Longsword Drill 1

This is the first in a series of videos showing the basic concepts, techniques and drills Drei Wunder uses in teaching the German Longsword. This video is an introduction to the German Longsword, focusing on footwork and distance.

We welcome constructive criticism. In order to facilitate clear dialogue we do ask that people clearly state whether they're critiquing our historical interpretations, our training methods or our personal quality as fighters.

Thank you to Nemesis Jiu-jitsu for generously allowing us to film on their mat.

Drei Wunder apologizes for the quality of cinematography displayed in these videos. It is entirely possible that our cameraman was drunk.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• Drei
• Wunder
• Historical
• European
• Martial
• Arts
• Portland
• Oregon
• German
• Longsword
• Drill

[3ng4n]

One more thing: When you're talking about footwork, you encourage people to lift the foot and step with it, and then let the back foot follow. This is of course not wrong in itself, but we've found this description to encourage rather static and clumsy footwork. We usually encourage people to lift the foot and then push off with the back foot, letting that push power the step. This (in our opinion) encourages more dynamic and "springy" footwork. (Not jumping, though; that's another thing :-)

[DreiWunder]

@3ng4n This may be a matter of language more than technique, although, you’re right that the words we use do influence how the techniques are learned. Whether the step is dragged or sprung seems to depend on the tactical demands of the moment, but it may be that introducing one intensity of step before the other creates biases in footwork. It’s something we’ll explore.

[3ng4n]

I know that the object of the drill isn't edge alignment, but I think it's an important habit to acquire, and bad alignment is a habit that can be very hard to rid yourself of,

[DreiWunder]

@3ng4n Edge alignment is something we are working on.  We appreciate the criticism.

[nowhereman716]

Very nice series. It's really difficult to find good longsword tutorials for beginners like myself (unfortunately, there's no one in my area that teaches Western martial arts), so something like this is probably the best learning material I can get.

[3ng4n]

Good stuff. Agree on all you're showing except for the german pronounciation. :-) One little reflection: do you find that your emphasis on always striking the oberhau all the way through to VT on the other side may screw up your edge alignment a little? In the drill I see quite a few badly aligned cuts and some outright striking (or attempting to strike) with the flat. Example: the cut at 7:19.