A common question in the study of broadsword sources is how Scottish is the method of Roworth and Angelo? How much of it is merely labelled as Scottish, but in fact comes from elsewhere? It is quite fascinating to trace the development of this method over the course of the 18th century.
Keith Farrell teaches HEMA professionally, often at international events (why not hire me to teach at your event?), and has an interest in coaching instructors to become better teachers.
Keith Farrell cutting with a sharp longsword. Photo by Daria Izdebska, 2017.
I am often asked how I manage to keep fit while working from home. I am also often asked what I do to train myself to do HEMA better. It is the same answer to both of these questions! Hopefully by sharing my thoughts and approach, it will help other people both to keep themselves a little healthier during the working day, and to see more opportunities to do relevant training for HEMA.
Keith Farrell teaches HEMA professionally, often at international events (why not hire me to teach at your event?), and has an interest in coaching instructors to become better teachers.
Marc and Jodie performing an exercise during a lesson at Liverpool HEMA. Photo by Keith Farrell, 2018.
This is a guest article by Nial Prince. The subject is one about which Nial has been writing quite often recently, in answer to people’s questions on Facebook. So that the ideas and points of view would be easier to find again in the future, with a permanance that Facebook just cannot provide, I asked if he would be willing to write a guest article. He kindly agreed, wrote this article, and sent it over to me for hosting on the site.
When you are thinking about starting to study HEMA, what is the first thing you do? Usually, people out and buy a sword (or a sword-like object) of some description. Then what? Well, maybe you haven’t thought this far. You might find yourself standing in the garden, sword in one hand and mobile phone in the other, following the first couple of YouTube videos you managed to find when searching for “Longsword cut how to”. After doing this for a little while, you might become pretty good at moving a sword around, but you will begin to notice things in the videos you are watching – one fencer might start their cut from the shoulder, while another may hang the sword down behind them before a strike. Why?
Because they have all done something which you have not: they have chosen a specific system to work from! This means that while everyone in these videos are all showing how to do the same thing (“longsword cut how to”), each has their own individual interpretation of different texts, which all have unique approaches to performing the same technique. The worst thing you can do at this stage of your development is to try to learn a dozen different methods of cutting. You need to choose a system!
Sometimes, people write a thing that has some value, and would like for it to be somewhere on the internet with a little permanence, so that it can be found again later. These guest articles can provide a variety of different points of view that I might not normally write about myself. If you have an idea for an article that you would like to see hosted here, please contact me with your suggestion.
Singlestick play at Liverpool HEMA. Photo by Keith Farrell, 2018.
If you have been intrigued by the idea of starting to fence with the sabre, then a common question is what sabre system to study? There are so many different systems that have been written about, so what sabre system is good for a beginner?Read more →
Keith Farrell teaches HEMA professionally, often at international events (why not hire me to teach at your event?), and has an interest in coaching instructors to become better teachers.
Keith Farrell and Yvain Rit fencing with longswords at TaurHEMAchia 2017. Photo by Andrea Boschetti, 2017.
This is a guest article by Duncan McEvoy. Duncan and I have had several discussions over the last year or so, on the topic of sparring and fighting, and how we think these elements fit into the ways that we each conceptualise HEMA and martial arts. Since Duncan has some different points of view to my own, I asked if he would be willing to write some of his thoughts for a guest article, so that the website can show another way of looking at HEMA. He kindly agreed, wrote this article, and sent it over to me for hosting on the site.
Do you spar in your club? If you do why do you do it? My guess is there will be some common answers like “it’s fun”, and “it helps me to prepare for competitions”, and “it helps me to pressure test ideas and techniques”, etc. Of course there will be many none standard answers too, maybe almost as many answers as there are people sparring out there. I’m certain they are all good answers as they are your answer, and whatever works for you … works.
So we all know what sparring is, what we use it for etc, but do we have any mis-conceptions that could be doing us more harm than good? Maybe, so it could be worth looking into sparring a little deeper and its relationship to learning how to fight. This is worth thinking about and looking into as one of the most common answers I see is along the lines of “it helps me become a better fighter”, or “it’s how I can pressure test myself to fight better”, or variations on that theme. Basically what we are saying is it’s a way to train to become a better fighter. So… Here is the question. Is that correct?
For the purposes of this article we are mostly looking at one on one encounters.
Sometimes, people write a thing that has some value, and would like for it to be somewhere on the internet with a little permanence, so that it can be found again later. These guest articles can provide a variety of different points of view that I might not normally write about myself. If you have an idea for an article that you would like to see hosted here, please contact me with your suggestion.
Sparring Gloves and an Albion Meyer. Photo by Keith Farrell, 2015.
Recently there was a Facebook discussion about corporate sponsorship for individuals in the HEMA community, which was quite an interesting topic. James Conlon posted the following question:
“Inside the world of Longsword Fighting” by The New York Times was posted on YouTube over 3 1/2 years ago. To quote Jake Norwood “We need about a million dollars, is what we need. To actually pay for staff… hey Red Bull, right?”
With the exponential growth seen in HEMA over the last couple years is corporate sponsorship a reasonable expectation at present or within the upcoming years? Is corporate sponsorship something that HEMA as a community even wants or needs? What would the foreseeable pros and cons of corporate sponsorship entail? Could corporate sponsorship lead to more of a sportification of HEMA or would HEMA potentially lose its close knit aesthetic that so many of us have come to love?
My thought is that any funding or corporate sponsorship that leads to general development and improvement of the community is a good thing, whereas any funding that leads towards polarisation or isolation of communities, clubs, events, activities, etc, is probably best avoided.
Keith Farrell teaches HEMA professionally, often at international events (why not hire me to teach at your event?), and has an interest in coaching instructors to become better teachers.
“2013 Tournament Feder” with siderings. Image from Regenyei Armory website.
This article was originally posted on Encased in Steel on 13th November 2015. It has been modified for reposting here.
“Should I have siderings on my feder?” is a common question that people ask when contemplating the purchase of a new feder, especially if it is their first such purchase. Previously, I wrote an article about what to look for when buying your first feder from Regenyei Armory, and this article will hopefully be a useful companion piece to expand upon the subject of siderings.
Keith Farrell teaches HEMA professionally, often at international events (why not hire me to teach at your event?), and has an interest in coaching instructors to become better teachers.
Jodie and Ben performing an exercise during a lesson at Liverpool HEMA. Photo by Keith Farrell, 2018.
This article was originally posted on Encased in Steel on 5th June 2015. It has been modified for reposting here.
When HEMA practitioners discuss protective gear, and for which kind of activity it is most suitable, someone usually says that a piece of gear is “suitable for steel” or “good for synthetics but not for steel”. However, I believe this is the wrong way to look at the use of training swords for historical fencing, and the protective equipment that must be worn, as it forces a certain dichotomy that ignores the most important aspect of risk when fencing: intensity.
Keith Farrell teaches HEMA professionally, often at international events (why not hire me to teach at your event?), and has an interest in coaching instructors to become better teachers.
Most people who run a club or community of some description realise that they really should have some kind of presence on Facebook. But what kind of presence? Is it a “page” you need, or a “group”? What is the difference?
Keith Farrell teaches HEMA professionally, often at international events (why not hire me to teach at your event?), and has an interest in coaching instructors to become better teachers.
A feder in a field, at the AHA Loch Lomond 2013 event. Photo by Elliot Howie, 2013.
This article was originally posted on Encased in Steel on 17th April 2015. It has been modified for reposting here.
Many longsword practitioners choose to buy their first feder or training sword from Péter Regenyei at Regenyei Armory. These swords are now ubiquitous throughout the longsword community in Europe, and are becoming more popular across the world. One of the greatest strengths of Péter’s feders is the large number of standard options that you can choose when ordering your sword, to make it just right for you – but this can also lead to confusion if you have not had the opportunity to handle swords with some of the different options.
I have had the pleasure and the opportunity to handle many variations of Péter’s feders. Since I have received many requests for advice from people looking to buy their first feder, I have put together my thoughts on the issue and have produced this article as a point of references for people going through the dilemma of deciding what to order.
A feder is a good option for training tool, as opposed to a “blunt longsword”. The weight and flexibility can make them safer tools – it does not always make such a huge difference for you, but it really does make quite a difference for the people who will be receiving your strikes and thrusts!
Keith Farrell teaches HEMA professionally, often at international events (why not hire me to teach at your event?), and has an interest in coaching instructors to become better teachers.
Marc and Alex performing an exercise during a lesson at Liverpool HEMA. Photo by Keith Farrell, 2017.
This article was originally posted on Encased in Steel on 27th February 2015. It has been modified for reposting here.
We often take our training partners for granted. However, we should not be so blasé – our training partners are important people, who help us learn, and who deserve our respect and care. We have a duty and responsibility to look after our training partners, to keep them safe, and to help them develop their skills just as they help us to develop our own.
Keith Farrell teaches HEMA professionally, often at international events (why not hire me to teach at your event?), and has an interest in coaching instructors to become better teachers.
Keith Farrell with a Polish sabre. Photo by Miri Zaruba, 2013.
This article was originally posted on Encased in Steel on 16th October 2015. It has been modified for reposting here.
It is a common piece of advice for shorter fighters who face taller opponents that they should “go for the legs”. I wrote about this unhelpful piece of advice in a previous article, Myths of the Short Person in Martial Arts.
However, with the correct tactical set up, the legs can be an interesting target to attack, and it can be quite safe to do so. The important thing is to ensure that the opportunity is set up properly, and to recognise when it is not safe to pursue the target.
Keith Farrell teaches HEMA professionally, often at international events (why not hire me to teach at your event?), and has an interest in coaching instructors to become better teachers.
Keith Farrell and Ciaran O’Sullivan fencing with longswords at Edgebana. Photo by Thomas Naylor, 2016.
This article was originally posted on Encased in Steel on 11th October 2013. It has been modified for reposting here.
I have often come into contact with the idea that the best way to become good at sparring is to practise lots of sparring. This does have some kind of logic behind it: after all, the common saying is: “practice makes perfect.”
However, in my opinion, there are much better ways to become better at fighting than just sparring a lot. Certainly, plenty of sparring is important to the development of a martial artist, but training cleverly is better than training hard – as long as you work hard at training cleverly!
This article will seek to illustrate some of my thoughts about the issue.
Keith Farrell teaches HEMA professionally, often at international events (why not hire me to teach at your event?), and has an interest in coaching instructors to become better teachers.
Maksim and Ben fencing with foils in the cloisters at the University of Glasgow. Photo by Keith Farrell, 2013.
This article was originally posted on Encased in Steel on 21st August 2015. It has been modified a little for reposting here.
Many practitioners of historical fencing have little interest in modern foil fencing, preferring the historical disciplines for a variety of reasons. However, every so often, the question arises: “is it worth learning modern fencing?”
My advice is that if you have the opportunity, it is worth spending some time learning to fence with the foil. There are some quite tangible benefits that come with this practice, and you cannot go far wrong by giving yourself this experience, even for a short while.
You certainly do not need to learn foil fencing to be able to learn one of the historical disciplines. In fact, I believe that trying to retrofit foil concepts into older historical systems (such as those for the longsword) can actually hold back your development and throw up red herrings as you work with the older treatises.
If you do take up foil fencing, treat it a what it is: its own self-contained discipline, that may have some similarities to other fencing systems, along with many key differences.
Keith Farrell teaches HEMA professionally, often at international events (why not hire me to teach at your event?), and has an interest in coaching instructors to become better teachers.
Keith Farrell and Mark Wilkie fencing with sabres at Edgebana. Photo by Thomas Naylor, 2015.
This article was originally posted on Encased in Steel on 5th April 2013. It has been modified a little for reposting here.
As a relatively short person (5 feet 6 inches, or roughly 167 centimetres in height), I have heard all kinds of “advice” and platitudes in my two decades of involvement with martial arts. People have lots of very strange ideas about how short people should fight, and produce some very dangerous and ill-conceived advice!
The articles comprising part 3, part 4 and part 5 of this series on unhelpful advice will seek to address some of the myths and advice that I have heard other people give to shorter fencers.
Keith Farrell teaches HEMA professionally, often at international events (why not hire me to teach at your event?), and has an interest in coaching instructors to become better teachers.
Marc and Alex performing an exercise during a lesson at Liverpool HEMA. Photo by Keith Farrell, 2017.
