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Swordfighting: Not What You Think It Is (Medieval Swordfighting Much Different than in the Movies)
109.com ^ | June 12, 2012 | John Clements

Posted on 08/23/2012 9:52:00 PM PDT by PJ-Comix

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To: KarlInOhio
I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought that. Give an example of how it was different.

Heck, *I* will give one, and I'm no blase master (which he clearly believes he is):

The typical sword fight in the real world lasts less than 3 seconds. If it lasts longer than that, you're both probably going to bleed out. The way to win is to close, cut first, and cut brutally. Anything else is likely to end in a "you both die" tie...

21 posted on 08/23/2012 10:50:58 PM PDT by piytar (The predator-class is furious that their prey are shooting back.)
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To: KarlInOhio

blase = blade. Apparently I’m no typing master, either...


22 posted on 08/23/2012 10:51:59 PM PDT by piytar (The predator-class is furious that their prey are shooting back.)
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To: PJ-Comix

Check out Ridley Scott’s “The Duelist”

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075968/


23 posted on 08/23/2012 11:05:11 PM PDT by Dead Dog
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To: PA Engineer
Might take more than one bullet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjnALze3ydc

24 posted on 08/23/2012 11:11:57 PM PDT by Errant
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To: eclecticEel

Yep.

Sharp swords got damaged and lost their edge quickly.

Butterknife sharp they were.


25 posted on 08/23/2012 11:12:17 PM PDT by Jonty30 (What Islam and secularism have in common is that they are both death cults.)
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To: Conservative4Ever
I've long believed that the most accurate portrayal of ancient sword fighting was the end fight scene from the movie "Robin and Marian"

In fact..here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ubpQE2IrG0

26 posted on 08/23/2012 11:16:00 PM PDT by The Duke
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To: PJ-Comix

Studied E-Tool (entrenching tool) extensively during my military career with some side study on claymores....not the sword kind.

Swords .....not so much. Machetes, bolos, parangs, etc... Carried and used em in jungle environments to battle “wait a minute vines” but never swords.

Elephant grass feared me !

That’s my BTTT comment PJ”...:o)

Stay safe.


27 posted on 08/23/2012 11:16:55 PM PDT by Squantos
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To: PJ-Comix
And I don’t think most modern men would do any differently.

Do you know the term Decimation?

28 posted on 08/24/2012 12:38:16 AM PDT by itsahoot (Write in Palin in 2012, Just to pi$$ off the Romney botts.)
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To: Jonty30
Sharp swords got damaged and lost their edge quickly.
Butterknife sharp they were.

I use a machete as one tool to help with gardening. Hard to keep it sharp, constantly sharpening it, so you are probably right. I suppose swordsmen plunged their blade into flesh with the sharp point to cause the most harm. I have an antique Japanese sword but have never used it against a living creature, so this is of interest to me (in case the Obummer zombies run wild soon).

29 posted on 08/24/2012 12:49:17 AM PDT by roadcat
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To: roadcat

Sharp blades are also useless against armour.

Swords were used to batter opponents into submission, until they were too weak to fight, then they were either run through or hacked until they died from a loss of blood.

And my mom told me that Dungeons and Dragons was an unproductive hobby. :)


30 posted on 08/24/2012 12:54:50 AM PDT by Jonty30 (What Islam and secularism have in common is that they are both death cults.)
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Bone breakers.


31 posted on 08/24/2012 12:55:21 AM PDT by Gene Eric (Demoralization is a weapon of the enemy. Don't get it, don't spread it!)
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To: Squantos
Elephant grass fears everybody!

Now, if you can get dollar weed to mind....

;o)

32 posted on 08/24/2012 1:14:48 AM PDT by papertyger ("And how we burned in the camps later, thinking: What would things have been like if..."))
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To: Squantos

Bayonet training at Parris Island with pugil sticks was as close as I got to close combat fighting. Those bouts were usually 3-5 seconds and despite the padding could inflict some pain. One guy was actually knocked out cold.

That training convinced me that medieval weapons were a good thing to have when and if the fighying gets up close and personal.


33 posted on 08/24/2012 1:16:03 AM PDT by NTHockey (Rules of engagement #1: Take no prisoners)
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To: Jonty30
And my mom told me that Dungeons and Dragons was an unproductive hobby. :)

In a similar vein, I note "that Rock and Roll Crap" my grandmother always bitched about has held its value a whole lot longer than the "forties music" she thought of so highly!

34 posted on 08/24/2012 1:27:58 AM PDT by papertyger ("And how we burned in the camps later, thinking: What would things have been like if..."))
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To: piytar
if you have any clue how to cut quickly and effectively with a blade and have the will to do so, you'll win against someone who doesn't.

True that.

In one - on - one combat with swords, the winner is the one with superior training and motivation.

The "Kill Bill" films part I and II to see how it works.

35 posted on 08/24/2012 1:36:44 AM PDT by spokeshave (The only people better off today than 4 years ago are the Prisoners at Guantanamo.)
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To: PJ-Comix

May I humbly suggest a related, and quite fun documentary? Reclaiming the Blade (both a website and documentary, which I think is on youtube, and Netflix, iirc.)


36 posted on 08/24/2012 2:29:37 AM PDT by sayuncledave (et Verbum caro factum est (And the Word was made flesh))
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To: PJ-Comix

I once saw a fascinating documentary shot at the Royal Armory at Leeds. They came across some Medieval(?) manuals of swordsmanship for the Claymore, and re-enactors at the Armory worked out a full-speed display of sword combat based on what was in them. The Claymore was an amazingly agile instrument in the hands of a trained man- it wasn’t the swing-it-like-a-baseball-bat meat cleaver that it’s shown to be in the movies.

I’ve been looking for that documentary online for years (granted, I haven’t looked in a while) but I’d love to watch it again.


37 posted on 08/24/2012 2:44:52 AM PDT by Riley (The Fourth Estate is the Fifth Column.)
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To: Jonty30

Sharp blades are also useless against armour.

Swords were used to batter opponents into submission, until they were too weak to fight, then they were either run through or hacked until they died from a loss of blood.


I’ve read elsewhere that the War-Hammer and the Mace were the preferred tools of knights vs. knights. Also on the Connections videos Burke shows that the preferred place to strike a man in battle was in the lesser armored legs. That was confirmed by examination of several burial mounds in France and England.


38 posted on 08/24/2012 2:48:04 AM PDT by The Working Man
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To: piytar
"Not one single mention of anything relevant to the “proper” way to use a blade."

DITTO, I kept reading looking for where he was gonna show me his chops and nada.

I would like to see him in a match with a veteran martial artist trained in the use of the katana. I am willing to bet he wouldn't fare well.

39 posted on 08/24/2012 2:52:16 AM PDT by Mad Dawgg (If you're going to deny my 1st Amendment rights then I must proceed to the 2nd one...)
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To: piytar
I watched a show on the History Channel and dance instructor and armorer for the Royal Family (he maintained historical weapons) worked out a dueling sequence from a medieval wood cut. The whole sword was used with pommel strike upper cuts etc. The killing move was strangulation with the guard. When enacted it was quick and lethal.Not your typical medieval movie sword fight.
40 posted on 08/24/2012 2:55:17 AM PDT by carcraft (Pray for our Country)
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