From the HEMA Blogosphere

 Greetings,I posted a document in October of last year, which I had been working on for a couple of months. It was a recreation of an Elizabethan political pamphlet, which I spoke about on my blog about Elizabethan English you can find that post here. Now, I did this because ...

There have been a number of very good physics descriptions of sword motion. However they neglect the most important part: a sword isn’t free floating in space! The post Swords in Space: The First (?) Frontier appeared first on Sword STEM. ...

The probably oldest book on martial arts known to us, it is exclusively about fencing with small shields and sword. The book, which is dated by scientists to the first half of the 14th century, was created in a workshop of at least three scribes and five illustrators. The ...

This is the seventh post on my article series on the development of hand protection in sword fights. The articles so far: Design of the Crossguard and the Christian faithHand protection for fighters through the (to me) known part of history. The development of handguards and armour for arm ...

We frequently talk about how to make swords “safe”. Unfortunately unless you can come up with a definition which satisfies a few specific criteria, the word “safe” doesn’t have a lot of meaning. The post “Safe Sword” is made up words appeared first on Sword STEM. ...

The following passage is from the reminiscences of the German writer August Jäger (also called von Schlumb). Jäger’s claim to fame is the 1835 novel Felix Schnabel oder Der deutsche Student—the semi-autobiographic tale of ...

This is the fifth post on my article series on the development of hand protection in sword fights. The articles so far: Design of the Crossguard and the Christian faithHand protection for fighters through the (to me) known part of history. The development of handguards and armour for arm ...

This is the fifth post on my article series on the development of hand protection in sword fights. The articles so far: Design of the Crossguard and the Christian faithHand protection for fighters through the (to me) known part of history. The development of handguards and armour for arm ...

Some time ago one of our club members posted a Youtube link taken in our regular weekly classes; it takes a deep-dive into the Krieg, dismantling it a piece at a time and teasing out some of the issues we need to consider when devising our training, and implementing it ...

 Greetings, Considerations of the form and size of our companion items tends to be relegated to secondary discussions. In this discussion there will be a short investigation of the rotella, with these considerations in mind, it will be one of my more formal posts.Cheers,Henry.Abstract           A fencer needs to consider the ...

n this video we look at section 2.96v.1 from Meyer’s 1570 text, which discusses the use of a sequence of three thrusts, one after another. This is an interesting sequence which teaches some great lessons in winding and hanging, as well having elements which are really effective for day-to-day fencing. ...

This is the fourth post on my article series on the development of hand protection in sword fights. The articles so far: Design of the Crossguard and the Christian faithHand protection for fighters through the (to me) known part of history. The development of handguards and armour for arm ...

This is the third post on my article series on the development of hand protection in sword fights. The first one was some myth-busting, explaining, why the Crossguard was no design of the Christian faith. The second post was looking at the meaning of hand protection for fighters through ...

This is the second post on my article series on the development of hand protection in sword fights. The first one was some myth-busting, explaining, why the Crossguard was no design of the Christian faith. There are some more myths to bust. Let us start with the two most ...

There are many questions and myths to sword. This is the first article in a series of posts on the development of hand protection in regard of sword fighting. It is a nice tradition to start article series like this with some myth busting. So allow me to hold ...

From a blade resistance point of view, cutting actually has two distinct phases: the internal and external. The post Two Phases Of a Cut – Surface vs Steady State appeared first on Sword STEM. ...

The following text is a 1:1 copy of the article posted in the 21th July 1712 issue of THE SPECTATOR , a London newspaper magazine of the 18th century. It is interesting in comparison to my other blog post: 1711 A bloody London Bear Garden fight. In the newspapers of ...

Two of the most popular ways to quantify blade stiffness are the SCA Flex Test and the Buckling Test. Unfortunately they both have issues, but we’re suffering for lack of better solutions. The post Difficulties with SCA Flex Test and Buckling Test for Measuring Blade Stiffness appeared first on Sword ...

Little is known about a shield that appeared in the 11th century and disappeared in the 14th century. The shield was called “talevaces” (English), “taneva s, talevart, tolfaces” (French), or “talebart” (Spanish). There are very few sources mentioning the shield but they are geographically largely distributed for such a ...

Greetings,In a person's fencing career, they will always come up against an opponent who will want to use strength as their primary method to force their way through an engagement. Over the past months I have been dealing with this problem with some of my students, thus how to deal ...

Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg, Cod. Pal. germ. 367, Nikolaus <von Jeroschin>, 1415 The “Chronicle of Prussia” is a translation of the “Chronica terrae Prussiae” of Peter von Dusburg into 27,738 rhyming couplet verses in East Central German, ...

“In your opinion, which country has the highest level of practitioners?” Let’s see if I can answer this in the most unhelpful way possible. The post Finding the World’s Highest Level HEMA appeared first on Sword STEM. ...

“Who was Philippo Vadi?” is a surprisingly difficult question to answer for a number of reasons. Evidence is scant, disconnected and largely not available without physical access to a wide range of libraries and archives dotted around Northern Italy. Even if you find a plausible library or resource, odds ...

Vectors are used to describe just about everything in life. And all it takes to win a sword fight is to transform all your opponent’s vectors into ones that can’t hurt you. Piece of cake! The post Vector Transformations and the “Wedge” appeared first on Sword STEM. ...

 Greetings, The most important thing that a fencer can do is fill themselves with fortitude and strength, because the path that they have chosen is not going to be easy. From this perspective there are lessons that can be learned from the character of Wile E. Coyote and his struggle ...

Gloss Liechtenauer wants the young knights to love God. As Alanus de Insula said in his Summa de arte praedicatoria relying on Ephes. 3, “Amor Dei mater est omnium virtutum, amor ...

The analysis of the Liechtenauer fencing poem was the first step to create a critical edition based on content and linguistic aspects. The preconditions that lead to this method of analysis had been discussed in the article entitled: The Path to the Origininal Poem of Master Liechtenauer. For the analysis ...

If we compare the versions of the Zedel by Master Liechtenauer to each other, and to the poem originated by Magister Beringer we will recognize at first sight the different number of verses. Same happens in comparison of the Nürnberg Hausbuch with most of the other variants of Liechtenauer Zedel. ...

This is a quick write-up of how I made a mail collar patterned after one found in Veste Coburg, documented by Isak Krogh. The goal was to make a collar that could replicate the “high and tight” look of 15th century collars, where the mail rides up the neck, very ...

Hidden among the stacks of a New York City book dealer, its existence unknown to even the most erudite scholars, the Codex Amberger was lost to history until its chance discovery in 2005. Originally thought to have been created by Albrecht Dürer, now attributed to the sphere of the ...

As they were hanging paper butterflies on monofilament, I walked up behind my then-director and heard them mutter to themself how much they hated exhibit work. I was flabbergasted. Doesn’t everyone enjoy installing exhibits? These are not the ...

Greetings,"Carl Sagan, in his work The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark said: "There are naive questions, tedious questions, ill-phrased questions, questions put after inadequate self-criticism. But every question is a cry to understand the world. There is no such thing as a dumb question"." (Wikipedia (2020) ...

A selection of the actions I landed during the last tournament in Cargmangola. ...

Hello HEMA friends! Today I share with you this video which shows the adventures of me and my students Iacopo and Mattia (aka Boris) during the Torneo Medievale del Conte held by the Sala d’arme Il Carmagnola. I take the … Continue reading → ...

L’Ange Rapier Beginner Review the basic footwork, alone and while in guard. Introduction to the guards. Images of the Guards Salute (summarized) Intermediate Review the basic footwork, alone and while in guard. Practiced lunges, focusing on off-line steps and putting the off-hand in the correct location. Meyer Longsword ...

In Part1 we discussed what flinging is, why n00bs fling, and why flinging is a poor tactic. But how can we not fling? Before we can start, we need to understand motor redundancy. The post Why n00bs Fling the Sword: A Multi-Part Analysis of Rapier Thrusting Mechanics (Part 2) appeared ...

In Salvator Fabris’ 1606 treatise on rapier, he dedicates an entire chapter on the subject of flinging the sword and in-depth discussion of why this is bad. But what is flinging? And why is it poor form? The post Why n00bs Fling the Sword: A Multi-Part Analysis of Rapier Thrusting Mechanics (Part 1) appeared ...

Greetings,Before I start with the discussion of this article I would like thank Nic Harrison for his assistance with ideas and direction in this article. His ideas and formulations have been most useful in describing this subject more fully and also directing the discussion in the direction that it needed ...

Hello HEMA friends!the new episode of the Longsword Beginners Guide, episode 15th, is now online! This time I explain how to deal with a combination of attacks.Check it out! ...

Hello HEMA friends!So finally I had time to edit and upload the Spadone sparring that I had with Niccolò Menozzi some weeks ago.I hope you will enjoy it! ...

We are used to thinking about the forces that swords apply on their targets, but we don’t spend as much time thinking about the forces that the targets apply to the swords. Between axial, shear, bending, and torsion there is a lot more going on than you might have thought! ...

Hello HEMA friends! If you are a BIG CHOPPA-LIKE-THINGS lover, you may end up liking this Spadone video which I made in collaboration with my friend Niccolò Menozzi from The Spadone Project. Enjoy! ...

Greetings,Some first things that need to be established. I am not a physicist, I have not studied physics save for a little dabbling in Aristotelian Physics to greater understand Renaissance thought. So with this in mind my approach to using Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle is going to be a little "popularist" ...

In my previous article, “Do Fullers Make Feders Take a Set?”, I promised you that I would take some data on production swords and back up the theory with data. I still haven’t done it, but I do have some measurements of the sharps around my apartment. The post Sword ...

Introduction Vadi is both the first written source we have that uses the common Italian word “tempo” in the way that has become ubiquitous in modern (HEMA and Olympic) fencing, and also the first source to mention the related (far less common) phrase mezzo tempo (half tempo). However, he does ...

The concept of tempo (time in Italian) is a common concept used across many fencing systems throughout history. Philippo Vadi’s De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi (published around 1485) is the oldest surviving written source we have that uses this ...

Hello HEMA friends! After several months of stop, here we are with the 14th episode of my “longsword Beginners Guide” which features the very first example of action “on tempo” of the series. I hope you will enjoy! ...

Dagger tournaments can receive an unfair reputation as stab-happy fights, with competitors disregarding defense for a ‘first-strike at all costs’ mentality. This paper will determine what proportion of exchanges in a recent dagger and ringen HEMA tournament ended with clean, contained hits and how many ended in doubles or hits ...

This post is password protected. You must visit the website and enter the password to continue reading. ...

Greetings,The following article discusses the respect given to the weapon which is being used in a martial context, something which seems to be being lost in some HEMA (Historical European Martial Art) situations. The original weapons, and the idea of the original weapons, is being lost the result is this ...

Way before Valkyrie, I had the idea to start teaching people how to teach martial arts. Back in the Scatha Combat Guild days, we put a ton of work into creating a program and booklet to do just ...

Way before Valkyrie, I had the idea to start teaching people how to teach martial arts. Back in the Scatha Combat Guild days, we put a ton of work into creating a program and booklet to do just that thing. It had a lot of value, and had ...

Hello HEMA friends! I’m extremely happy to share with you this review, simply because it’s extremely satisying to review a product which is just GOOD in in any sense.The Corona Feder has become my favorite training sword in 3 days … Continue reading → ...

We have many ways and senses to process information with. How do we put them all together to control our actions? The post Closed Loop (Part 2) – Loops, Vision, and Sword Control appeared first on Sword STEM. ...

A brief video describing the Zirckel (Circle) – an important technique in Joachim Meyer’s longsword system. The Circle ...

Hello HEMA friends! Today I share with you the feint and Bicorno thrust technique used by Enrico Campobello (Instructor of Sala d’Arme – Il Carmagnola) in his last sparring with me. As many of you were interested, we decided to … Continue reading → ...

Closed feedback loops are a fundamental part of engineering control theory. They should also be a fundamental part of your fencing. The post Closed Loop (Part 1) – Control Makes Fencing Good and Cars Cozy appeared first on Sword STEM. ...

Yesterday was the 205th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo. I thought it would then be interesting to translate a few sword fighting anecdotes from French soldier memoirs facing British ones. It is very rare to find mentions of fights with British swordsmen in French sources, which is not that ...

Hello HEMA friends! I’m happy to share with you the Third episode of my Arming Sword – Basics series.A special thank you to my Patron Simone Normani for helping me in the shooting process. ...

Greetings,The following article examines the question of what background reading the fencer should do to put themselves in the mind-set of the individual who wrote the Medieval or Renaissance treatise. It will also discuss how it is important that this older mind-set be applied when reading these texts rather than ...

Quick, name five senses. Equilibrioception, Thermoception, Proprioception, Nociception, and Chronoception probably jump out at the top of the list, right? Or maybe not. I’m not [...] The post How Many Senses Do You Have? appeared first on Sword STEM. ...

Longswords are often treated as having static vibrational nodes, with implications for sparring. A combination of mathematical analysis, SolidWorks modeling, and practical experiments were used to analyze the motion of a longsword under realistic end conditions. It was determined that not only are the nodes not static with respect to ...

Hello HEMA friends! In this new video I share my way of organizing (and creating) my actions using the Poste System of Fiore dei Liberi.This is also, in my understanding, the way in which the poste system was meant to … Continue reading → ...

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Lonpicman / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)Justice means Equality. Stoicism is on a bit of trend these days. It’s mostly just dropped in as a word though, a vague catch-all for mindfulness, stripped of all of it’s meat. People love ...

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Lonpicman / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)Justice means Equality. Stoicism is on a bit of trend these days. It’s mostly just dropped in as a word though, a vague catch-all for mindfulness, stripped of all of it’s meat. People love to quote Aurelius, and talk about accepting bad things that ...

Have you already watched my new video? This time I help people fixing some flaws in the form of their actions to improve their form is sparring. ...

Due to popular* demand, SwordSTEM Polos are finally here!Enjoy a nice performance polo and support SwordSTEM at the same time. https://southcoastswords.com/products/sword-stem-sport-polo *as popular as anything [...] The post Now Available: SwordSTEM Polos appeared first on Sword STEM. ...

Moving my regular Thursday night sparring class online represented some challenges for me. My preferred style of coaching is not to present a formal lesson plan for students to receive, but rather to look and analyze my students ...

You can cut without proper grounding, or across your body. But it does have consequences. The post Power Through The Body, Or How I Learned To Do A Leaping Cut appeared first on Sword STEM. ...

Moving my regular Thursday night sparring class online represented some challenges for me. My preferred style of coaching is not to present a formal lesson plan for students to receive, but rather to look and analyze my students to see how they are progressing towards the ideals of ...

Hello HEMA friends! Today, I share with you the second Heater Shield Tutorial. This time I talk about cuts and I build up a cutting drill to better train your cuts! Enjoy! ...

My handwriting used to suck. It still does. When I was approaching fifty, I had a new job that I really enjoyed. The company was relatively young and absolutely going places, and my boss was a real ...

My handwriting used to suck. It still does. When I was approaching fifty, I had a new job that I really enjoyed. The company was relatively young and absolutely going places, and my boss was a real visionary. I’d built up some pretty good work habits over ...

Hello HEMA friends! Today I share with you somethind different (and fun)! Dual Wielding Swords basics! ...

Does Meyer depict cutting with the hand on the pommel? Come and learn. (Or don’t read and post a response anyways.) The post How Does Meyer *Illustrate* a Longsword appeared first on Sword STEM. ...

Greetings,The following is a rather long article on naval weapons from a curatorial point of view. It has references included so that the reader can follow up any information that they might find useful. The article in its entirety is available from me in pdf form at request via e-mail. ...

My neighbour hates my front yard. He’s got the standard yard. Neatly trimmed grass, the requisite boxed hedges, the feature plant by the front window. As you can see above, my front yard hasn’t been mown in ...

My neighbour hates my front yard. He’s got the standard yard. Neatly trimmed grass, the requisite boxed hedges, the feature plant by the front window. As you can see above, my front yard hasn’t been mown in about two years. There is mess of plants about. Our ...

I was stuck at home like this once before. In the late spring of 2006 I was unemployed and suffering from the double-whammy of having just left my first museum job after almost ten years and finishing grad school. Suddenly I had a lot of time at home. Which, I ...

I’ve made some changes to my process lately, and it’s been measurably successful for me. Three weeks ago I was in a rough place, with the quarantine and work. It’s nice to be meaningfully employed right now, but ...

I’ve made some changes to my process lately, and it’s been measurably successful for me. Three weeks ago I was in a rough place, with the quarantine and work. It’s nice to be meaningfully employed right now, but I can’t deny there was some envy building when I ...

Late 16th century hat, in the style of those seen in the Meyer rapier section, for Adam Franti. The fabric is a super chonky 24 oz. 100% wool broadcloth, all hand-sewn. The pleats and the thick fabric ...

A breakdown of video footage of Robert Childs delivering his trademark start-from-low thrust. The post Breakdown: Thrust and Point Control appeared first on Sword STEM. ...

If I had to chose one thing I really love about martial arts, it’s that I get to punish people for thinking that they know me. The human brain arose from a some relatively simple biochemical processes, some ...

If I had to chose one thing I really love about martial arts, it’s that I get to punish people for thinking that they know me. The human brain arose from a some relatively simple biochemical processes, some basic rules that come from the physics of our universe. ...

Hello HEMA friends! So, many people asked me to shoot this video. It’s basically a review of my Training/Sparring Kit plus my Three main swords. I hope you will find it interesting too. Cheers!   ...

Proper pushup form. Advanced students may try the clapping version.Hi folks! Been a few years. Let’s get started again. About two years ago I started to have some health issues, and went to see a doctor. ...

Proper pushup form. Advanced students may try the clapping version.Hi folks! Been a few years. Let’s get started again. About two years ago I started to have some health issues, and went to see a doctor. Which led to be treated by a cardiologist, and some more fun. ...

Hello HEMA friends. So guys, that’s a weird video compared to my usual ones. I decided to talk about a “problem” which, as an HEMA instructor, I feel arising as the days passes. This is far more complex than the … Continue reading → ...

Hello HEMA friends! Since the next week I will open a Discord Channel, which will be open from the brand new “Soldier” Tier (10$ per month) above. Everyone who gets access to my Discord channel will also receive regular updates … Continue reading → ...

We're quarantined, there's shit to do.  I think I've found a great, cheap way to make a modular pell and so I go down a HEMA rabbit hole seeing if anyone has my idea and has put in the research. (Kee Klamps and car tyres- there's a good chance it ...

Hello HEMA friends. I share with you the second “How to wield your sword” video in which I talk about one handed swords (well, mainly arming swords). The first one was about Longswords and you may find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDZowPW9hjE ...

It’s been a while, but here’s a new piece on a 1912 French duel with epees de combat. 50 Dueling Swords “On the dueling grounds, Monsieur Pierre Veber exhibited the most elegant bravery. When he fought with Robert de Flers, I was in directing the fight…” View original ...

The YouTube channel Turul HEMA recently posed a video attempting to derive the average number of double hits seen in HEMA longsword tournaments. (HEMA Longsword [...] The post HEMA Tournament Double Hit Frequency appeared first on Sword STEM. ...

Greetings,Toward the end of this post you will find a statistical comparison between some modern and some museum rapiers to see if the weapons which are being constructed and used stand up comparatively to those which were actually used during the period. This involved a bit of research, a bit ...

Here we are guys. Three Eastern Martial Arts books absolutely worth reading. Enjoy. ...

Hello HEMA friends! Today I share with you a video which focuses over a new topic. The Triangular shield, or Heater shield. I hope you will enjoy. ...

  By Maxime Chouinard In the few years I spent as a medical museum curator, I was brought to read and examine many different period sources on the subject of health care. One of those is Hugues Ravaton’s Chirurgie d’armée, a seminal work in the history of European surgery and ...

A really simple video in which I talk about the main different ways of gripping the longsword. ...

Good fighters find a way to get it done. It looks like hitting them more than they hit you is more important than what the point values of the targets are. The post A Win is a Win: How Weighted Point Values Don’t Affect Match Outcomes appeared first on Sword ...

I recently found this article that I had stored away on my computer a few years ago and rediscovered the remarkable account of a young California woman fighting off a wannabe burglar in her home with a sabre in hand. The woman, Nina Lemon, was apparently trained in fencing, and ...

Hello HEMA friends! Today I share with you the second Solo Drills special-video to better deal with our quarantine. This time I focus on footwork stuff. I hope you will enjoy!   ...

As the Bartitsu.org website seems to be currently down, I have decided to republish here this article I had found in 2013 and which was posted up on the Bartitsu website by Tony Wolf with additional research on the author. I believe this is a precious source for anyone looking ...

Hello HEMA friends! this is a quite complex and long video, so I hope you will find the courage to go through 22 minutes of my english. In this video I explain the foundations behind my new way of reading … Continue reading → ...

Dierk Hagedorn and Chris Amberger are putting the last touches on a project that has lasted about ten years: The full-size reproduction of a never-published German Fechtbuch fragment that was unknown to scholarship until 2005. While ...

Balance is generally regarded as a very important part of any martial art. And for good reason. If you don’t have your balance stabilized you [...] The post Dynamic vs Static: A Generic ‘+Balance’ Stat Doesn’t Exist appeared first on Sword STEM. ...

Hello HEMA friends! In this new video I talk about my 5 favorite medieval fighting manuals. Enjoy.   ...

I have written a small essay surveying what little we can know about armored sword and shield combat in the High Middle Ages.  In it, I discuss how the efforts at interpreting sword and shield combat by other authors have been deeply flawed by their reliance on specious connections between ...

Greetings,The foil is a much misunderstood weapon. From the point of view of many historical fencers it is much maligned, and even from modern fencers it is misunderstood due to the rules which are associated with it. The following discussion attempts to shed some light on the use of the ...

Hello HEMA friends! Today I share with you three simple solo drills to improve your transition from the standard grip to the half-swording grip. Enjoy.   ...

In a completely non-intuitive trick of physics, adding a fuller to a feder actually makes the sword more likely to take a permanent set. Let’s have a look! The post Do Fullers Make Feders Take a Set? appeared first on Sword STEM. ...

Most assume that growth, either physical or intellectual, happens on a graceful curve. As both a martial arts instructor and a professional educator let me simply say:HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!Whew! Glad I got that out of my system. Actual growth happens in a repeated pattern of massive growth and seemingly never-ending plateaus. You have ...

Hello HEMA friends! Today I share with you this new video, in which I decided to compare modern to historical shoes in most of the movements we end up doing during our sparring matches or tournaments. Some people already pointed … Continue reading → ...

In longsword chapter 10, there’s an exercise informally known as Meyer’s Cross. (Or “Meyer’s Square” for those people who don’t know what a square looks like.) The default footwork for this is alternating passing steps to the left and right. Taking the first (red) or second (blue) pattern, ...

Up until now we used this footwork pattern for obtaining a constraint. (Only the right foot is shown.) 1: Patient stands in guard of Tertia. The Agent stands in Quarta on the inside. Start far enough apart that the swords are not crossing. 2: The Agent steps forward with ...

How important is the first exchange? Turns out, it tells you quite a bit. The post First Blood, First Win? How Important Is the First Exchange appeared first on Sword STEM. ...

Hello HEMA friends! Today I share with you the new episode of the “Longsword Beginners Guide”. This time, I explain how to train the first combination of cuts. Enjoy. ...

Greetings,The definition of what a martial art is has been debated somewhat and I have made mention of the concept in previous articles in this blog. The following article is designed to examine this concept a little more closely using a definition taken from one source and then examining various ...

Hello HEMA friends! Today I share with you this beautiful sparring match between me and my friends David and Enrico. If you want to see the infamous BICORNO applied in sparring, this is a good occasion too If you want … Continue reading → ...

You sometimes hear about "Meyers System" or "Foire's System." But what does that mean, what is a system?A system is a series of general principles, rules or a framework that acts as instructions for an optimal way of fighting.An exceptional HEMA sourcebook will layout this system reasonably clearly and explicitly. This is ...

In the year 2000 Antoinette Gentile published a framework of understanding and classifying motions based on four controlling dimensions. This framework, which has come to be called the Gentile Taxonomy, can help to classify different actions and identify the prime challenges in accomplishing them. The post Describing Motions appeared first ...

Hello HEMA friends! Today I share with you an interview that I had with Arto Fama. Sadly, the audio quality was not good as expected because of the river (which weirdly enough, was almost 2km away) but I hope you … Continue reading → ...

I notice in January there are often a lot of questions in the HEMA Strong group on cardio / conditioning in, the best practices and how to train it so below I am going to outline some best practices to help. A quick bit on me I spend a good ...

Intro:Holy crap. It had been so long since I'd updated here that I was certain I'd deleted this blog. Turns out I hadn't so...yay? I'm going to try to be uploading more stuff here (until/unless I find a better platform). I make no promises about frequency though. Most of this ...

A degree of freedom is the number of directions in which something is free to move. You may be thinking of the three directions, but in this case you would be thinking wrong. The maximum number of degrees of freedom of a rigid body is six. The post Degrees of ...

Hello HEMA friends! Here I share with you the new episode of “The Longsword Beginners Guide”, this time I’m featuring a simple yet extremely hard topic, the simple attack (thrust or cut) and how to train it properly. Enjoy. ...

Why Historical Training Matters When I first started HEMA Strong, one of my dream ideas/projects was to run a seminar or event based on historical training methods because about once a month someone in the group (link) asks: “How do we set up our physical training like that of a ...

Greetings,There is this idea going around that if a person is an instructor or trainer or master of a particular school then they should also be some sort of high-level competitor, able to dish out the hard stuff to others in competitions.  On the other hand there is this idea ...

Hello HEMA friends! Today I share with you the sparring with Arto Fama that I had one month ago, here, in Valsesia. Having the chance to Spar with Arto was great, interesting and really useful to improve my fencing. You … Continue reading → ...

Things get more brittle when they get cold. But why? The post Brittle vs Ductile and Swords in Freezers appeared first on Sword STEM. ...

It is often said that “the only constant is change,” and the study of historical martial arts does nothing to deny that aphorism.  I recently had someone complain that a picture in my book, The Knightly Art of the Longsword (Lulu.com, 2009), shows me doing a displacement differently from how ...

ProGauntlet: The Wait Is Over Their first pair shipped and delivered today 🙂 ...

And so we come to the end of year number two for Sword STEM. The post 2019 – Year In Review appeared first on Sword STEM. ...

  By Maxime Chouinard Although the art of fencing was quite developed in France, the military did not establish any unified method for soldiers or sailors until the mid 19th century. Until then, fencing instruction continued as it had for centuries: regiments and ships could have several fencing masters and ...

Historical European Martial Arts ...

Hello HEMA friends! Today I share with you my second “Arming Sword” video. In this video I share some informations about the history of this kind of swords and I add some new drills to our practice repertoire.   First … Continue reading → ...

We covered a lot of material in Sunday’s rapier class. For your benefit, I’ve taken the time to writing up some notes and posting them in our new website. https://hemadrillbook.azurewebsites.net/b/L’Ange/p/Main/t/commentary The new sections are: Chapter 4: How You Shall Recognize the Near and Wide MeasureChapter 5: About the Movement ...

Hello HEMA friends! In this new video I’m sharing with you part of the conference which was held in Varallo during the second edition of the Borgosesia Historical Fencing Meeting. In this first part, Keith Farrell talks about his experiences … Continue reading → ...

Greetings,We often do not thank our significant others (wives/girlfriends/husbands/boyfriends/insert appropriate title) enough for allowing us to pursue something which gives us so much joy. There is a time factor which needs to be taken into account. It is not just the weekends away at events every now and then, it ...

When I published "Do Swords Really Wear Out?" I was accused of robbing people of the ability to justify sword purchases. Fear not, I am here for the community. Just in time for Christmas, here are five totally valid scientific reasons you can use to justify the new sword purchase. ...

Hello HEMA friends! Today I share with you part of the Spear seminar I held in Firenze at the BACK IN ARMIS 2019 event, two weeks ago. Enjoy.     ...

Hello HEMA friends! After a week full of work and interesting events I want to share with you my latest video AND some words about the Back In Armis event, which has been held in Firenze the past week, organized … Continue reading → ...

The most common point allocations for Full Afterblow tournaments are 1&2 and 2&3 points. Thanks to HEMA CM we can observe what difference that makes. The post Full Afterblow Smackdown: 1&2 vs 2&3 appeared first on Sword STEM. ...

Hello HEMA friends, here we are with the eleventh episode of the Longsword Beginners Guide. Yes, this little baby is slowly growing toward its final objective of Forty “lessons”. This time I show the Dente de Zenghiaro guard and two … Continue reading → ...

What does it mean to travel? I just finished what I’ve come to realize is my “journeyman year” in HEMA. Let me explain. About two years ago, I thought that I would someday do an old-school “wanderjahr” of medieval journeymen, where I’d visit and train with different HEMA ...

A common piece of advice you may have heard is to never let your knee move forward beyond the front of your foot. This is well-meaning, but not actually true. The post Myth of Knees Over Toes appeared first on Sword STEM. ...

Greetings,The following discussion is about accuracy and the assertion that "accuracy is the best weapon". This will be discussed from three different points of view, all of which are relevant to those with an interest in swordplay. Accuracy is an element of which its importance cannot be denied, but for ...

Hello HEMA friends, Today I share with you this beautiful sparring video between Keith Farrell and Mauro Carapacchi which happened this summer here in my Valley. Lots of beautiful exchanges and precise thrusts. Enjoy.   ...

This guide is part of Louis Rupert Wachter’s book Aperçus équestres au point de vue de la méthode Baucher, published in 1862. It was written by Wachter but following the lesson plan of Pierre Billès (named, for some reason, “Billesse” in the book). So this is not only a catalogue ...

Does HEMA gear really wear out? You may be surprised to hear the answer isn’t necessarily yes... The post Do Swords Really Wear Out? appeared first on Sword STEM. ...

Hello HEMA friends! During the years I’ve found more and more people interested in the use of the single Arming Sword. I’ve always found this weapon fascinating too and I’ve used it for many, many years. But I always used … Continue reading → ...

Hello HEMA friends! I decided to put together this video because people seems to really enjoy watching my fencing evolve through my sparring videos. So I’ve searched for as much sparring video as I could find and I’ve been able … Continue reading → ...

The quote “Slow is smooth and smooth is fast” is a good reminder to prioritize learning speed through coordination, but it is seriously misleading if you think that it means you can get away with training slowly all the time. The post Slow is slow and fast is fast. And ...

Hello HEMA friends. Here is the annual sparring between me Keith Farrell. Keith is an Extremely Proficient Instructor and a clean and efficient Fencer. Since three year we shoot the sparring that we end up having while we catch up … Continue reading → ...

Greetings,Much has been said in various manuals and treatises about the combat of the short fencer against the tall fencer and also vice versa. These are considerations of note and need to be taken into account. What does not seem to appear all that often are considerations of teaching a ...

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Hello HEMA friends! Today I’m here with a new video, which shows the sequence of mutatio gladii which starts from the folio 3v and ends in the 4r of our beloved “Walpurgis Manual”. So, for this video you will need … Continue reading → ...

Comparing the archaeological injury patterns from Matzke’s 2011 “Armed and Educated” to statistics from modern HEMA tournaments. The post Historical Injury vs Modern Tournament Targeting appeared first on Sword STEM. ...

Hello HEMA friends! Today we give a look to the sparring I had with one of my Patrons, Simone Normani, almost two months ago. Enjoy! Advertisements ...

In this article, I’ll talk about the role of a squire, my experiences squiring for Jake Norwood at the Deed of Arms at WMAW, and my thoughts on its meaning for the use of harness.

Hello HEMA friends! Finally the longsword beginners guide is back. This time we learn how to counter an extended position (Longa/Langort) using a beat and attack action. Enjoy! Advertisements ...

Hello HEMA friends! I’ve just uploaded the fights (not everyone, two are missing, sadly I had not enough charge on the camera) of the small tournament (Around 20 participants) that my friends of Scherma Storica Firenze ASD organized in July during the … Continue reading → ...

Greetings,The following article is the result of a discussion that I had with Lois Spangler about studying the sources. There are various questions that we all have to ask ourselves when we are studying the sources so that we can understand what we are actually doing. Many of them are ...

A colloquialism associated with generating power is “it’s all in the hips”, but this is a little bit misleading, as the hips themselves aren’t really the source of the power. The post It’s Not “All in the Hips” appeared first on Sword STEM. ...

I just got back from Swordsquatch 2019. I arrived with almost no gear, with the goals of teaching my class, taking classes, and meeting West Coast HEMA people. “Observer mode,” if you will. I advise people to try attending events with these goals some time, it is really a great ...

In some tournament formats a competitor will be given a win and the maximum match points if their opponent doesn’t fight. This is a terrible idea and unfair to all the other competitors. The post Don’t Give Points When People Withdraw From Matches! appeared first on Sword STEM. ...

Hello HEMA friends! In this video I spar with my friend and fellow swordsman Nicola Curini, which came here in Valsesia the past month to help me shoot some I.33 related videos. Enjoy!   Advertisements ...

Final Design Project of recording sword impacts for an ECE 4710 university course in the Spring 2015 term. The post Project Smart Sword appeared first on Sword STEM. ...

My girlfriend is disabled,  She has also been sexually assaulted ("touched up") by my esteemed and honourable embezzler of funds when he was a teacher. If he wasn't a massive cunt, she would have a skill and experience at least equal to mine.She was SG-3, she chose Middleton to be ...

It only took me a decade to get off my ass and finish strapping this, but we’ve got one more gorget for the loaner kit. ...

If you have two hands, and only one of them is holding the sword, you might as well have a second weapon. The most common companion weapon for the rapier is the ...

Both my Rapier Workbook series and my Fiore Translation Project series depend on a system called PrettyLinks, where links in the text of the books direct through this website, and are redirected to the target video (or anywhere else). This means that I can update the video, and redirect the ...

We had a bit of a crisis of conscious recently. The club has worked hard to distance itself from old associations. We didn't tell  about the new group who we saw as papercut toxic. The kinds who use gay or girl as insults. The people that define microagressions.We're now big ...

Greetings,The action of holding the sword is one of the most fundamental of fencing, and yet it is one which seems to be passed over in preference for other subjects such as how the rest of the body should be placed. It would seem that holding the sword, or the ...

I have long been troubled by the unarmored spear plays in Talhoffer's Königsegg Codex, as in the picture here, et. seq.:https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Ms.XIX.17-3_45r.pngThe problem with these plays (and there are only a very few—ff. 45r- 49r in MS XIX.17-3—is that there are a few which show the spears being used to strike ...

Hello HEMA friends! In this video I explain my point of view about the I.33 “Durchtreten” or “Durchtrit” which I see as a wide concept instead of a single, defined technique. I also show how to execute the Durchtreten of … Continue reading → ...

You can tell when a sword lands flat. With MATH! The post Geometry of a Flat Hit appeared first on Sword STEM. ...

I often get asked “What’s your favourite sword?” Here’s my answer: How can one possibly choose amongst so many lovely options? And in other news, I finished my sword rack, at last! It’s ...

Hello HEMA friends! Mordhau is a Multiplayer medieval slaher. I wanted to test it to build up my opinion about its fighting system and here is my review, enjoy. Advertisements ...

There are only a couple dozen antique sparring longswords left in the world. This is one of the three that are in North America. Source: ...

It's the Fightcamp planning spree and inbetween comittee and club stuff, constantly more complicated life stuff and so on...  It has always been hard keeping the blog- But nkw harder than ever because things I want to rant about is too sensitive, so it passes without comment until it is ...

Even though we have tournaments all year I kind of felt like we had a tournament season. I was wrong... The post Tournament Season? Tournament Countries? Where and when does HEMA happen appeared first on Sword STEM. ...

Well of course it depends on the blade. But if we’re talking about Japanese swords, we have an excellent source with both historic and scientific information. Just to make things interesting, let me translate an account by another Japanese swordsman. This passage appears in a book by ISHIGAKI Yasuz&ocirc;, ...

One of the most stylish techniques in the system is the punta falsa, literally “false thrust”. Fiore’s instructions are very detailed: Questo zogo si chiama punta falsa o punta curta, e si ...

Sigi Forge is a relative newcomer to the HEMA scene, but with the backing of high profile fencers like Martin Fabian, I was unsurprisingly excited when mine arrived several weeks ago. Does this sword offer something new to the fencing community? Read on and see. At a Glance The continuing ...

Some Longsword Sparring with my student Fabrizio Oioli   Advertisements ...

I don’t normally use my blog to spread other people’s work or ideas; that’s not what it’s for. But every now and then I come across some things that are too cool, interesting, or important, to keep to myself. Treatises available free online:

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Greetings,Have you ever been in a class performing a drill and a person states that they could counter the action that you are doing with another? How about, that the drill that they are doing is artificial and does not relate to combat? What has happened here is that the ...

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I have just returned from a trip to the USA, centred around Lord Baltimore’s Challenge, a rapier-themed event held in, you guessed it, Baltimore, and organised by David Biggs. Because of the vagaries of international air travel, I flew to New York on Wednesday 3rd, and took the train down ...

The Longsword Beginners Guide (AKA How to Longsword) keeps going on, if you haven’t watched it yet here’s the first episode. Every episode have the link of the next one attached at the very end of the video! Advertisements ...

That’s right, you heard me. Geometry forbids keeping your edge in line while the tip is below the hands. ...

In Christine de Pizan’s The Book of Deeds of Arms and of Chivalry, Pizan offers a suggestion for the supplies needed to defend a castle. She lists the necessary supplies for 200 men-at-arms, with 400 servants to hold out for six months. We can use this list of supplies ...

The 8th video of my Longsword Beginners Guide is now online, this time I show a simple and usefull way to use Longa (langort) which will give us access to a huge number of action in the future episodes. Enjoy. … Continue reading → ...

Hello HEMA friends, In this new video I give some advices on how to keep a good form in sparring. Enjoy!   Advertisements ...

This is the last episode for a while- I’m off to the states on Wednesday, and will be way too busy going round the Met and teaching at Lord Baltimore’s Challenge to be fiddling about with video cameras. The next episode should be out in a couple of weeks though, ...

It is often pointed out that a purple belt knows almost as many moves as a black belt – he simply does not perform them as well, or combine them aswell, or at the correct time. Also, some fighters do very well with a small collection of moves that they ...

Today’s video is a smorgasbord of topics, ranging from what’s next for Audatia, to bridging the gap between basic set drills and freeplay. As well as what to do with a million dollars, and how I’d introduce students to the Bolognese. Here’s the video! Shownotes: DISCOUNT ENDING VERY SOON: ...

Hi today’s questions are: Joe Propati’s series of questions continue…. Since Knights trained their whole life to become masters of the sword, were there any individuals who stood out as the Grand masters of the sword above everyone else in the world and who were they? Did Squires and Knights ...

Greetings,The following is the third and final part of this subject. I will apologise to my dear reader as this and is preceding parts are quite long. This was the only way for the appropriate information to be included in the document as a whole, and to not drag it ...

Today’s video is a mixed bag of topics, answering the following questions: How thick were rapier blades? How wide were rapier blades? How thick were dagger blades? How wide were dagger blades? Thank you, Brijn, in Colorado And: Dear Dr Guy Windsor I’m sending you pictures of a miniature Spanish sword ...

I know it sounds ridiculous, but I have come across someone who thought they could bat a cut out of the way by hitting the backside of the blade with their hand ...

Which do you prefer- sausage or spaghetti? Mercedes or Ferrari? Today’s questions were: This is Matthew in Michigan and I’m curious about the why one might choose to study longsword from the German tradition over the Italian tradition, and vice/versa? Thank you for undertaking this venture and for your ongoing ...

Today’s AMA topic are solo training, and training with disabilities. Raymond, in Montana, sent in this question: “I really enjoy your video trainings and teaching. I purchased the combo package (complete long sword, complete medieval dagger, and footwork) and a few freebies for my 50th birthday. I watched (and practiced) ...

Hello HEMA friends! Here we are with my seventh episode of the Longsword Beginners Guide, this time I show some exercise to train the mezzani cuts. Enjoy! Advertisements ...

The two-page spread of plays against the thrust continues with the six plays relating to breaking the thrust. I’ll cover them all in order, starting with the 11th play of the master ...

About 6 weeks ago I was lucky enough to get my hands on the “Matt Easton” prototype sabre. How did it fare compared to their standard sabre offering? Read on and find out. At a Glance Most sabreurs will agree that the ideal sabre is a mythical and elusive beast. ...

In today’s video I discuss the problem of mismatched weapons. Swords versus spears, rapiers versus halberds, and so on. The questions were: Thanks for taking questions. I’ve been reading your books for a long time and have more than a few but I’ll stick with two recent ones. 1) I’ve ...

I have had a few questions regarding training children coming in, such as this one: Here’s a question- there are a lot of potentially unscrupulous martial arts clubs out there who’ll give a 5-year-old a black belt if their parents cough up enough cash, but most historical fencing clubs I’ve ...

"You must be well instructed in the four openings, if you wish to fight at all surely. For whatever cuts and devices you may execute, however good they may be, if you do not know how to break off in each quarter, and to transmute the intended devices, transforming them ...

Greetings,The following is the second of three parts of this subject. I will apologise to my dear reader as these are quite long. This was the only way for the appropriate information to be included in the document as a whole, and to not drag it out into more parts. ...

Today’s episode has just one question: What is your opinion on the force levels in HEMA. Especially in regards to the research into the cumulative effects of repeated sub-concussive hits to the head. It seems there are no end of people reporting broken swords or bashed in helmets and I ...

Today’s episode has me talking about left-handers, and the one-handed long thrust with a longsword. Enjoy!   Shownotes: Fiore Facsimile (the closest you can get to owning the manuscript): https://amzn.to/2MOowWH The Flower of Battle (Leoni translation) http://www.freelanceacademypress.com/flowersofbattlethecompletemartialworksoffioredeiliberi.aspx The Rapier, part Four: Sword and Dagger and Sword and Cape Workbook: ...

The shownotes for this episode: Fighting Depression Personal Update: Mental Health Learning Rapier: your free workbook video The Unconquered Knight: A Chronicle of the Deeds of Don Pero Niño, Count of Buelna Alan Williams, The Knight and the Blast Furnace Fiore Facsimile (the closest you can get to owning ...

Having kicked our opponent in the groin, we turn the page to see this spread: [Note, this image is not a photograph of the manuscript opened up; I have just put the ...

Hello HEMA friends! The sixth video of my Longsword Beginners Guide is now free-to-watch on my YouTube channel. This time, I talk about the true edge and the false edge and I teach how to use this two edges with … Continue reading → ...

Here we go again!   ...

Here you go! Some rambling on training with sharps, and the ethics of martial arts… Links from this episode: Bullshit post Training with Sharp Swords: article on the CFAA blog My book Swordfighting for Writers, Game Designers, and Martial Artists My book the Theory and Practice of Historical Martial ...

Hello HEMA friends! In this fifth episode of the Longsword Beginners Guide we will discover together a simple parry and riposte against a thrust. Enjoy.   Advertisements ...

Greetings,The following is the first of three parts of this subject. I will apologise to my dear reader as these are quite long. This was the only way for the appropriate information to be included in the document as a whole, and to not drag it out into more parts. ...

Hi yesterday I sent an AMA email out to my mailing list, and got inundated with questions. The first two are answered in this video. I hope you like the intro-outro music. If you want to put questions to me, then join the list and drop me a line! ...

It was the first two words that got you hooked, right? ...

I’ve had my woodworking bench for twelve years now. It’s been a good workhorse, small enough to fit into my bijou little workshop spaces but big enough to be useful. It first lived in a corner in the old salle, then the tatami shed in the ‘new’ salle: ...

Some exchanges that I had with Pedro Velasco Arévalo during HEMAics Dolomiti (Feltre). We fought two beautiful sparring matches which I greatly enjoyed. Check Pedro’s HEMA club here: https://www.facebook.com/saladearmaspedrodelmonte/ Advertisements ...

If you have been following The Fiore Translation Project from the beginning, you may recall that I gave myself permission to skip about in the treatise as the whimsy takes me. I had a nagging feeling that I ought to include the plays of the dagger against the sword, and ...

I was cleaning up my computer and I found yet more data that I had tabulated for my own interest. And then I remembered that time I threw some random data I found into an article and it became one of my most viewed posts. ...

The Fiore Translation Project is growing apace; I’m almost through the zogho largo section already. I compiled the translation, transcription, commentary and video clips for the Sword in One Hand plays ...

Hello HEMA friends! The 4th episode of my Longsword Beginners guide is now available on my YouTube channel. This time we will build up our first parry and riposte action, from the very beginning. Enjoy. Advertisements ...

The seventh play of the sword in two hands in zogho largo punishes the opponent for offences against geometry. Pythagoras is widely credited with establishing the relationship between the lengths ...

Hello HEMA friends! My friend and Fellow Instructor Mauro Carapacchi keeps going with his Fiore Dagger series of video.  He is analyzing Fiore’s dagger in a really deep way, explaining theory and showing exercises. So if you, like me, are … Continue reading → ...

Hello HEMA friends! I’ve uploaded all the fights which I had during the “HEMAics Dolomiti” Tournament, held during the past weekend in Feltre. I’m quite happy of the Results, i’m happy to show the style which I love and practice (Fiore) … Continue reading → ...

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