always jump to his side where you wish to attack..." Its up to you how you want to interpret this. Take care!

[PissedFechtmeister]

Check out the stuff posted by fortejeff. He also uses a kind of springing footwork.

Excellent work, BTW. I can't wait to watch the krumphau video.

[MEMAG]

Thanks for letting me know about Jeff's footwork, that's good to know.

Thank you for the compliment!

[brasidus]

Thanks for sharing you interpretations!

Could you perhaps give credit on the music for the videos? :)

[MEMAG]

Will do, as soon as I find the titles of each song. Take care!

[Ranziel1]

Damn, that's beautiful. Wish i could study it too, but that's impossible for me now =(

Great work once again.

[MEMAG]

Thank you very much!

[MEMAG]

Thank you! We hope to continue researching for a very long time. Take care!

[CollegiumInArmis]

Nice presentation of one of the most fun and dynamic strikes in any double handed sword system. Good to see the feders in action in more videos too. Of interest to me is some of the potential for variation in the Zwerch - for instance, most interpret the earlier Zwerch as fairly horizontal most of the time, wheras in Meyer it can have a slightly upward trajectory when countering Tag or an Oberhauw.

[MEMAG]

Thank you very much! I agree that the angle of the Zwerchhau varies slightly with the situation. Take care!